Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a sensing function network element receives first information from a service requester, the first information comprising an identifier list and a sensing area, and the identifier list comprising identifiers of one or more terminal devices; the sensing function network element receives sensing data from a sensing device for the sensing area, the sensing data comprising position information of one or more objects; on the basis of position information of the one or more terminal devices and the position information of the one or more objects, the sensing function network element determines an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects; and by means of second information, the sensing function network element indicates to the service requester the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects. According to the method, the service requester can determine the terminal device from among the one or more terminal devices which cooperates with and / or does not cooperate with the service requester.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on November 30, 2023, with application number 202311637484.6 and application name “A Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] In mobile communication systems, network equipment can use higher wireless frequency bands, such as millimeter waves or even terahertz, to perceive and identify specific areas / objects / events.

[0004] The sensing area may include terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester (for example, those authorized or registered with the regulatory platform) and terminal devices that do not cooperate (for example, those not authorized or registered with the regulatory platform). Distinguishing between terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and those that do not is a key requirement for the service requester.

[0005] Therefore, how the service requester distinguishes between terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and terminal devices that do not cooperate is a problem that needs to be solved.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus that facilitate a service requester to distinguish between cooperating terminal devices and / or non-cooperating terminal devices.

[0008] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be performed by a perception function network element. The perception function network element here can refer to the perception function network element itself, or to a processor, module, chip, or chip system that implements the method in the perception function network element. In this method, the perception function network element receives first information from a service requester, where the first information includes an identification list and a perception area, and the identification list includes identifications of one or more terminal devices. The perception function network element receives perception data for the perception area from the perception device, where the perception data includes location information of one or more objects. Based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, the perception function network element determines an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects. The perception function network element sends second information to the service requester, where the second information is used to indicate the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

[0009] In an embodiment of the present application, the perception function network element determines an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects obtained by the perception device within the perception area, and indicates the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects to the service requester via second information. This approach facilitates the service requester to determine the terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and / or the terminal devices that do not cooperate with the service requester based on the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

[0010] In an optional embodiment, the identification list includes an identification of a terminal device. In this case, the perception function network element determines the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects, including: determining whether a terminal device is associated with the one or more objects based on the location information of a terminal device and the location information of one or more objects. Thus, the second information is specifically used to indicate whether the terminal device is associated with an object in one or more objects, which is beneficial for the service requester to determine whether the terminal device is a terminal device cooperating with the service requester based on whether the terminal device is associated with an object in one or more objects.

[0011] In another optional embodiment, the identification list includes identifications of multiple terminal devices. In this case, the perception function network element determines the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects, including: determining the terminal devices and / or unassociated terminal devices in the multiple terminal devices that are associated with the objects in the one or more objects based on the location information of the multiple terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects. Thus, the second information is specifically used to indicate the identification of the associated terminal devices and / or the identification of the unassociated terminal devices in the multiple terminal devices, which is beneficial for the service requester to determine the terminal devices and / or the uncooperative terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester based on the terminal devices and / or unassociated terminal devices in the multiple terminal devices that are associated with the objects.

[0012] In an optional embodiment, the second information includes an association indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the association indication, and / or an unassociation indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the unassociation indication. The association indication is used to indicate that the terminal device corresponding to the association indication is associated with the object, and the unassociation indication is used to indicate that the terminal device corresponding to the unassociation indication is not associated with the object.

[0013] In an optional embodiment, the perception function network element obtains the location information of one or more terminal devices based on the positioning service before determining the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects.

[0014] In another optional embodiment, the perception function network element obtains the location information of one or more terminal devices from the service requester before determining the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects.

[0015] It can be seen that the perception function network element can obtain the location information of one or more terminal devices based on the positioning service, or obtain the location information of one or more terminal devices from the service requester.

[0016] In an optional embodiment, after obtaining the location information of one or more terminal devices from a service requester, the perception function network element may further obtain a first timestamp associated with the location information of the one or more terminal devices from the service requester. The association of the first timestamp with the location information of the one or more terminal devices can be understood as meaning that the location information of the one or more terminal devices was obtained by the service requester at the moment or time range indicated by the first timestamp.

[0017] In addition, if the perception function network element obtains the first timestamp from the service requester, the perception function network element determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, including: determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects at the moment or time range indicated by the first timestamp.

[0018] As can be seen, the perception function network element determines the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects obtained at the same time or within the same time range. This approach can improve the accuracy of the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects.

[0019] In another optional embodiment, the perception function network element further obtains a second timestamp associated with the identification list from the service requester, where the second timestamp indicates the time when one or more terminal devices are present in the perception area. Thus, the perception function network element determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, including: determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects at the time or time range indicated by the second timestamp. This approach can also improve the accuracy of the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

[0020] In an optional embodiment, the perception function network element further obtains an association operation indication from the service requester, where the association operation indication is used to indicate the determination of an association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the perception function network element. Thus, the perception function network element determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the association operation indication.

[0021] In an optional embodiment, the second information is further used to indicate the time corresponding to the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects. This method allows the service requester to know the time when the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects exists.

[0022] In one optional embodiment, the second information also includes characteristic information of one or more terminal devices associated with the object and / or characteristic information of terminal devices not associated with the object. This approach facilitates the service requester to re-determine whether each of the one or more terminal devices is associated with the object based on the second information and the characteristic information of the one or more terminal devices configured on the service requester.

[0023] In an optional embodiment, the second information also includes characteristic information of one or more objects associated with one or more terminal devices, and / or characteristic information of objects not associated with any of the one or more terminal devices. This approach facilitates the service requester to identify the type of each of the one or more objects within the sensing area based on the second information.

[0024] In an optional implementation, the feature information is used to indicate at least one of the following: profile, type, trajectory, direction, or speed.

[0025] In an optional embodiment, the perception function network element determines whether a terminal device is associated with an object based on the location information of the terminal device and the location information of one or more objects, including: determining that the terminal device is associated with the object when the location information of the terminal device is identical to one of the location information of the one or more objects; and determining that the terminal device is not associated with the object when the location information of the terminal device is different from the location information of the one or more objects. The term "identical" can be understood as completely identical or identical within a preset range.

[0026] In an optional embodiment, the perception function network element determines the terminal devices associated with the object and / or the terminal devices not associated with the object among the multiple terminal devices based on the location information of the multiple terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects, including: determining the terminal devices corresponding to the location information of the multiple terminal devices that is the same as the location information of one or more objects as the terminal devices associated with the object; and / or determining the terminal devices corresponding to the location information of the multiple terminal devices that is different from the location information of one or more objects as the terminal devices not associated with the object.

[0027] In an optional implementation, the first information is carried in a sensing request, and the sensing request is used to request the sensing function network element to sense the sensing area. This approach is beneficial for saving signaling overhead.

[0028] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a service requester. The service requester here can refer to the service requester itself, or a processor, module, chip, or chip system that implements the method in the service requester. In this method, the service requester sends first information to a first perception function network element, where the first information includes a first identification list and a perception area, and the first identification list includes identifications of one or more terminal devices. The service requester receives second information from the first perception function network element, where the second information is used to indicate an association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects in the perception area.

[0029] In an embodiment of the present application, the service requester obtains the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects in the perception area indicated to the first perception function network element, which helps the service requester determine the terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and / or the terminal devices that do not cooperate with the service requester based on the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

[0030] In an optional embodiment, the first information is used to trigger the first perception function network element to determine, based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the first perception function network element, an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects. This approach facilitates the first perception function network element to determine the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the first information.

[0031] In an optional implementation, the first identifier list includes an identifier of a terminal device. In this case, the second information is specifically used to indicate whether the terminal device is associated with an object among the one or more objects.

[0032] In another optional embodiment, the first identification list includes identifications of multiple terminal devices. In this case, the second information is specifically used to indicate the identifications of terminal devices associated with an object in the one or more objects, and / or the identifications of terminal devices not associated with an object in the one or more objects.

[0033] In an optional embodiment, the second information includes an association indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the association indication, and / or an unassociation indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the unassociation indication. The association indication is used to indicate that the terminal device corresponding to the association indication is associated with the object, and the unassociation indication is used to indicate that the terminal device corresponding to the unassociation indication is not associated with the object.

[0034] In an optional embodiment, the service requester further determines the terminal devices cooperating with the service requester and / or the terminal devices not cooperating with the service requester within the sensing area based on the second information. This approach facilitates the service requester to track or counter the terminal devices not cooperating with the service requester.

[0035] In an optional implementation, the service requester also sends location information of one or more terminal devices to the first perception function network element, so that the first perception function network element obtains the location information of one or more terminal devices.

[0036] In an optional implementation manner, before the service request direction sends the location information of one or more terminal devices to the first perception function network element,

[0037] The location information of one or more terminal devices is also obtained based on the positioning service.

[0038] In another optional implementation, before the service request direction sends the location information of one or more terminal devices to the first perception function network element, the location information of each terminal device in the one or more terminal devices is also obtained.

[0039] It can be seen that the service requester obtains the location information of one or more terminal devices, including: obtaining the location information of one or more terminal devices based on a positioning service, or including: receiving the location information reported by each of the one or more terminal devices.

[0040] In an optional embodiment, the service requester further sends a first timestamp associated with the location information of one or more terminal devices to the first perception function network element. The first timestamp is associated with the location information of the one or more terminal devices, which can be understood as: the location information of the one or more terminal devices is obtained by the service requester at the moment or time range indicated by the first timestamp.

[0041] If the location information of one or more terminal devices is obtained by the service requester based on a positioning service, the first timestamp is the moment or time range when the service requester obtains the location information. If the location information of one or more terminal devices is reported by each of the one or more terminal devices to the service requester, the first timestamp can be the moment or time range when each terminal device reports the location information to the service requester, or the moment or time range when the service requester receives the location information of one or more terminal devices.

[0042] In an optional embodiment, the service requester further sends a second timestamp associated with the first identifier list to the first perception function network element, where the second timestamp indicates the time when one or more terminal devices in the first identifier list are present in the perception area. This approach facilitates the first perception function network element to learn the time when one or more terminal devices are present in the perception area.

[0043] In an optional embodiment, the service requester further sends an association operation indication to the first perception function network element. The association operation indication is used to instruct determination of an association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects in the perception data acquired by the first perception function network element. This approach facilitates the first perception function network element to determine the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the association operation indication.

[0044] In an optional implementation, the second information is further used to indicate the time corresponding to the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

[0045] In an optional embodiment, the second information further includes characteristic information of one or more terminal devices associated with the object and / or characteristic information of terminal devices not associated with the object. Thus, the service requester can further determine whether each of the one or more terminal devices is associated with the object based on the second information and the characteristic information of the one or more terminal devices configured at the service requester.

[0046] In an optional embodiment, the second information also includes characteristic information of one or more objects associated with one or more terminal devices, and / or characteristic information of objects not associated with any of the one or more terminal devices. This approach facilitates the service requester to identify the type of each of the one or more objects.

[0047] In an optional implementation, the feature information is used to indicate at least one of the following: profile, type, trajectory, direction, and speed.

[0048] In an optional embodiment, the service requester may also execute: sending third information to the second perception function network element, the third information includes a second identification list and the perception area, the second identification list includes the identification of one or more terminal devices, the identification of one or more terminal devices included in the second identification list is different from the identification of one or more terminal devices included in the first identification list, and the second perception function network element and the first perception function network element belong to different operators; receiving fourth information from the second perception function network element, the fourth information is used to indicate the association relationship between one or more terminal devices in the second identification list and one or more objects.

[0049] It can be seen that when there are terminal devices managed by operators different from the operator to which the first perception function network element belongs within the perception area, the service requester can indicate to the second perception function network element corresponding to the operator different from the operator to which the first perception function network element belongs one or more terminal devices managed by the operator within the perception area to obtain the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and one or more objects within the perception area.

[0050] Optionally, when there are terminal devices managed by operators different from the operators to which the first perception function network element and the second perception function network element belong within the perception area, the service requester may also indicate to the perception function network element corresponding to the operator different from the operator to which the first perception function network element and the second perception function network element belong one or more terminal devices managed by the operator within the perception area to obtain the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and one or more objects in the perception area.

[0051] In an optional implementation, the service requester determines the terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and / or the terminal devices that do not cooperate with the service requester within the perception area based on the second information, including: determining the terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and / or the terminal devices that do not cooperate with the service requester within the perception area based on the second information and the fourth information.

[0052] It can be seen that when the service requester receives the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects fed back from each of the first perception function network element and the second perception function network element, the service requester determines the terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and / or the terminal devices that do not cooperate with the service requester within the perception area based on the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects fed back by each perception function network element.

[0053] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device. The communication device has the function of implementing some or all of the functions of the perception function network element described in the first aspect above, or implementing some or all of the functions of the service requester described in the second aspect above. For example, the functions of the communication device may have the functions of some or all of the embodiments of the perception function network element described in the first aspect of the embodiment of the present application, or may have the function of implementing any one of the embodiments of the present application separately. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0054] In one possible design, the communication device may include a processing unit and a communication unit. The processing unit is configured to support the communication device in performing the corresponding functions in the above method. The communication unit is configured to support communication between the communication device and other communication devices. The communication device may also include a storage unit, which is coupled to the processing unit and the communication unit and stores program instructions and data necessary for the communication device.

[0055] In one embodiment, the communication device includes: a processing unit and a communication unit, and the device is applied to a sensing function network element;

[0056] The communication unit is configured to receive first information from a service requester, wherein the first information includes an identification list and a sensing area, wherein the identification list includes identifications of one or more terminal devices;

[0057] The communication unit is further configured to receive sensing data from a sensing device for the sensing area, wherein the sensing data includes location information of one or more objects;

[0058] The processing unit is configured to determine an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects;

[0059] The communication unit is further configured to send second information to the service requester, where the second information is configured to indicate an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

[0060] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication device can refer to the relevant content of the first aspect above and will not be described in detail here.

[0061] In another embodiment, the communication device includes: a processing unit and a communication unit, the device is applied to the service requester, and the processing unit is used to process the signal / signaling;

[0062] The communication unit is configured to send first information to a first perception function network element, where the first information includes a first identification list and a perception area, where the first identification list includes identifications of one or more terminal devices;

[0063] The communication unit is further used to receive second information from the first perception function network element, where the second information is used to indicate an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and one or more objects within the perception area.

[0064] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication device can refer to the relevant content of the first aspect above and will not be described in detail here.

[0065] As an example, the communication unit may be a transceiver or a communication interface, the storage unit may be a memory, and the processing unit may be a processor.

[0066] In one embodiment, the communication device includes: a processor and a transceiver, and the device is applied to a sensing function network element;

[0067] The transceiver is configured to receive first information from a service requester, wherein the first information includes an identification list and a sensing area, and the identification list includes identifications of one or more terminal devices;

[0068] The transceiver is further configured to receive sensing data from a sensing device for the sensing area, wherein the sensing data includes location information of one or more objects;

[0069] The processor is configured to determine an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects;

[0070] The transceiver is further configured to send second information to the service requester, where the second information is configured to indicate an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

[0071] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication device can refer to the relevant content of the first aspect above and will not be described in detail here.

[0072] In another embodiment, the communication device includes: a processor and a transceiver, the device is applied to the service requester, and the processor is used to process the signal / signaling;

[0073] The transceiver is configured to send first information to a first perception function network element, where the first information includes a first identification list and a perception area, where the first identification list includes identifications of one or more terminal devices;

[0074] The transceiver is further used to receive second information from the first perception function network element, where the second information is used to indicate an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and one or more objects within the perception area.

[0075] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication device can refer to the relevant content of the second aspect above and will not be described in detail here.

[0076] In another embodiment, the communication device is a chip or a chip system. The processing unit may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit; and the communication unit may be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin, or related circuits on the chip or chip system.

[0077] During implementation, the processor can be used to perform, for example, but not limited to, baseband-related processing, and the transceiver can be used to perform, for example, but not limited to, radio frequency transceiver processing. The aforementioned devices can be provided on separate chips, or at least partially or entirely on the same chip. For example, the processor can be further divided into an analog baseband processor and a digital baseband processor. The analog baseband processor can be integrated with the transceiver on the same chip, while the digital baseband processor can be provided on a separate chip. With the continuous development of integrated circuit technology, more and more devices can be integrated on the same chip. For example, a digital baseband processor can be integrated with multiple application processors (such as, but not limited to, a graphics processor, a multimedia processor, etc.) on the same chip. Such a chip can be called a system on a chip (SoC). Whether each device is provided independently on different chips or integrated on one or more chips often depends on the needs of the product design. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the implementation form of the aforementioned devices.

[0078] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a processor for executing the various methods described above. In the process of executing these methods, the process of sending the above-mentioned information and receiving the above-mentioned information in the above-mentioned methods can be understood as the process of the processor outputting the above-mentioned information and the process of the processor receiving the above-mentioned information input. When outputting the above-mentioned information, the processor outputs the above-mentioned information to the transceiver so that the transceiver can transmit it. After being output by the processor, the above-mentioned information may also need to undergo other processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, when the processor receives the above-mentioned information input, 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 need to undergo other processing before being input into the processor.

[0079] For the sending and receiving operations involved in the processor, unless otherwise specified, or unless they conflict with their actual functions or internal logic in the relevant descriptions, they can be more generally understood as processor output, reception, input and other operations, rather than sending and receiving operations directly performed by the RF circuit and antenna.

[0080] During implementation, the processor may be a processor specifically configured to execute these methods, or may be a processor that executes computer instructions in a memory to execute these methods, such as a general-purpose processor. The memory may be a non-transitory memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), which may be integrated with the processor on the same chip or disposed on separate chips. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the type of memory or the configuration of the memory and the processor.

[0081] In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a communications system, comprising a perception function network element and a service requester. Optionally, the system further comprises a perception device. In another possible design, the system may further comprise other devices / functional network elements that interact with the perception function network element, the service requester, and the perception device.

[0082] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing instructions, which, when executed by a computer, implements the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0083] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, implements the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0084] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, which includes a processor and an interface, wherein the interface is used to obtain a program or instruction, and the processor is used to call the program or instruction to implement or support the perception function network element to implement the function involved in the first aspect, or to implement or support the service requester to implement the function involved in the second aspect. For example, determine or process at least one of the data and information involved in the above method. In one possible design, the chip system also includes a memory, which is used to store program instructions and data necessary for the terminal. The chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices.

[0085] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor for executing a computer program or executable instructions stored in a memory, so that when the computer program or executable instructions are executed, the device executes the methods in each possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0086] In one possible implementation, the processor and memory are integrated;

[0087] In another possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device.

[0088] The beneficial effects of the third to ninth aspects can refer to the beneficial effects of the first or second aspect, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0089] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture;

[0090] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of perception;

[0091] FIG3 is an interactive diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] FIG4 is an interactive diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] FIG5 is an interactive diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0096] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application are described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0097] To better understand the embodiments of the present application, the following first introduces the system architecture involved in the embodiments of the present application:

[0098] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to fourth-generation (4G) communication systems such as long-term evolution (LTE) systems and fifth-generation (5G) communication systems such as new radio (NR) systems. As communication technology continues to develop, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can also be used for subsequently evolved communication systems, such as sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication technology systems and seventh-generation (7G) mobile communication technology systems.

[0099] Please refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of a system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application. The system architecture includes network functional entities such as terminal equipment, (radio) access network ((R)AN), user plane function (UPF), data network (DN), access and mobility management function (AMF). As shown in Figure 1, the terminal device can access the wireless network to obtain services of the external network (such as the data network (DN)) through the wireless network, or communicate with other devices through the wireless network, such as communicating with other terminal devices. The following is a detailed description of the equipment / functional network elements involved in the system architecture in Figure 1.

[0100] Terminal devices may include various handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. Terminal devices may also be referred to as terminals. Terminal equipment may also refer to user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit, user agent, cellular phone, smart phone, wireless data card, personal digital assistant (PDA), tablet computer, wireless modem, handheld device (handset), laptop computer, smart point of sale (POS), customer-premises equipment (CPE), machine type communication (MTC) terminal, communication equipment carried by high-altitude aircraft, wearable device, drone, robot, terminal in device to device (D2D), terminal in vehicle to everything (V2X), virtual reality (VR) terminal device, augmented reality (AR) terminal device, wireless terminal in industrial control, wireless terminal in self-driving, wireless terminal in remote medical, wireless terminal in smart grid, etc. This application does not limit the wireless terminals in the future communication network, such as wireless terminals in the transportation safety grid, wireless terminals in the smart city, wireless terminals in the smart home, or terminal devices in the future communication network.

[0101] The RAN is a network composed of multiple 5G-RAN nodes, used to implement wireless physical layer functions, resource scheduling and radio resource management, radio access control, and mobility management. The 5G-RAN is connected to the UPF via the user plane interface N3 to transmit data from terminal devices. The 5G-RAN establishes a control plane signaling connection with the AMF via the control plane interface N2 to implement functions such as radio access bearer control. RAN nodes can be base stations in 5G networks or base stations in future evolved communication systems, broadband network gateways (BNGs), aggregation switches, or non-3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access devices. Optionally, the RAN nodes in the embodiments of the present application may include various forms of base stations, such as: macro base stations, micro base stations (also called small stations), relay stations, access points, devices that implement base station functions in communication systems evolved after 5G, transmission and receiving points (TRP), transmitting points (TP), integrated access and backhaul nodes (IAB nodes), mobile switching centers, and devices that perform base station functions in D2D and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0102] The following network functional entities can be understood as core network equipment:

[0103] The AMF network element is mainly responsible for UE authentication, UE mobility management, network slice selection, session management function (SMF) selection and other functions; the AMF network element serves as the anchor point for N1 and N2 signaling connections and provides routing of N1 / N2 SM messages for SMF network elements; the AMF network element maintains and manages UE status information.

[0104] The SMF network element is mainly responsible for all control plane functions of UE session management, including UPF selection, Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation, session quality of service (QoS) management, and obtaining policy and charging control (PCC) policies (from the policy control function (PCF)).

[0105] As the anchor point for protocol data unit (PDU) session connections, the UPF network element is responsible for filtering user equipment data packets, data transmission / forwarding, rate control, and generating billing information.

[0106] The unified data management (UDM) network element is mainly responsible for managing user data, such as the management of contract information, including obtaining contract information from the unified data repository (UDR) network element and providing it to other network elements (such as the AMF network element); generating third generation partnership project (3GPP) authentication credentials for the UE; and registering and maintaining the network element currently serving the UE (for example, the AMF represented by AMF ID1 is the UE's current serving AMF).

[0107] The UDR network element is mainly used to store user data, including subscription data called by the UDM network element, policy information called by the PCF network element, structured data for capability exposure, and application data called by the network element function (NEF) network element.

[0108] The NEF network element is a network capability exposure network element used to connect other internal network elements of the core network and the interaction between the core network's external application servers, so as to provide network capability information to the external application servers, or provide information of the external application servers to the core network elements.

[0109] The application function (AF) network element interacts with the core network element to provide some services. For example, it interacts with the PCF network element to perform service policy control, interacts with the NEF network element to obtain some network capability information or provide some application information to the network, and provides some data network access point information to the PCF network element to generate routing information for corresponding data services.

[0110] The authentication service function (AUSF) network element is used to perform security authentication on the UE when the UE accesses the network.

[0111] The network slice selection function (NSSF) network element selects a set of slice instances for the UE, determines the AMF set and allowed slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) for the UE.

[0112] The PCF network element provides configuration policy information for the UE and provides policy information for controlling the UE to the control plane network elements of the network (such as AMF network elements and SMF network elements).

[0113] It is understandable that when the solution of the embodiment of the present application is applied to 6G or future communication systems, the corresponding network function entity name may change, and this application does not limit this.

[0114] In mobile communication systems, when base stations utilize wireless frequency bands (such as 4G, 5G, 6G, millimeter wave, and terahertz bands), radar-like functions can be implemented through the mobile communication system, such as radar-like target detection. Specifically, mobile communication systems can utilize the transmission, reflection, and scattering of radio waves to perceive the physical world. For example, by acquiring distance, speed, and angle information from wireless signals, these perception and measurement information can be used to perceive and identify specific areas, objects, and events.

[0115] Perception functions can be used for object positioning, detection, and tracking, gesture capture and motion recognition, and target imaging. One possible application is in the security / regulatory sector, enabling detection and surveillance of areas corresponding to critical infrastructure. For example, railway departments could deploy base stations to continuously monitor for foreign intrusions such as debris flows and landslides, or power plants could deploy base stations to detect drone intrusions over their airspace. Another possible application is in scenarios involving vehicle-road collaboration, autonomous driving, assisted driving, and drone route planning. This could leverage the sensing capabilities of roadside base stations to provide vehicles or drones with beyond-line-of-sight perception capabilities, providing drivers with timely road environment information. This could include detecting pedestrians or non-motorized vehicles entering the road ahead, or obstacles on the planned route.

[0116] Based on different application scenarios, when deploying base stations with perception functions, the perception capabilities of the base stations may be planned based on the application purpose and the specific deployment environment. The specific measurements of perception capabilities include but are not limited to: distance resolution α, velocity resolution β, angular measurement accuracy θ, and horizontal field of view (FOV). Among them, distance resolution α refers to the ability to distinguish adjacent targets in distance, usually measured by the minimum resolvable distance interval, and can be used to identify different vehicles. Velocity resolution β refers to the ability to distinguish targets in radial velocity, usually measured by the minimum resolvable velocity interval, and can be used to distinguish vehicles with different speeds. Angular measurement accuracy θ refers to the error between the measured value and the true value of the angle of the measured target, and can be used to determine the lane the vehicle is in. The horizontal field of view FOV refers to the range that the perception device can cover (including horizontal and vertical viewing angles), expressed in degrees.

[0117] When the base stations in the 5G system have perception capabilities, the 5G system can be used for perception application services. The types of perception application services may include but are not limited to speed measurement of objects in the target area, target area monitoring (providing the trajectory of objects in the target area, target identification, target counting, etc.), target area object imaging (depicting the target outline, identifying the target type), etc.

[0118] Please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of a perception system. As shown in Figure 2, the perception network element obtains perception requirements based on internal network requirements or the requirements of the perception service demander. The perception network element performs detection and configuration on the wireless access network equipment based on the perception requirements. The wireless access network equipment detects and / or collects perception data in the perception area. After obtaining the perception data through detection, the wireless access network equipment provides the perception data to the perception network element. The perception network element processes the perception data and provides the processing results to the perception service demander, such as the AF network element.

[0119] Among them, the sensing network element can be, for example, a sensing function (SF) network element, or a sensing network function (SNF) network element or other names. For ease of explanation, the following description takes the sensing network element as an SF network element as an example. In addition, the SF network element can be an architecture with a user plane and a control plane separated, that is, the SF network element can include a user plane module and a control plane module. In some implementations, the SF network element in the embodiments of the present application can refer to a sensing function network element-control plane (SF-C), or a sensing function network element-user plane (SF-U).

[0120] It should be noted that the SF network element can be one of the network elements in the 5G core network (5G core, 5GC) or a non-core network element, and this application does not specifically limit this. When the SF network element is one of the network elements in the 5G core network, the SF network element can be connected to other network elements in the 5G core network through a service-based architecture (SBA) interface, that is, it can communicate with other network elements in the 5G core network through the SBA interface. When the SF network element is a non-core network element, the SF network element cannot be connected to other network elements in the 5G core network through the SBA interface. At this time, it may be necessary to interact with other 5G core network elements through the transit of NEF. Optionally, the SF network element can be implemented by other network elements in the core network.

[0121] In addition, SF can be an independently deployed network element or a network element co-located with other devices. For example, SF can be an independently deployed network element in the core network or a network element co-located with other core network devices.

[0122] There may be UE targets and non-UE targets in the perception area. Non-UE targets are also called passive targets / devices, non-UE targets / devices, targets / devices without subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, targets without UE associations, objects, etc., that is, non-UE targets are not UE and are not associated with UE devices. The positioning services of the existing third generation partnership project (3GPP) system cannot be used to locate non-UE targets. UE targets can often be identified by regulators through the 3GPP system and the identity of the UE. Perception technology can identify the presence of non-UE targets in the perception area. UE targets in the perception area may be associated with non-UE targets. For example, in a warehousing scenario, in order to facilitate logistics tracking of goods, a tag is often affixed to the goods. The tag is regarded as a UE target, and the goods are regarded as a non-UE target. The tag is affixed to the goods, so the tag is a UE target associated with the goods.

[0123] For some regulatory agencies, it may be necessary to identify terminal devices that cooperate with the regulatory agency and terminal devices that do not cooperate within the perception area. For example, the cellular network-connected drones defined by 3GPP need to use the control plane of the mobile network. After forwarding the drone's authentication and authorization requests, they can perform flight control operations only after being authorized by the regulatory platform. The regulatory platform can use the positioning service defined by 3GPP to track the drone, obtain the drone's location information, and implement functions such as electronic fences. However, non-cooperative (illegal) drones may appear in the regulatory area, such as drone swarm flight performances, aerial photography of major events, and other scenes mixed with illegal drones. In another case, some UE targets in the target area have not been allowed by the regulatory platform or have not been registered and authorized with the regulatory platform. These UE targets are also regarded as non-cooperative targets.

[0124] Therefore, it is crucial for regulators to understand the actual situation of targets within the target area, including the number, location, and trajectory of cooperative and non-cooperative targets. For example, regulators must distinguish between non-cooperative drones and certified and authorized drones within the target area, and further track, monitor, and / or countermeasure non-cooperative drones.

[0125] The embodiments of this application can be applied to certain regulatory scenarios, such as tracking UE devices bound to materials, and realizing remote material safety confirmation by confirming the association between UE devices and material targets. The embodiments of this application can also be applied to networked drone supervision scenarios, that is, when there are authorized drones and non-cooperative drones in the target area, it can help regulatory agencies perceive the presence of non-cooperative drones and determine which targets are non-cooperative drones.

[0126] The embodiments of the present application can also be applied to other scenarios, such as smart transportation / home / factory scenarios, when the supervision / security application needs to know whether the monitored UE is associated with the target object, whether it exists in the target area (for example, whether the person carrying the UE is taking a certain means of transportation / whether it is a pedestrian, whether the person wearing a smart watch / pet is in a safe area), which UEs are not associated as expected, and which targets may be non-cooperative targets.

[0127] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication method 100. In this method, a service requester sends first information to a SF network element. The first information includes an identification list and a perception area. The identification list includes identifications of one or more terminal devices. The SF network element receives perception data for the perception area from the perception device. The perception data includes location information of one or more objects. The SF network element determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects. The SF network element indicates the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects to the service requester through second information. This method facilitates the service requester to determine, based on the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects, the terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and / or the terminal devices that do not cooperate with the service requester among the one or more terminal devices.

[0128] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication method 200. Compared to communication method 100, communication method 200 embodies a multi-operator scenario. In communication method 200, a service requester sends first information to a first perception function network element and third information to a second perception function network element. The first information includes a first identifier list and a perception area. The first identifier list includes location information of one or more terminal devices. The third information includes a second identifier list and a perception area. The second identifier list includes location information of one or more terminal devices. The one or more terminal devices included in the first identifier list are different from the one or more terminal devices included in the second identifier list. The first perception function network element and the second perception function network element belong to different operators. The first perception function network element receives first perception data from the first perception device for the perception area. The first perception data includes location information of one or more objects. Based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices in the first identifier list and the location information of the one or more objects in the first perception data, the first perception function network element determines an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects. The first perception function network element indicates the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects to the service requester via second information. The second perception function network element receives second perception data of the second perception device for the perception area, where the second perception data includes location information of one or more objects. The second perception function network element determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices in the second identification list and the location information of the one or more objects in the second perception data, and indicates the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects to the service requester through fourth information. This helps the service requester determine the terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and / or the terminal devices that do not cooperate with the service requester based on the second information and the fourth information.

[0129] The present application embodiment proposes a communication method 100. FIG3 is an interaction diagram of the communication method 100. The communication method 100 is described from the perspective of the interaction between the perception function network element and the service requester. The communication method 100 includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0130] S301. A service requester sends first information to a perception function network element, the first information including an identification list and a perception area, the identification list including identifications of one or more terminal devices. Correspondingly, the perception function network element receives the first information from the service requester.

[0131] The perception area is the area that the service requester requests the SF network element to perceive.

[0132] In an optional implementation, before sending the first information to the SF network element, the service requester determines one or more terminal devices managed by the operator to which the SF network element belongs within the perception area. Therefore, the one or more terminal devices are terminal devices managed by the operator to which the SF network element belongs within the perception area.

[0133] It can be seen that the service requester indicates one or more terminal devices managed by the operator to which the SF network element belongs within the perception area to the SF network element through the identification list in the first information.

[0134] In addition, the first information is used to trigger the SF network element to determine, based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the SF network element, the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects. Thus, the manner in which the service requester sends the first information to the SF network element facilitates the SF network element determining, based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the SF network element, the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

[0135] In an optional implementation, the first information is carried in a sensing request, which is used to request the sensing function network element to sense the sensing area. It can be seen that the service requester can send the identification list and sensing area to the SF network element through the sensing request, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0136] In an optional embodiment, the service requester also sends an association operation indication to the perception function network element, where the association operation indication is used to indicate the determination of the association relationship between one or more terminal devices in the identification list and one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the perception function network element. Accordingly, the perception function network element obtains the association operation indication from the service requester. This method enables the SF network element to determine the association relationship between one or more terminal devices in the identification list and one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the SF network element based on the association operation indication after receiving the first information.

[0137] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the naming of the "association operation indication". Optionally, the naming of the "association operation indication" can be replaced by one of the following: target association verification indication, target identification indication, target verification indication, target perception indication, target existence indication, or target compliance indication. Optionally, the naming of the "association operation indication" can also be replaced by one of the following: UE target association verification indication, UE target identification indication, UE target verification indication, UE target perception indication, UE target existence indication, or UE target compliance indication. Among them, the target identification indication, target verification indication, target perception indication, target existence indication, target compliance indication, UE target identification indication, UE target verification indication, UE target perception indication, UE target existence indication, or UE target compliance indication is used to indicate the association relationship between one or more terminal devices in the identification list and one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the perception function network element.

[0138] Optionally, the "indication" in the "association operation indication" can also be replaced with "request" or "request type", that is, the purpose represented by the above indication can also be expressed in the form of "request type" in the perception request. For example, the "association operation indication" can be replaced with "association operation request", or the request type is set to "association operation", and the association operation request is used to request to determine the association relationship between one or more terminal devices in the identification list and one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the perception function network element. Similarly, the target association verification indication, target identification indication, target verification indication, target perception indication, target existence indication, target compliance indication, UE target association verification indication, UE target identification indication, UE target verification indication, UE target perception indication, UE target existence indication, or UE target compliance indication can be replaced with: target association verification request, target identification request, target verification request, target perception request, target existence request, target compliance request, UE target association verification request, UE target identification request, UE target verification request, UE target perception request, UE target existence request, or UE target compliance request.

[0139] S302. The perception function network element receives perception data for a perception area from a perception device, where the perception data includes location information of one or more objects.

[0140] The sensing device is a device determined by the SF network element and used to sense the sensing area. The sensing device may be a wireless access network device or a terminal device. In addition, the one or more objects are objects sensed by the sensing device in the sensing area, and the location information of the one or more objects is obtained by the sensing device through sensing the sensing area.

[0141] In an optional embodiment, before obtaining the sensing data for the sensing area from the sensing device, the SF network element sends a sensing request to the sensing device, requesting the sensing device to sense the sensing area. The sensing device then senses the sensing area, obtains the sensing data, and sends the sensing data to the SF network element. Furthermore, the SF network element receives the sensing data for the sensing area from the sensing device.

[0142] In another optional implementation, after receiving a sensing request from a service requester, the SF network element controls the sensing device to sense the sensing area. The sensing device continuously senses the sensing area for a long period of time and sends sensing data to the SF network element. Thus, the SF network element continuously receives sensing data for the sensing area from the sensing device for a long period of time.

[0143] Optionally, the perception data includes the location information of one or more objects, which can be understood as: the perception data directly includes the location information of each of the one or more objects. For example, if the one or more objects within the perception area include object A and object B, the perception data includes the location information of object A and the location information of object B.

[0144] Optionally, the perception data includes the location information of one or more objects, which can be understood as: the perception data includes information related to the location information of each object in the one or more objects, that is, the perception data includes unprocessed information related to the location information of one or more objects. The SF network element processes the information related to the location information of each object to obtain the location information of each object, and then obtain the location information of one or more objects. For example, the perception data includes the raw data of one or more objects obtained by the perception device through perception of the perception area. The raw data can be the in-phase / orthogonal data (i.e., I / Q data) of the radio frequency signal, and can also be understood as the time domain digital signal obtained after the perception device performs analog-to-digital (A / D) conversion on the received reflection signal (or echo signal). The SF network element processes the raw data of one or more objects to obtain the location information of one or more objects.

[0145] For another example, sensing data includes spectral information of one or more objects obtained by a sensing device sensing the sensing area. The spectral information includes a range velocity (RV) spectrum, a range Doppler (RD) spectrum, a range velocity angle (RVA) spectrum, and a range Doppler angle (RDA) spectrum. The SF network element processes the spectral information of one or more objects to obtain their location information.

[0146] For example, sensing data includes point cloud information of one or more objects obtained by a sensing device within a sensing area. This point cloud information can be understood as the location and velocity of scattering points detected by the sensing device. The SF network element processes the point cloud information of one or more objects to obtain their location information.

[0147] Furthermore, the location information of one or more objects can be understood as the geographic location of each of the one or more objects, or as a trajectory consisting of multiple locations of each of the one or more objects. For example, if the one or more objects include object A and object B, the location information of object A and object B may be the geographic location of object A and the geographic location of object B, respectively. Alternatively, the location information of object A may refer to trajectory 1 determined based on the locations of object A at locations 1 and 2, and the location information of object B may refer to trajectory 2 determined based on the locations of object B at locations 3 and 4.

[0148] S303. The perception function network element determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects.

[0149] In an optional embodiment, the SF network element obtains the location information of the one or more terminal devices based on a location service (LCS) before determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects. Similar to the location information of the one or more objects, the location information of the one or more terminal devices can be understood as the geographic location of each of the one or more terminal devices, or as a trajectory consisting of multiple locations of each of the one or more terminal devices.

[0150] It is understandable that the SF network element obtains one or more terminal devices based on the identification list, and thus obtains the location information of the one or more terminal devices based on the positioning service.

[0151] In another optional implementation, the SF network element obtains the location information of one or more terminal devices from the service requester before determining the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects.

[0152] It can be understood that before the SF network element determines the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects, the service requester sends the location information of one or more terminal devices to the SF network element, so that the SF network element receives the location information of one or more terminal devices from the service requester.

[0153] The location information of one or more terminal devices may be carried in the first information, or may not be carried in the first information. When the location information of one or more terminal devices is carried in the first information, signaling overhead may be reduced.

[0154] Optionally, before the service requester sends the location information of one or more terminal devices to the SF network element, the service requester also obtains the location information of the one or more terminal devices based on the positioning service. Optionally, before the service requester sends the location information of one or more terminal devices to the SF network element, the service requester receives the location information reported by each of the one or more terminal devices, thereby obtaining the location information of the one or more terminal devices.

[0155] It can be seen that when the service requester sends the location information of one or more terminal devices to the SF network element, the location information of one or more terminal devices can be obtained by the service requester based on the positioning service, or each of the one or more terminal devices can report it to the service requester. Therefore, the service requester can send the obtained location information of one or more terminal devices to the SF network element.

[0156] In an optional implementation, when the SF network element obtains the location information of one or more terminal devices from the service requester, it can also obtain a first timestamp associated with the location information of the one or more terminal devices from the service requester. The first timestamp is associated with the location information of one or more terminal devices, which can be understood as: the location information of one or more terminal devices is obtained by the service requester at the moment or time range indicated by the first timestamp. For example, the location information of one or more terminal devices is obtained by the service requester based on the positioning service at the moment or time range indicated by the first timestamp. For another example, the location information of one or more terminal devices is reported to the service requester by each of the one or more terminal devices at the moment or time range indicated by the first timestamp.

[0157] Optionally, if the location information of one or more terminal devices is reported by each of the one or more terminal devices to the service requester, the first timestamp can be the time when each terminal device reports the location information to the service requester, or it can be the moment or time range when the service requester receives the location information of one or more terminal devices.

[0158] If the SF network element obtains a first timestamp associated with the location information of one or more terminal devices, the SF network element determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, including: determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects at the moment or time range indicated by the first timestamp.

[0159] It can be seen that the location information of one or more objects used by the SF network element is obtained by the perception device through perception of the perception area at the time or time range indicated by the first timestamp, and the location information of one or more terminal devices used is also obtained based on the time or time range indicated by the first timestamp. Therefore, the SF network element determines the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects at the same time or time range. This approach can improve the accuracy of the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects.

[0160] In another optional implementation, the SF network element obtains a second timestamp associated with the identifier list from the service requester, where the second timestamp indicates the time when one or more terminal devices are present in the sensing area. The second timestamp associated with the identifier list may be carried in the first information, or may be carried in information different from the first information.

[0161] Optionally, when the SF network element does not obtain the second timestamp associated with the identifier list from the service requester, the SF network element uses the time of receiving the identifier list as the second timestamp associated with the identifier list.

[0162] If the SF network element obtains or determines the second timestamp associated with the identifier list, and the SF network element obtains the location information of one or more terminal devices based on the positioning service on its own, the SF network element obtains the location information of the one or more terminal devices based on the positioning service at the moment or time range indicated by the second timestamp.

[0163] When the SF network element obtains or determines the second timestamp associated with the identification list, the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects is determined based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, including: determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects at the moment or time range indicated by the second timestamp.

[0164] It can be seen that if the SF network element obtains or determines the second timestamp associated with the identification list, the SF network element also determines the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices at the same time or within the same time range, and the location information of one or more objects, which can improve the accuracy of the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects.

[0165] It is understandable that when the number of terminal device identifiers included in the identifier list is different, the implementation method of the SF network element determining the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects is different. The following is based on the number of terminal device identifiers included in the identifier list, explaining how the SF network element determines the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects:

[0166] Implementation method 1: The identification list includes an identification of a terminal device, and the SF network element determines whether a terminal device is associated with an object in the one or more objects based on the location information of the terminal device and the location information of one or more objects.

[0167] It can be seen that when the identification list includes the identification of a terminal device, the SF network element determines the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects, including: determining whether a terminal device is associated with an object among the one or more objects based on the location information of a terminal device and the location information of one or more objects.

[0168] In an optional embodiment, the SF network element determines whether a terminal device is associated with an object among one or more objects based on the location information of a terminal device and the location information of one or more objects, including: when the location information of a terminal device is the same as one of the location information of one or more objects, determining that a terminal device is associated with an object among one or more objects; when the location information of a terminal device is different from the location information of one or more objects, determining that a terminal device is not associated with an object among one or more objects.

[0169] The term "a terminal device is associated with an object" may be understood as meaning that there is an association relationship between the terminal device and the object, such as the terminal device being set, bound, or installed on the object. Similarly, the term "a terminal device is not associated with an object" may be understood as meaning that there is no association relationship between the terminal device and the object, such as the terminal device not being set, bound, or installed on the object.

[0170] In addition, the location information of a terminal device is the same as one of the location information of one or more objects, which can be understood as: the location information of the terminal device is completely identical or completely matches one of the location information of the one or more objects.

[0171] Optionally, the location information of a terminal device being identical to one of the location information of one or more objects can be understood as: the location information of the terminal device being identical to or matching one of the location information of the one or more objects within a preset range. The preset range can be configured by the service requester for the SF network element, or can be pre-negotiated between the service requester and the SF network element.

[0172] Similarly, the location information of a terminal device is different from the location information of one or more objects. It can be understood that the location information of a terminal device is not completely identical or completely matched with the location information of one or more objects, or it can be understood that the location information of a terminal device is different from or does not match the location information of one or more objects within a preset range.

[0173] For example, the identifier list includes the identifier of UE1, and the perception data for the perception area received by the perception device from the SF network element includes the location information of object 1 and the location information of object 2. If the location information of UE1 is exactly the same as the location information of object 2, the SF network element determines that UE1 is associated with object 2. If the location information of UE1 is identical to the location information of object 2 within a preset range, the SF also determines that UE1 is associated with object 2. If the location information of UE1 is different from the location information of object 1 and the location information of object 2, or is different from the location information of object 2 within a preset range, the SF determines that UE1 is not associated with either object 1 or object 2.

[0174] Implementation method 2: The identification list includes identifications of multiple terminal devices, and SF determines terminal devices and / or unassociated terminal devices among the multiple terminal devices that are associated with objects in one or more objects based on the location information of the multiple terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects.

[0175] It can be seen that when the identification list includes the identifications of multiple terminal devices, the SF network element determines the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects, including: SF determines the terminal devices and / or unassociated terminal devices among the multiple terminal devices that are associated with objects in one or more objects based on the location information of the multiple terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects.

[0176] In an optional embodiment, the SF network element determines, based on the location information of multiple terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects, the terminal devices and / or unassociated terminal devices in the multiple terminal devices that are associated with the objects in the one or more objects, including: determining the terminal device corresponding to the location information that is the same as the location information of the one or more objects in the location information of the multiple terminal devices as the terminal device associated with the objects in the one or more objects; and / or determining the terminal device corresponding to the location information that is different from the location information of the one or more objects in the location information of the multiple terminal devices as the terminal device unassociated with the objects in the one or more objects.

[0177] Understandably, the SF network element determines, based on the location information of multiple terminal devices, whether the location information of each terminal device is the same as the location information of one or more objects. If the location information of the terminal device is the same as the location information of the one or more objects, the SF network element determines the terminal device as a terminal device associated with an object in the one or more objects. If the location information of the terminal device is different from the location information of the one or more objects, the SF network element determines the terminal device as a terminal device not associated with an object in the one or more objects. Based on whether each terminal device is associated with an object, the SF network element determines which terminal devices are associated with an object and / or which terminal devices are not associated with an object among the multiple terminal devices.

[0178] It can be seen that the terminal device associated with the object among the multiple terminal devices is a terminal device whose location information is the same as the location information of an object among one or more objects, and the terminal device not associated with the object among the multiple terminal devices is a terminal device whose location information is different from the location information of each object among one or more objects.

[0179] The location information of multiple terminal devices that is identical to the location information of one or more objects can be understood as: location information that is completely identical or completely matches the location information of one or more objects in the location information of multiple terminal devices, or can be understood as: location information that is identical or matches the location information of one or more objects in the location information of multiple terminal devices within a preset range. The preset range can be configured by the service requester for the SF network element, or can be pre-negotiated between the service requester and the SF network element.

[0180] For example, the identifier list includes the identifier of UE1 and the identifier of UE2, and the one or more objects include object 1, object 2, and object 3. The location information of UE1 is exactly the same as the location information of object 1, and the location information of UE2 is different from the location information of object 2 and the location information of object 3. Then, the SF network element determines that the UE associated with the object among UE1 and UE2 is UE1, and the unassociated UE is UE2.

[0181] In an optional implementation, the SF network element does not obtain the location information of one or more terminal devices, but obtains a second timestamp associated with the identification list. In this case, the identification list may include the number of terminal devices. Thus, the SF network element determines whether there is an abnormality in the perception area based on the number of terminal devices included in the identification list and the number of one or more objects perceived by the perception device in the perception area at the moment or time range indicated by the second timestamp. For example, if the number of terminal devices included in the identification list is greater than the number of one or more objects in the perception area, the SF network element determines that there is an abnormality in the perception area at the moment or time range indicated by the second timestamp, such as there may be terminal devices in the perception area that have illegally entered.

[0182] S304. The perception function network element sends second information to the service requester, where the second information is used to indicate the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects. Correspondingly, the service requester receives the second information from the perception function network element.

[0183] It is understandable that when the implementation method of the SF network element determining the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects is different, the specific form of the second information is also different. The following describes the specific form of the second information in conjunction with the implementation method of the SF network element determining the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects:

[0184] Mode a: The second information is specifically used to indicate whether a terminal device is associated with an object among one or more objects.

[0185] As described in Embodiment 1 above, when the identifier list includes the identifier of a terminal device, the SF network element determines whether the terminal device is associated with an object among the one or more objects based on the location information of the terminal device and the location information of one or more objects. Therefore, when the identifier list includes the identifier of a terminal device, the second information specifically indicates whether the terminal device is associated with an object among the one or more objects.

[0186] In an optional embodiment, the second information includes an association indication and an identifier of a terminal device, or the second information includes an unassociated indication and an identifier of a terminal device. The association indication is used to indicate that the terminal device is associated with an object among the one or more objects, and the unassociated indication is used to indicate that the terminal device is not associated with an object among the one or more objects.

[0187] Specifically, when the SF network element determines that a terminal device is associated with an object among one or more objects, the second information includes an association indication and an identifier of the terminal device; when the SF determines that a terminal device is not associated with an object among one or more objects, the second information includes an unassociated indication and an identifier of the terminal device.

[0188] The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific forms of the association indication and the non-association indication. For example, the association indication is "1" and the non-association indication is "0." For another example, the association indication is "0" and the non-association indication is "1." For ease of explanation, the following description uses the association indication as "1" and the non-association indication as "0" as an example.

[0189] For example, the identification list includes the identification of UE1. If the second information includes "1" and the identification of UE1, it means that UE1 is associated with an object among one or more objects; if the second information includes "0" and the identification of UE1, it means that UE1 is not associated with an object among one or more objects.

[0190] In another optional implementation, the second information includes an association indication but does not include an identifier of a terminal device; or the second information includes an unassociation indication but does not include an identifier of a terminal device. It can be seen that the second information includes an association indication or an unassociation indication.

[0191] When the second information includes an association indication, the service requester defaults to associating the terminal device indicated to the SF network element with the object in the one or more objects within the sensing area. When the second information includes an unassociated indication, the service requester defaults to associating the terminal device indicated to the SF network element with the object in the one or more objects within the sensing area.

[0192] For example, the identification list includes the identification of UE1. If the second information includes "1", the service requester defaults that UE1 is associated with an object among one or more objects in the perception area; if the second information includes "0", the service requester defaults that UE1 is not associated with an object among one or more objects in the perception area.

[0193] Mode b: the second information is specifically used to indicate the identifiers of terminal devices associated with one or more objects and / or identifiers of unassociated terminal devices among the multiple terminal devices.

[0194] As described in Embodiment 2 above, when the identification list includes identifications of multiple terminal devices, the SF network element determines, based on the location information of the multiple terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects, the terminal devices associated with the one or more objects and / or the unassociated terminal devices among the multiple terminal devices. Thus, when the identification list includes identifications of multiple terminal devices, the second information specifically indicates the identifications of the terminal devices associated with the one or more objects and / or the unassociated terminal devices among the multiple terminal devices.

[0195] In an optional embodiment, the second information includes an association indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the association indication, and / or an unassociation indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the unassociation indication.

[0196] Optionally, the identifiers and association indications of one or more terminal devices among the multiple terminal devices that are associated with an object among the one or more objects are carried in a single information element, and the identifiers and non-association indications of one or more terminal devices among the multiple terminal devices that are not associated with an object among the one or more objects are carried in a single information element. Thus, if the service requester receives an information element carrying an association indication, it determines that the one or more terminal devices corresponding to the identifiers of the one or more terminal devices in the information element are terminal devices associated with the object; if the SF network element receives an information element carrying a non-association indication, it determines that the one or more terminal devices corresponding to the identifiers of the one or more terminal devices in the information element are terminal devices not associated with the object.

[0197] For example, if the second information includes the identifier of UE1, the identifier of UE2, and "1", it indicates that UE1 and UE2 are terminal devices associated with the object. For another example, if the second information includes the identifier of UE3, the identifier of UE4, and "0", it indicates that UE3 and UE4 are terminal devices not associated with the object. For another example, if the second information includes information element 1 and information element 2, information element 1 includes the identifier of UE1, the identifier of UE2, and "1", and information element 2 includes the identifier of UE3, the identifier of UE4, and "0", it indicates that UE1 and UE2 are terminal devices associated with the object, and UE3 and UE4 are terminal devices not associated with the object.

[0198] Optionally, the identifiers and association indications of one or more terminal devices associated with an object in the one or more objects among the multiple terminal devices are carried in different information cells, and the identifiers and non-association indications of one or more terminal devices not associated with an object in the one or more objects among the multiple terminal devices are also carried in different information cells. The service requester determines the terminal devices associated with the object and / or the terminal devices not associated with the object among the multiple terminal devices based on the association indications and terminal device identifiers included in the received multiple information cells, and / or the non-association indications and terminal device identifiers included in the received multiple information cells.

[0199] In another optional embodiment, the second information includes the identifiers of terminal devices associated with an object in one or more objects among the multiple terminal devices, and / or the identifiers of unassociated terminal devices, and does not include association indications and unassociated indications. It is understandable that the identifiers of one or more terminal devices associated with an object in one or more objects among the multiple terminal devices are carried in the same information element, and the information element implicitly indicates that the terminal device is associated with the object, so that when the service requester receives the information element, it can determine that the one or more terminal devices corresponding to the identifiers of the one or more terminal devices in the information element are associated with the object. In addition, when the identifiers of one or more terminal devices not associated with an object in one or more objects among the multiple terminal devices are carried in another information element, and the information element implicitly indicates that the terminal device is not associated with the object, then when the service requester receives the information element, it can determine that the one or more terminal devices corresponding to the identifiers of the one or more terminal devices in the information element are not associated with the object.

[0200] Optionally, the service requester and the SF network element may pre-negotiate an information element used to implicitly indicate that the terminal device is associated with the object, and an information element used to implicitly indicate that the terminal device is not associated with the object.

[0201] Exemplarily, the service requester and the SF network element pre-negotiate that information element #a is used to implicitly indicate that the terminal device is associated with an object, and that information element #b is used to implicitly indicate that the terminal device is not associated with an object. The identifier list includes the identifiers of UE1, UE2, UE3, and UE4. The SF network element receives sensing data for a sensing area from the sensing device, including location information of objects 1, 2, and 3. Based on the location information of UE1, UE2, UE3, and UE4, as well as the location information of objects 1, 2, and 3, the SF network element determines that UE1 is associated with object 2, UE2 is associated with object 3, and UE3 and UE4 are not associated with any of objects 1, 2, and 3. The second information then includes information element a and information element b. Information element a includes the identifiers of UE1 and UE2, and information element b includes the identifiers of UE3 and UE4.

[0202] In an optional embodiment, the second information is also used to indicate the time corresponding to the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects. That is, the time indicated by the second information is the time when the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects exists. This method allows the service requester to know the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects at the time indicated by the second information, which is beneficial for the service requester to determine whether each of the one or more terminal devices is legitimate based on the information of the terminal device configured in the service requester at that moment, or to determine whether the terminal device associated with the object at that moment deviates from the expected trajectory.

[0203] Specifically, when the identification list includes the identification of a terminal device, the second information is further used to indicate whether the terminal device is associated with an object among the one or more objects. When the identification list includes the identifications of multiple terminal devices, the second information is further used to indicate the time corresponding to the terminal device associated with the one or more objects, and / or the time corresponding to the terminal device not associated with the one or more objects.

[0204] For example, the identification list includes the identification of UE1. The SF network element determines that UE1 is associated with object 1 based on the location information of UE1 at time t1 and the location information of objects 1 and 2 in the perception area at time t1. The second information includes the identification of UE1, time t1 and "1".

[0205] For another example, the identification list includes the identifications of UE1, UE2 and UE3. The SF network element determines that UE1 is associated with object 2, and UE2 and UE3 are not associated with object 1 and object 2 based on the location information of UE1, UE2 and UE3 at time t2, and the location information of object 1 and object 2 in the perception area at time t2. The second information includes "1", the identification of UE1 corresponding to "1", "0", the identification of UE2 and UE3 corresponding to "0", and time t2.

[0206] In an optional embodiment, the second information further includes characteristic information of one or more terminal devices associated with the object and / or characteristic information of terminal devices not associated with the object. The characteristic information may be used to indicate at least one of the following: profile, type, trajectory, direction, and speed.

[0207] Optionally, if the second information also includes characteristic information of a terminal device associated with the object among the one or more terminal devices, and / or characteristic information of a terminal device not associated with the object, the service requester may further determine whether each of the one or more terminal devices is associated with the object based on the second information and the characteristic information of the one or more terminal devices configured at the service requester. Thus, the service requester may re-verify whether each of the one or more terminal devices is associated with the object.

[0208] Optionally, the second information also includes characteristic information of one or more objects associated with one or more terminal devices, and / or characteristic information of objects not associated with one or more terminal devices. In this manner, the service requester can further identify the types of objects associated with the terminal devices and objects not associated with the terminal devices based on the received characteristic information of the objects, and further determine whether there are any anomalies with the objects not associated with the terminal devices.

[0209] For example, the identification list includes the identifications of UE1 and UE2, the one or more objects include object 1, object 2 and object 3, UE1 is associated with object 1, and UE2 is associated with object 3. The second information also includes feature information of object 1 and object 3 associated with UE1 and UE2 respectively, and feature information of object 2 that is not associated with UE1, UE2 and UE3.

[0210] Optionally, the second information also includes identifiers of one or more objects associated with the terminal device, and / or identifiers of objects not associated with the terminal device. This approach allows the service requester to learn which objects, among one or more objects within the sensing area, are associated with the terminal device, and / or which objects are not associated with the terminal device. This facilitates the service requester in determining whether the devices in the one or more terminal devices are associated as expected, such as whether a terminal device is associated with a specific object as expected.

[0211] Optionally, the second information may be included in the sensing result sent by the SF network element to the service requester, that is, the sensing result includes the second information and the identification of one or more objects in the sensing area. The second information may be included in the sensing result, which can save signaling overhead.

[0212] In an optional embodiment, after receiving the second information from the SF network element, the service requester further determines, based on the second information, terminal devices within the sensing area that cooperate with the service requester and / or terminal devices that do not cooperate with the service requester, thereby facilitating the service requester to further track, monitor, and / or countermeasure the non-cooperative terminal devices. A cooperating terminal device can be understood as a terminal device authorized by the service requester or a terminal device registered with the service requester; an uncooperative terminal device can be understood as a terminal device not authorized by the service requester or a terminal device not registered with the service requester.

[0213] For example, the identification list includes the identification of UE1, and the second information indicates that UE1 is not associated with one or more objects, and there are no UEs of other operators in the perception area. The service requester determines that UE1 is a non-cooperative UE, and then the service requester can track or counter UE1, or determine whether UE1 is not associated with the object according to the expected relationship.

[0214] For another example, the identification list includes the identifications of UE1, UE2 and UE3, and the second information indicates that UE1 and UE2 are associated with the object, UE3 is not associated with the object, and there are no UEs of other operators in the perception area. The service requester determines that UE1 and UE2 are terminal devices cooperating with the service requester, and UE3 is a terminal device that does not cooperate with the service requester. The service requester can then track or counter UE3, or determine whether UE3 is not associated with the object according to the expected relationship.

[0215] It can be seen that in the embodiment of the present application, the service requester sends the first information to the SF network element, and the first information includes an identification list and a perception area, and the identification list includes the identification of one or more terminal devices. The SF network element receives perception data for the perception area from the perception device, and the perception data includes the location information of one or more objects. The SF network element determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, and indicates the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects to the service requester through the second information. This method is beneficial for the service requester to determine the terminal devices and / or non-cooperative terminal devices among the one or more terminal devices based on the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects, and thus is beneficial for the service requester to track or counter the non-cooperative terminal devices, or is beneficial for the service requester to determine whether a terminal device exists in the perception area, and whether a terminal device is not associated with the object according to the expected relationship.

[0216] In this embodiment of the present application, the communication method 100 is described by taking the service requester as an AF network element, the sensing device as a wireless access network device, the first information carried in the sensing request, and the second information carried in the sensing result as an example. FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the interaction between the wireless access network device, the SF network element, and the AF network element. The interaction between the wireless access network device, the SF network element, and the AF network element includes but is not limited to S401 to S405:

[0217] S401. The AF network element sends a sensing request to the SF network element. The sensing request is used to request sensing of a sensing area. The sensing request includes first information, including an identifier list and the sensing area. The identifier list includes identifiers of one or more terminal devices. In response, the SF network element receives the sensing request from the AF network element.

[0218] In an optional implementation, the AF network element sends a perception request to the SF network element, including: the AF network element sends the perception request to the SF network element through the NEF network element. The AF network element sends the perception request to the SF network element through the NEF network element, which can be understood as: the AF network element sends the perception request to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element then transparently transmits the perception request to the SF network element, or, it can be understood as: the AF network element sends the perception request to the NEF network element, the NEF network element parses the perception request, and sends the information element obtained by the analysis to the SF network element. Optionally, the AF network element sends the perception request to the SF network element, or the AF network element sends the perception request to the SF network element through other network elements other than the NEF network element, or the AF network element directly sends the perception request to the SF network element.

[0219] In an optional implementation, before the AF network element sends a perception request to the SF network element, the AF network element obtains one or more terminal devices managed by the operator to which the SF network element belongs within the perception area, thereby determining that the identification list sent to the SF network element includes the identifications of the one or more terminal devices.

[0220] In an optional implementation, the SF network element further sends an association operation indication to the SF network element. The association operation indication is used to instruct the SF network element to determine an association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the SF network element. Optionally, the association operation indication is included in the perception request to reduce signaling overhead. The implementation of the association operation indication can be found in S301 and will not be repeated here.

[0221] S402. The SF network element sends information indicating the sensing area, sensing requirements, and sensing services to the wireless access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the information indicating the sensing area, sensing requirements, and sensing services from the SF network element.

[0222] Optionally, the perception request sent by the AF network element to the SF network element also includes information for indicating perception requirements and perception services. The information for indicating perception requirements is, for example, information for indicating quality of service (QoS) requirements of the perception service, and the information for indicating the perception service is, for example, information for indicating a perception service identifier.

[0223] After receiving the sensing request from the AF network element, the SF network element determines the sensing device to perform the sensing service based on the sensing requirements and sensing services indicated in the sensing request. For example, it determines a radio access network device to perform the sensing service. Furthermore, the SF network element sends information indicating the sensing area, sensing requirements, and sensing services to the determined radio access network device, so that the radio access network device performs the sensing service for the sensing area based on the sensing requirements.

[0224] S403. The radio access network device sends sensing data for the sensing area to the SF network element, where the sensing data includes location information of one or more objects. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the sensing data for the sensing area from the radio access network device.

[0225] It is understandable that, based on the sensing requirements, the wireless access network device performs sensing services on the sensing area, obtains sensing data, and sends the sensing data to the SF. The sensing data includes the location information of one or more objects. The location information of the one or more objects can be found in S302 above and will not be repeated here.

[0226] S404. The SF network element determines an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects.

[0227] In an optional implementation, the SF network element obtains the location information of the one or more terminal devices before determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects. The implementation method for the SF network element to obtain the location information of the one or more terminal devices can be found in S303 above and is not further described.

[0228] Optionally, when the location information of one or more terminal devices comes from the AF network element, the location information of one or more terminal devices is carried in the perception request, or the location information of one or more terminal devices is carried in other information elements different from the perception request.

[0229] In an optional implementation, if the SF network element obtains the location information of one or more terminal devices from the AF network element, the SF network element may also obtain a first timestamp associated with the location information of the one or more terminal devices from the AF network element. The first timestamp associated with the location information of the one or more terminal devices may be carried in the perception request or in another information element different from the perception request. The first timestamp associated with the location information of the one or more terminal devices can be found in S303 above and will not be further described.

[0230] If the SF network element obtains a first timestamp associated with the location information of one or more terminal devices, the SF network element determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects. This includes determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects at the time or within the time range indicated by the first timestamp. This approach can improve the accuracy of the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

[0231] In another optional implementation, if the SF network element does not obtain the first timestamp associated with the location information of one or more terminal devices from the AF network element, the SF network element may further obtain a second timestamp associated with the identifier list from the AF network element, where the second timestamp indicates the time when the one or more terminal devices were present in the sensing area. The second timestamp associated with the identifier list may be carried in the sensing request or in an information element other than the sensing request.

[0232] Optionally, the SF network element does not obtain the second timestamp associated with the identifier list from the AF network element. The SF network element may use the time of receiving the identifier list as the second timestamp associated with the identifier list.

[0233] If the SF network element obtains or determines the second timestamp associated with the identifier list, the SF network element determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, including determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects at the time or within the time range indicated by the second timestamp. This approach can also improve the accuracy of the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

[0234] In addition, the SF network element determines the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects. Please refer to the above-mentioned implementation mode 1 and implementation mode 2 and will not be repeated here.

[0235] S405. The SF network element sends the sensing result to the AF network element. The sensing result includes second information, and the second information is used to indicate the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects. Correspondingly, the AF network element receives the sensing result from the SF network element.

[0236] In an optional implementation, the SF network element sends the perception result to the AF network element, including: the SF network element sends the perception result to the AF network element through the NEF network element. The SF network element sends the perception result to the AF network element through the NEF network element, which can be understood as: the SF network element sends the perception result to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element transparently transmits the perception result to the AF network element, or it can be understood as: the SF network element sends the perception result to the NEF network element, the NEF network element parses the perception result, and sends the information element obtained by the analysis to the AF network element. Optionally, the SF network element sends the perception result to the AF network element, or the SF network element sends the perception result to the AF network element through other network elements other than the NEF network element, or the SF network element sends the perception result directly to the AF network element.

[0237] In addition, the specific method of transmitting the second information can refer to the method a and method b in the above S304, which will not be described in detail.

[0238] Optionally, the AF network element further determines the terminal devices cooperating with the AF network element and / or the terminal devices not cooperating with the AF network element based on the second information. The specific implementation method can be found in the above S304 and will not be repeated here.

[0239] Optionally, the SF network element may also obtain a perception request update from the AF network element, where the perception request update includes the updated identifiers of one or more terminal devices. Thus, the SF network element may determine the updated association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the updated location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects sensed by the perception device within the perception area.

[0240] As can be seen, the AF network element sends a sensing request to the SF network element, requesting the SF network element to sense the sensing area. The sensing request includes an identifier list and a sensing area, and the identifier list includes the identifiers of one or more terminal devices. The SF network element sends information indicating the sensing requirements, sensing area, and sensing service to the wireless access network device performing the sensing. The wireless access network device then performs the sensing service on the sensing area based on the sensing requirements, obtains sensing data including the location information of one or more objects, and sends the sensing data to the SF network element. Based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, the SF network element determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects, and feeds back the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects to the AF network element through the sensing results. This approach facilitates the AF network element to determine the terminal devices cooperating with the AF network element and / or the terminal devices cooperating with the AF network element based on the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects, thereby facilitating the AF to track or counter non-cooperative terminal devices, determine whether a terminal device is present in the sensing area, and determine whether a terminal device is not associated with an object according to the expected relationship.

[0241] The present application embodiment proposes a communication method 200. FIG5 is an interaction diagram of the communication method 200. The communication method 200 is described from the perspective of the interaction between the first perception function network element, the second perception function network element, and the service requester. The communication method 200 includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0242] S501. A service requester sends first information to a first perception function network element, the first information including a first identifier list and a perception area, the first identifier list including identifiers of one or more terminal devices. Accordingly, the first perception function network element receives the first information from the service requester.

[0243] It is understandable that S501 can refer to the above S301 and will not be described in detail.

[0244] S502. The service requester sends third information to the second perception function network element, the third information including a second identifier list and a perception area, the second identifier list including identifiers of one or more terminal devices. Correspondingly, the second perception function network element receives the third information from the service requester.

[0245] Among them, the identifiers of one or more terminal devices included in the second identification list are different from the identifiers of one or more terminal devices included in the first identification list, that is, the one or more terminal devices in the second identification list are different from the one or more terminal devices in the first identification list. In addition, the second perception function network element and the first perception function network element belong to different operators. The one or more terminal devices in the first identification list are one or more terminal devices managed within the perception area by the operator to which the first perception function network element belongs, and the one or more terminal devices in the second identification list are one or more terminal devices managed within the perception area by the operator to which the second perception function network element belongs.

[0246] In an optional implementation, before executing S501 and S502, the service requester determines the operator to which each terminal device among multiple terminal devices in the perception area belongs, and then determines the identifier list to be sent to the perception function network element corresponding to the operator based on the terminal devices managed by each operator in the perception area.

[0247] For example, perception area a includes terminal device 1, terminal device 2, and terminal device 3. Terminal device 1 and terminal device 2 belong to operator 1, and terminal device 3 belongs to operator 2. The SF network elements corresponding to operator 1 and operator 2 are SF network element #a and SF network element #b, respectively. Therefore, the service requester determines that the first identifier list sent to SF network element #a includes the identifiers of terminal device 1 and terminal device 2, and the second identifier list sent to SF network element #b includes the identifier of terminal device 3.

[0248] Optionally, the third information is used to trigger the second perception function network element to determine the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices in the second identification list and the location information of one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the second perception function network element. This method can enable the second SF network element to determine the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices in the second identification list and the location information of one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the second SF network element.

[0249] Optionally, the third information is carried in the perception request sent to the second perception function network element in the service request direction, which can reduce signaling overhead.

[0250] Optionally, the service requester also sends an association operation indication to the second perception function network element, and the association operation indication is used to indicate the determination of the association relationship between one or more terminal devices in the second identification list and one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the second perception function network element. Accordingly, the second perception function network element obtains the association operation indication from the service requester. This method enables the second perception function network element to determine the association relationship between one or more terminal devices in the second identification list and one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the second SF network element based on the association operation indication after receiving the first information. Among them, the implementation method of the association operation indication can be referred to the above S301 and will not be repeated here.

[0251] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the execution order of S501 and S502. S501 can be executed before S502 or after S502.

[0252] S503. The first perception function network element receives first perception data for a perception area from a first perception device, where the first perception data includes location information of one or more objects.

[0253] S504. The first perception function network element determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices in the first identification list and the location information of the one or more objects in the first perception data.

[0254] S505. The first perception function network element sends second information to the service requester, where the second information indicates the association between one or more terminal devices in the first identification list and one or more objects in the first perception data. Correspondingly, the service requester receives the second information from the first perception function network element.

[0255] It is understandable that S503 to S504 can refer to the above-mentioned S302 to S304 and will not be repeated here.

[0256] S506. The second perception function network element receives second perception data for the perception area from the second perception device, where the second perception data includes location information of one or more objects.

[0257] The second sensing device is a sensing device determined by the second sensing function network element to sense the sensing area. The second sensing device may be a wireless access network device or a terminal device. The form of the location information of one or more objects in the second sensing data may refer to the form of the location information of one or more objects in S302 and will not be further described.

[0258] In addition, other implementations of the second perception function network element may refer to the implementation of the SF network element in S302 and will not be repeated here. For example, before the second perception function network element obtains the perception data of the second perception device for the perception area, it sends a perception request to the second perception device to request the second perception device to obtain the perception data of the second perception device for the perception area.

[0259] S507. The second perception function network element determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices in the second identification list and the location information of the one or more objects in the second perception data.

[0260] It can be understood that the implementation method of the second perception function network element determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices in the second identification list and the location information of one or more objects in the second perception data can refer to the above S303, where the SF network element determines the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects, and no further details are given.

[0261] In addition, other implementations of the second perception function network element can also refer to the implementation in S303 and will not be repeated here. For example, the second perception function network element obtains the location information of the one or more terminal devices based on the positioning service before determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices in the second identification list and the location information of one or more objects in the second perception data. For another example, the second perception function network element obtains the location information of the one or more terminal devices from the service requester before determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of one or more terminal devices in the second identification list and the location information of one or more objects in the second perception data. For another example, the second perception function network element also obtains a timestamp associated with the location information of one or more terminal devices in the second identification list. For another example, the second perception function network element also obtains a timestamp associated with the second identification list from the service requester.

[0262] S508. The second perception function network element sends fourth information to the service requester, where the fourth information indicates the association between one or more terminal devices in the second identification list and one or more objects in the second perception data. Correspondingly, the service requester receives the fourth information from the second perception function network element.

[0263] When the second identification list includes the identification of a terminal device, the fourth information is specifically used to indicate whether a terminal device in the second identification list is associated with an object in the one or more objects. When the second identification list includes the identifications of multiple terminal devices, the fourth information is specifically used to indicate the identifications of terminal devices in the second identification list that are associated with an object in the one or more objects and / or the identifications of terminal devices that are not associated. The specific form of the fourth information can be referred to the specific form of the second information in S304 above and is not further described.

[0264] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the execution order of S503 to S505 and S506 to S508. S503 to S505 can be executed before S506 to S508 or after S506 to S508.

[0265] In an optional embodiment, the service requester further determines the terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and / or the terminal devices that do not cooperate based on the second information and the fourth information. The service requester determines the terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and / or the terminal devices that do not cooperate based on the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects indicated by the second information, and the association relationship between one or more terminal devices and one or more objects indicated by the fourth information. This approach facilitates the service requester to track or counter non-cooperative terminal devices.

[0266] Exemplarily, the second information indicates that UE1 and UE2 are associated with the object, and UE3 is not associated with the object. The fourth information indicates that UE1 and UE3 are associated with the object, and UE4 is not associated with the object. Based on the second and fourth information, the service requester determines that UE1, UE2, and UE4 are cooperating terminal devices, and that UE4 is a non-cooperating terminal device.

[0267] For example, the second information indicates that tag1 is associated with the goods, the second information indicates that tags2 and tags3 are associated with the goods, and tag4 is not associated with the object. The service requester determines that tags1, tag2, and tag3 are cooperating terminal devices, and tag4 is a non-cooperating terminal device. Tag4 may be a tag that has been separated from the goods.

[0268] Optionally, if there are terminal devices managed by operators different from those corresponding to the first and second SF network elements within the perception area, the service requester may further indicate to other SF network elements, such as the third and / or fourth SF network elements, one or more terminal devices managed by the operator corresponding to the SF network element within the perception area. Thus, the SF network elements that receive the one or more terminal devices indicated by the service requester may perform the relevant operations performed by the first or second SF network element, such as the operations in S503 to S505 above. Furthermore, the service requester may determine the terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and / or the terminal devices that do not cooperate based on the second information, the fourth information, and the association relationship between the terminal device and the object fed back by other SF network elements.

[0269] As can be seen, in this embodiment of the present application, the service requester indicates to the first SF network element one or more terminal devices managed by the operator to which the first SF network element belongs, and indicates to the second SF network element one or more terminal devices managed by the operator to which the second SF network element belongs. Thus, the first SF network element determines, based on the acquired location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects in the obtained first perception data, the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects, and indicates the determined association relationship to the service requester via second information. The second SF network element determines, based on the acquired location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects in the obtained second perception data, the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects, and indicates the association relationship to the service requester via fourth information. Furthermore, the service requester determines, based on the association relationship between the terminal device and the object indicated by the first SF network element and the association relationship between the terminal device and the object indicated by the second SF network element, the terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and / or the terminal devices that do not cooperate with the service requester. This method is beneficial for the service requester to track or counter non-cooperative terminal devices, determine whether a terminal device exists in the perception area, determine whether a terminal device is not associated with an object according to the expected relationship, etc.

[0270] With respect to the technical solutions described above, the corresponding device implementation solutions are further described below.

[0271] To implement the various functions of the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application, the perception function network element and the service requester may include hardware structures and / or software modules, and implement the aforementioned functions in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules. Whether a particular one of the aforementioned functions is implemented in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0272] As shown in Figure 6, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 600. The communication device 600 can be a component of a perception function network element (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.), or a component of a service requester (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.). The communication device 600 can also be other communication units for implementing the method in the method embodiment of the present application. The communication device 600 may include: a communication unit 601 and a processing unit 602. Optionally, a storage unit 603 may also be included.

[0273] In one possible design, one or more units shown in FIG6 may be implemented by one or more processors, or by one or more processors and memory, or by one or more processors and a transceiver, or by one or more processors, a memory, and a transceiver, although this is not limited in the present embodiment. The processors, memories, and transceivers may be provided separately or integrated.

[0274] The communication device 600 has the function of implementing the perception function network element described in the embodiment of the present application, or the function of the service requester. For example, the communication device 600 includes a module or unit or means (means) corresponding to the steps involved in the perception function network element in the above-mentioned method embodiments executed by the reader / writer. The function or unit or means (means) can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by hardware executing the corresponding software implementation, or by a combination of software and hardware. For details, please refer to the corresponding description in the above-mentioned corresponding method embodiment.

[0275] In one possible design, a communication device 600 may include: a processing unit 602 and a communication unit 601, where the device is applied to a sensing function network element;

[0276] The communication unit 601 is configured to receive first information from a service requester, wherein the first information includes an identification list and a sensing area, wherein the identification list includes identifications of one or more terminal devices;

[0277] The communication unit 601 is further configured to receive sensing data from a sensing device for the sensing area, wherein the sensing data includes location information of one or more objects;

[0278] The processing unit 602 is configured to determine an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects;

[0279] The communication unit 601 is further configured to send second information to the service requester, where the second information is configured to indicate an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

[0280] In an optional embodiment, the identification list includes an identification of a terminal device, and based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, the processing unit 602 determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects, including: based on the location information of the one terminal device and the location information of the one or more objects, determining whether the one terminal device is associated with an object among the one or more objects; the second information is specifically used to indicate whether the one terminal device is associated with an object among the one or more objects.

[0281] In another optional embodiment, the identification list includes identifications of multiple terminal devices, and based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, the processing unit 602 determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects, including: based on the location information of the multiple terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, determining the terminal devices and / or unassociated terminal devices in the multiple terminal devices that are associated with the objects in the one or more objects; the second information is specifically used to indicate the identification of the associated terminal device and / or the identification of the unassociated terminal device in the multiple terminal devices.

[0282] In an optional implementation, the second information includes an association indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the association indication, and / or an unassociation indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the unassociation indication.

[0283] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit 602 obtains the location information of the one or more terminal devices based on a positioning service before determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects.

[0284] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit 602 obtains the location information of the one or more terminal devices from the service requester before determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects.

[0285] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit 602 is also used to obtain a first timestamp associated with the location information of the one or more terminal devices from the service requester; the processing unit 602 determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, including: determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects at the moment or time range indicated by the first timestamp.

[0286] In an optional implementation, the location information of the one or more terminal devices is acquired by the service requester at a time or within a time range indicated by the first timestamp.

[0287] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit 602 is also used to obtain a second timestamp associated with the identification list from the service requester, the second timestamp indicating the moment when the one or more terminal devices exist in the perception area; the processing unit 602 determines the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, including: determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects at the moment or within the time range indicated by the second timestamp.

[0288] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit 602 is also used to obtain an association operation indication from the service requester, and the association operation indication is used to indicate the determination of an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the perception function network element.

[0289] In an optional implementation, the second information is further used to indicate the time corresponding to the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

[0290] In an optional implementation, the second information further includes feature information of a terminal device associated with the object among the one or more terminal devices, and / or feature information of a terminal device not associated with the object.

[0291] In an optional embodiment, the second information also includes feature information of objects among the one or more objects that are associated with the one or more terminal devices, and / or feature information of objects that are not associated with the one or more terminal devices.

[0292] In an optional implementation, the feature information is used to indicate at least one of the following: profile, type, trajectory, direction, or speed.

[0293] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit 602 determines whether the terminal device is associated with the one or more objects based on the location information of the terminal device and the location information of the one or more objects, including: when the location information of the terminal device is the same as one of the location information of the one or more objects, determining that the terminal device is associated with the object among the one or more objects; when the location information of the terminal device is different from the location information of the one or more objects, determining that the terminal device is not associated with the object among the one or more objects.

[0294] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit 602 determines the terminal devices and / or unassociated terminal devices among the multiple terminal devices based on the location information of the multiple terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, including: determining the terminal device corresponding to the location information that is the same as the location information of the one or more objects in the location information of the multiple terminal devices as the terminal device associated with the object among the one or more objects; and / or determining the terminal device corresponding to the location information that is different from the location information of the one or more objects in the location information of the multiple terminal devices as the terminal device unassociated with the object among the one or more objects.

[0295] In an optional implementation, the first information is carried in a perception request, and the perception request is used to request the perception function network element to perceive the perception area.

[0296] The embodiments of the present application and the above-mentioned method embodiments are based on the same concept, and the technical effects they bring are also the same. For the specific principles, please refer to the description of the above-mentioned embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0297] In another possible design, a communication device 600 may include: a processing unit 602 and a communication unit 601, wherein the device is applied to a service requester, and the processing unit 602 is configured to process a signal / signaling;

[0298] The communication unit 601 is configured to send first information to a first perception function network element, where the first information includes a first identifier list and a perception area, where the first identifier list includes identifiers of one or more terminal devices;

[0299] The communication unit 601 is further used to receive second information from the first perception function network element, where the second information is used to indicate an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and one or more objects in the perception area.

[0300] In an optional embodiment, the first information is used to trigger the first perception function network element to determine the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the first perception function network element.

[0301] In an optional implementation, the first identification list includes an identification of a terminal device, and the second information is specifically used to indicate whether the terminal device is associated with an object among the one or more objects.

[0302] In an optional embodiment, the first identification list includes identifications of multiple terminal devices, and the second information is specifically used to indicate the identifications of terminal devices among the multiple terminal devices that are associated with objects among the one or more objects, and / or the identifications of terminal devices that are not associated with objects among the one or more objects.

[0303] In an optional implementation, the second information includes an association indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the association indication, and / or an unassociation indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the unassociation indication.

[0304] In an optional implementation, the processing unit 602 is configured to determine, based on the second information, terminal devices that cooperate with the service requester and / or terminal devices that do not cooperate within the sensing area.

[0305] In an optional implementation, the communication unit 601 is further used to send the location information of the one or more terminal devices to the first perception function network element.

[0306] In an optional embodiment, before sending the location information of the one or more terminal devices to the first perception function network element, the communication unit 601 is also used to: obtain the location information of the one or more terminal devices based on the positioning service; or obtain the location information from each of the one or more terminal devices.

[0307] In an optional implementation, the communication unit 601 is further used to send a first timestamp associated with the location information of the one or more terminal devices to the first perception function network element.

[0308] In an optional implementation, the location information of the one or more terminal devices is acquired by the service requester at a time or within a time range indicated by the first timestamp.

[0309] In an optional embodiment, the communication unit 601 is further used to send a second timestamp associated with the first identification list to the first perception function network element, where the second timestamp indicates the moment when the one or more terminal devices exist in the perception area.

[0310] In an optional embodiment, the communication unit 601 is also used to send an association operation indication to the first perception function network element, and the association operation indication is used to indicate the determination of the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the first perception function network element.

[0311] In an optional implementation, the second information is further used to indicate the time corresponding to the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

[0312] In an optional implementation, the second information further includes feature information of a terminal device associated with the object among the one or more terminal devices, and / or feature information of a terminal device not associated with the object.

[0313] In an optional embodiment, the second information also includes feature information of objects among the one or more objects that are associated with the one or more terminal devices, and / or feature information of objects that are not associated with the one or more terminal devices.

[0314] In an optional implementation, the feature information is used to indicate at least one of the following: profile, type, trajectory, direction, or speed.

[0315] In an optional implementation, the first information is carried in a perception request, and the perception request is used to request the first perception function network element to perceive the perception area.

[0316] The embodiments of the present application and the above-mentioned method embodiments are based on the same concept, and the technical effects they bring are also the same. For the specific principles, please refer to the description of the above-mentioned embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0317] The present application also provides a communication device 700. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device 700. The communication device 700 can be a sensing function network element, or a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the sensing function network element in implementing the above-mentioned method; or it can be a service requester, or a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the service requester in implementing the above-mentioned method. This device can be used to implement the method described in the above-mentioned method embodiment. For details, please refer to the description of the above-mentioned method embodiment.

[0318] The communication device 700 may include one or more processors 701. The processor 701 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor. For example, it may be a baseband processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or a central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processing unit may be used to control a communication device (e.g., a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal, a terminal chip, a distributed unit (DU) or a centralized unit (CU), etc.), execute software programs, and process data of the software programs.

[0319] Optionally, the communication device 700 may include one or more memories 702, on which instructions 704 may be stored. The instructions may be executed on the processor 701, causing the communication device 700 to perform the method described in the above method embodiment. Optionally, the memory 702 may also store data. The processor 701 and memory 702 may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0320] Optionally, the communication device 700 may further include a transceiver 705 and an antenna 706. The transceiver 705 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, or a transceiver circuit, etc., and is configured to implement transceiver functions. The transceiver 705 may include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver may be referred to as a receiver or a receiving circuit, etc., and is configured to implement a receiving function; the transmitter may be referred to as a transmitter or a transmitting circuit, etc., and is configured to implement a transmitting function.

[0321] In one possible design, the communication device 700 can be applied to a perception function network element. Specifically, the processor 701 is used to execute S303 in the above-mentioned communication method 100, and to execute S504 and S507 in the above-mentioned communication method 200; the transceiver 705 is used to execute S301, S302 and S304 in the above-mentioned communication method 100, and to execute S501, S502, S503, S505, S506 and S508 in the above-mentioned communication method 200.

[0322] In another possible design, the communication device 700 can be applied to the service requester, specifically, the transceiver 705 is used to execute S301 and S304 in the above-mentioned communication method 100, and to execute S501, S502, S505 and S508 in the above-mentioned communication method 200.

[0323] Optionally, the processor 701 may store an instruction 703. The instruction 703 runs on the processor 701, which may enable the communication device 700 to perform the method described in the above method embodiment. The instruction 703 may be fixed in the processor 701. In this case, the processor 701 may be implemented by hardware.

[0324] The embodiments of the present application and the method embodiments shown in the above-mentioned communication method 100 and communication method 200 are based on the same concept, and the technical effects they bring are also the same. For the specific principles, please refer to the description of the embodiments shown in the above-mentioned communication method 100 and communication method 200, and no further details will be given.

[0325] The present application also provides a communication system, which may include a perception function network element and a service requester. Optionally, the system also includes a perception device. In another possible design, the system may also include other devices / functional network elements that interact with the perception function network element, the service requester, and the perception device.

[0326] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer software instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0327] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product for storing computer software instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0328] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program that, when executed on a computer, implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0329] The terms "first" and "second" in the description, claims and drawings of the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. "First", "second" and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, features defined as "first", "second" and the like may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of this embodiment, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more.

[0330] Furthermore, the terms "include," "comprise," and "have," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or elements is not limited to the listed steps or elements, but may optionally include steps or elements not listed, or may optionally include other steps or elements inherent to the process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0331] Reference to an "embodiment" in the embodiments of this application means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it mean that each embodiment is mutually exclusive of another embodiment or an alternative embodiment. It is understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0332] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one (item)" refers to one or more, "more than one" refers to two or more, and "and / or" is used to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can represent: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0333] In the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner to facilitate understanding.

[0334] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0335] 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: The method is applied to a perception function network element, and the method comprises: Receiving first information from a service requester, the first information including an identification list and a sensing area, the identification list including identifications of one or more terminal devices; Receiving sensing data for the sensing area from a sensing device, wherein the sensing data includes location information of one or more objects; Determine, based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects; Sending second information to the service requester, where the second information is used to indicate an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The identification list includes an identification of a terminal device, and determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects includes: Determining whether the one terminal device is associated with an object among the one or more objects based on location information of one terminal device among the one or more terminal devices and location information of the one or more objects; The second information is specifically used to indicate whether the one terminal device is associated with an object among the one or more objects.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The identification list includes identifications of a plurality of terminal devices, and determining, based on location information of the one or more terminal devices and location information of the one or more objects, an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects includes: Determine, based on the location information of the plurality of terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, terminal devices associated with an object in the one or more objects and / or unassociated terminal devices in the plurality of terminal devices; The second information is specifically used to indicate the identifier of the associated terminal device and / or the identifier of the unassociated terminal device among the multiple terminal devices.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: The second information includes an association indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the association indication, and / or an unassociation indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the unassociation indication.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: Before determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, the method further includes: Based on the positioning service, the location information of the one or more terminal devices is obtained.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: Before determining the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, the method further includes: Acquire location information of the one or more terminal devices from the service requester.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: Acquire a first timestamp associated with location information of the one or more terminal devices from the service requester; The determining, based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects includes: Based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects within the time or time range indicated by the first timestamp, an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects is determined.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The location information of the one or more terminal devices is obtained by the service requester within the time or time range indicated by the first timestamp.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The method also includes: Acquire a second timestamp associated with the identification list from the service requester, where the second timestamp indicates a time when the one or more terminal devices exist in the sensing area; The determining, based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects includes: Based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects within the time or time range indicated by the second timestamp, the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects is determined.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Obtain an association operation indication from the service requester, where the association operation indication is used to indicate determination of an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and one or more objects in the perception data obtained by the perception function network element.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: The second information is also used to indicate the time corresponding to the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that: The second information also includes feature information of a terminal device associated with the object among the one or more terminal devices, and / or feature information of a terminal device not associated with the object.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that: The second information also includes feature information of objects among the one or more objects that are associated with the one or more terminal devices, and / or feature information of objects that are not associated with the one or more terminal devices.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the feature information is used to indicate at least one of the following: profile, type, trajectory, direction, or speed.

15. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The determining, based on the location information of the one terminal device and the location information of the one or more objects, whether the one terminal device is associated with the one or more objects includes: When the location information of the one terminal device is the same as one of the location information of the one or more objects, determining that the one terminal device is associated with an object among the one or more objects; When the location information of the one terminal device is different from the location information of the one or more objects, it is determined that the one terminal device is not associated with an object among the one or more objects.

16. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The determining, based on the location information of the multiple terminal devices and the location information of the one or more objects, terminal devices associated with the object in the one or more objects and / or unassociated terminal devices in the multiple terminal devices includes: Determine the terminal device corresponding to the same location information as the location information of the one or more objects among the location information of the multiple terminal devices as the terminal device associated with the object among the one or more objects; and / or, The terminal device corresponding to the position information which is different from the position information of the one or more objects among the position information of the multiple terminal devices is determined as a terminal device which is not connected to the object among the one or more objects.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that: The first information is carried in a perception request, and the perception request is used to request the perception function network element to perceive the perception area.

18. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a service requester, and the method comprises: Sending first information to a first perception function network element, where the first information includes a first identification list and a perception area, where the first identification list includes identifications of one or more terminal devices; Receive second information from the first perception function network element, where the second information is used to indicate an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and one or more objects in the perception area.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The first information is used to trigger the first perception function network element to determine the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects based on the location information of the one or more terminal devices and the location information of one or more objects in the perception data acquired by the first perception function network element.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The first identification list includes an identification of a terminal device, and the second information is specifically used to indicate whether the terminal device is associated with an object among the one or more objects.

21. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The first identification list includes identifications of multiple terminal devices, and the second information is specifically used to indicate identifications of terminal devices among the multiple terminal devices that are associated with objects among the one or more objects, and / or identifications of terminal devices that are not associated with objects among the one or more objects.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that The second information includes an association indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the association indication, and / or an unassociation indication and an identifier of a terminal device corresponding to the unassociation indication.

23. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 21, characterized in that The method further comprises: Based on the second information, terminal devices cooperating with the service requester and / or terminal devices not cooperating within the sensing area are determined.

24. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 23, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send the location information of the one or more terminal devices to the first perception function network element.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that Before sending the location information of the one or more terminal devices to the first perception function network element, the method further includes: Based on the positioning service, obtaining the location information of the one or more terminal devices; or, Acquire location information from each of the one or more terminal devices.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send a first timestamp associated with the location information of the one or more terminal devices to the first perception function network element.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that The location information of the one or more terminal devices is obtained by the service requester within the time or time range indicated by the first timestamp.

28. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 25, further comprising: A second timestamp associated with the first identification list is sent to the first perception function network element, where the second timestamp indicates a moment when the one or more terminal devices exist in the perception area.

29. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 28, characterized in that The method further comprises: An association operation indication is sent to the first perception function network element, where the association operation indication is used to indicate determination of an association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and one or more objects in the perception data acquired by the first perception function network element.

30. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 29, characterized in that The second information is also used to indicate the time corresponding to the association relationship between the one or more terminal devices and the one or more objects.

31. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 30, characterized in that The second information also includes feature information of a terminal device associated with the object among the one or more terminal devices, and / or feature information of a terminal device not associated with the object.

32. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 31, characterized in that The second information also includes feature information of objects among the one or more objects that are associated with the one or more terminal devices, and / or feature information of objects that are not associated with the one or more terminal devices.

33. The method according to any one of claims 31 or 32, characterized in that The feature information is used to indicate at least one of the following: contour, type, trajectory, direction, and speed.

34. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 33, characterized in that The first information is carried in a perception request, and the perception request is used to request the first perception function network element to perceive the perception area.

35. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device comprises a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, or comprises a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 18 to 34.

36. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device comprises a processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, or configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 18 to 34.

37. A communication system, characterized in that: include: An apparatus for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, and an apparatus for executing the method according to any one of claims 18 to 34.

38. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium is used to store instructions, and when the instructions are executed on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 18 to 34 is executed.

39. A computer program product comprising instructions, characterized in that When the method is executed on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 18 to 34 is executed.

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