Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus. The communication method comprises: a first network element sends sensing data to an NEF network element; accordingly, the NEF network element receives the sensing data and then sends the sensing data to an AF network element. That is, in the technical solution provided by the present application, the first network element can expose the sensing data to the AF network element through the NEF network element.

Description

Communication method and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on December 1, 2023, with application number 202311648584.9 and application name “Communication Method and Communication Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] With the continuous development of communication technology, the demand for communication systems with perception capabilities is gradually emerging. For example, in certain scenarios such as smart cities and smart transportation, the need to obtain perception data such as the relative position of objects, their speed, and their shape is gradually emerging. Perception data refers to data that indicates the results of perception.

[0004] For communication systems with perception capabilities, how to transmit perception data becomes a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method to realize the transmission of perception data.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, applied to a NEF network element, comprising: receiving perception data from a first network element; and sending the perception data to an application function AF network element.

[0007] In this embodiment, the perception data can be understood as the perception result after the communication system performs perception.

[0008] It should be noted that this embodiment does not limit the type of perception. For example, the types of perception include, but are not limited to, at least one of the following: intrusion detection-type perception, traffic detection-type perception, path tracking-type perception, collision detection-type perception, positioning-type perception, and speed measurement-type perception. In this embodiment, different types of perception are also referred to as different types of perception services. For example, intrusion detection-type perception is also referred to as an intrusion detection-type perception service, traffic detection-type perception is also referred to as a traffic detection-type perception service, and collision detection-type perception is also referred to as a collision detection-type perception service.

[0009] In this embodiment, the first network element sends sensing data to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element receives the sensing data sent by the first network element. For example, the sensing data may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: intrusion detection sensing data, traffic detection sensing data, path tracking sensing data, collision detection sensing data, positioning sensing data, and speed measurement sensing data.

[0010] In this embodiment, the first network element sends the sensing data to the NEF network element, allowing the NEF network element to provide the sensing data to the AF network element. That is, in this embodiment, the sensing data is exposed to the NEF network element via the first network element, which in turn exposes the sensing data to the AF network element via the NEF network element. Alternatively, in this embodiment, the first network element can expose the sensing data to the AF network element via the NEF network element.

[0011] In some embodiments, before the first network element in the present application sends perception data to the NEF network element, the AF network element will first send a first message to the NEF network element, and the first information is used to indicate that the AF network element requests to subscribe to the perception data; accordingly, after receiving the first information, the NEF network element sends a second message to the first network element, and the second information is used to indicate that the AF network element requests to subscribe to the perception data.

[0012] Or to describe it another way, in this embodiment, the first network element obtains the perception data from the second network element and sends the perception data to the NEF network element only when it receives the second information sent by the NEF network element to instruct the AF network element to request to subscribe to the perception data.

[0013] In some embodiments, the first information and the second information include first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates a type of sensing service for the sensing data requested for subscription. For example, the sensing service type indicated by the first indication information includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: an intrusion detection type sensing service, a traffic detection type sensing service, a path tracking type sensing service, a collision detection type sensing service, a positioning type sensing service, and a speed measurement type sensing service.

[0014] In this embodiment, when the AF network element requests to subscribe to the perception data, it indicates the type of perception data of the perception service for which the subscription is requested. In this embodiment, after the AF indicates the type of perception service for which the subscription is requested, the first network element sends the perception data of the requested perception service type when sending the perception data to the NEF network element. That is, the first network element opens the perception data of the perception service type for which the AF network element requests to subscribe to the AF network element through the NEF network element.

[0015] In some embodiments, the first information sent by the AF network element also includes second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate the content that the perception data requested to be subscribed should include.

[0016] In this embodiment, when the AF network element requests to subscribe to perception data, in addition to indicating the type of perception data of the perception service for which subscription is requested, it also indicates the content that the perception data requested should include. For example, when the AF network element requests perception data of an intrusion detection type perception service, the second indication information may indicate that the requested perception data should include information including, but not limited to, at least one of the following: information indicating whether there has been an intrusion, information indicating the size of the intrusion target, information indicating the location of the intrusion target, information indicating the size of the intrusion target, and information indicating the speed of the intrusion target.

[0017] In this embodiment, when the AF network element further indicates the content of the perception data requested for subscription, the first network element sends the content of the perception data requested for subscription by the AF to the AF network element when sending the perception data to the NEF network element.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation method, the AF network element also sends third information to the NEF network element, and the third information indicates at least one of the following: the transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, the media type supported by the AF network element, or the message format supported by the AF network element; accordingly, after receiving the second information, the NEF network element sends fourth information to the first network element, and the fourth information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, the media type supported by the AF network element, or the message format supported by the AF network element.

[0019] In this embodiment, the transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, the media type supported by the AF network element, or the message format supported by the AF network element is also referred to as the data transmission mode supported by the AF network element.

[0020] That is, in this implementation, the data transmission mode supported by the AF network element is sent to the first network element via the NEF network element, so that the first network element can learn the data transmission mode supported by the AF network element, and thus, when the perception data is opened to the AF network element via the NEF network element, the AF network element can transmit the perception data requested by the AF network element using the data transmission mode supported by the AF network element.

[0021] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, before the NEF network element receives the perception data sent by the first network element, the method shown also includes: the first network element sends fifth information to the NEF network element, and the fifth information indicates at least one of the following: the transmission protocol used by the first network element when sending the perception data, the media type used by the first network element when sending the perception data, or the message format used by the first network element when sending the perception data; accordingly, after receiving the fifth information, the NEF network element receives the perception data sent by the first network element based on the fifth information.

[0022] In this implementation, when the first network element opens the perception data to the AF network element through the NEF network element, it also indicates the data transmission method used when transmitting the perception data, so that the NEF network element and the AF network element use the same data transmission method as the first network element to receive it.

[0023] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: the NEF network element sends sixth information to the first network element, the sixth information indicates the transmission path of the perception data, the transmission path is the first transmission path or the second transmission path, the first transmission path is that the perception data is sent to the NEF network element through the first network element and then sent to the AF network element through the NEF network element, the second transmission path is that the perception data is sent from the network element that collects the perception data to the AF network element; the NEF network element receives the perception data from the first network element, including: when the transmission path indicated by the sixth information is the first transmission path, receiving the perception data from the first network element.

[0024] In this implementation, the NEF network element determines the transmission path of the perception data, and then when sending the second information to the first network element, also sends the sixth information to indicate the transmission path to the first network element; accordingly, for the first network element, the transmission of the perception data is controlled based on the transmission path indicated by the NEF network element.

[0025] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, applied to a first network element, comprising: sending perception data to a network open function NEF.

[0026] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving second information from the NEF network element, where the second information is used to instruct the application function AF network element to request subscription to the perception data.

[0027] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a type of perception service of the perception data requested for subscription.

[0028] In conjunction with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate content that the perception data requested for subscription should include.

[0029] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving fourth information from the NEF network element, the fourth information indicating at least one of the following: a transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, a media type supported by the AF network element, or a message format supported by the AF network element.

[0030] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: sending fifth information to the NEF network element, the fifth information indicating at least one of the following: the transmission protocol used when the first network element sends the perception data, the media type used when the first network element sends the perception data, or the message format used when the first network element sends the perception data; sending the perception data to the network open function NEF network element includes: sending the perception data to the NEF network element based on the fifth information.

[0031] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: determining a transmission path of the perception data, the transmission path is a first transmission path or a second transmission path, the first transmission path is that the perception data is sent to the NEF network element through the first network element and then sent to the AF network element through the NEF network element, and the second transmission path is that the perception data is sent from the network element that collects the perception data to the AF network element; sending the perception data to the network open function NEF network element, including: when the transmission path is the first transmission path, sending the perception data to the NEF network element.

[0032] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, determining a transmission path of the perception data includes: receiving sixth information from an NEF network element, where the sixth information indicates the transmission path.

[0033] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: if it is determined that the transmission path of the perception data is the second transmission path, sending the perception data to the AF network element or sending the seventh information to the second network element, the seventh information instructs the second network element to send the perception data to the AF network element, and the seventh information includes the identifier of the AF network element.

[0034] For example, the identifier of the AF network element is at least one of address information and port information of the AF network element.

[0035] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: sending eighth information to the second network element, the eighth information indicating at least one of the following: the transmission protocol used by the second network element when sending perception data, the media type used by the second network element when sending perception data, or the message format used by the second network element when sending the perception data.

[0036] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: sending ninth information to the AF network element through the NEF network element, where the ninth information indicates an identifier of the second network element.

[0037] For example, the identifier of the second network element is at least one of address information and port information of the second network element.

[0038] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method applied to an application function AF network element, including: sending first information to a network open function NEF network element, wherein the first information is used to instruct the AF network element to request subscription to perception data; and receiving perception data sent by the NEF network element.

[0039] With reference to the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a type of perception service of the perception data requested for subscription.

[0040] With reference to the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate content that the perception data requested for subscription should include.

[0041] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a memory configured to execute the method as described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0042] In combination with the fourth aspect, in one possible implementation, the communication device also includes a processor; the memory is used to store program instructions; and the processor is used to call the program instructions in the memory to execute the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0043] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a memory configured to execute the method as described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0044] In combination with the fifth aspect, in one possible implementation, the communication device also includes a processor; the memory is used to store program instructions; and the processor is used to call the program instructions in the memory to execute the method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0045] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a memory configured to execute the method described in the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0046] In combination with the sixth aspect, in one possible implementation, the communication device also includes a processor; the memory is used to store program instructions; and the processor is used to call the program instructions in the memory to execute the method described in the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0047] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication system, comprising the communication device as described in the second aspect, and / or the communication device as described in the third aspect, and / or the communication device as described in the fourth aspect.

[0048] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable medium storing a program code for computer execution, the program code including instructions for executing the method as described in any one of the first to third aspects or any possible implementation thereof.

[0049] In the ninth aspect, the present application provides a chip system comprising at least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the at least one processor being interconnected by lines, and the at least one processor being used to run computer programs or instructions to perform the method described in the first to third aspects or any possible implementation thereof.

[0050] In the tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which includes computer program code. When the computer program code is run on a computer, the computer implements the method described in any one of the first to third aspects or any possible implementation thereof.

[0051] Among them, the technical effects brought about by any implementation method from the second aspect to the tenth aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought about by the above-mentioned first aspect and any possible implementation method therein, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0052] FIG1 exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of implementing wireless sensing;

[0053] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided by the present application;

[0054] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of another communication system provided by the present application;

[0055] FIG4 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by the present application;

[0057] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of another communication system provided by the present application;

[0058] FIG7 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG8 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG9 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG10 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG11 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG12 is a structural diagram of a communication system provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG13 is a structural diagram of a communication system provided in another embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0065] Existing wireless signals in the environment (sound, light, radio frequency signals, etc.) can not only perform their original tasks (lighting, communication, etc.) but also be used "extra" to perceive the environment. Taking radio frequency signals as an example, the radio waves generated by the signal transmitter will undergo physical phenomena such as direct radiation, reflection, and scattering during propagation. As a result, the signal formed at the signal receiver carries information about the space in which the signal propagated. For example: If the wireless connection signal received by the mobile phone is weak, it may be because the phone is far away from the wireless router; if the Wi-Fi signal strength received by the mobile phone drops sharply, it is likely because the phone has entered a certain specific enclosed space, such as an elevator.

[0066] Therefore, scene perception can be achieved by analyzing the changes in wireless signals during propagation. This technology is also commonly known as wireless sensing technology or sensorless scene perception technology.

[0067] For ease of understanding, Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary implementation of wireless sensing. As shown in Figure 1, the wireless sensing system includes a first device 101 and a second device 102. The signal received by second device 102 is the superposition of a direct signal 104 and a reflected signal 105, which is a reflection of a sensing target 103. When sensing target 103 moves, reflected signal 105 changes, causing the signal received by second device 102 to change accordingly. Therefore, the state of sensing target 103 can be determined by changes in the signal received by second device 102.

[0068] In some embodiments, wireless sensing technology can be based on radar. Radar consists of a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna. The transmitting antenna sends electromagnetic waves, which are reflected by the target and received by the receiving antenna. Based on the changes in the received waves, the radar system uses signal processing to analyze the target's characteristic information, such as its location, shape, motion characteristics, and movement path. Radar sensing has many unique advantages: 1) It is not affected by light levels and can penetrate obstructions, thus better protecting personal privacy; 2) Radar sensing has a longer range and does not harm people or animals. 3) For motion detection, the Doppler effect on the target's echo is used to observe and interpret the target's motion status, such as direction and speed. When using a multi-channel radar sensor, the target's motion can also be observed from different perspectives. By capturing the target's motion status from different perspectives and analyzing it in combination with instantaneous and historical information, complex motion can be resolved.

[0069] Currently, wireless sensing technology can be applied in various scenarios. For example, in sports scenarios, this technology can be used to detect the movement status and movement routes of people and balls. In home environments, it can also be used for human fall detection to prevent falls in the elderly. By processing channel state information (CSI), the human movement status and route can be interpreted. In the field of assisted driving, this technology can be used to detect pedestrians and vehicles in front for collision avoidance warnings. In specific industrial park scenarios, this technology can be used to monitor the intrusion of flying objects such as drones. In traffic scenarios, this technology can be used to complete traffic flow statistics, vehicle navigation, and other functions.

[0070] With the development of 5G networks, the demand for communication systems with perception capabilities is gradually emerging. For example, in certain scenarios such as smart cities and smart transportation, there is a growing need to obtain perception data such as the relative position of objects, their speed, and their shape. Perception data refers to data indicating perception results.

[0071] It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application do not impose any specific restrictions on the architecture of the communication system that needs to have perception capabilities.

[0072] For example, the system architecture (or also referred to as the network architecture) based on the service-oriented architecture shown in Figure 2 may be used. As shown in Figure 2, the network architecture includes user equipment (UE) 201, access network (AN) or radio access network (RAN) 202, user plane function (UPF) 203 of the core network (CN) data plane, data network (DN) 204, and core network control plane 205.

[0073] UE 201 may be a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user, for example, a handheld device with wireless connection capabilities, a vehicle-mounted device, etc. UE may also be referred to as terminal equipment, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile, remote station, remote terminal, mobile equipment, user terminal, wireless telecom equipment, user agent, user equipment, or user device. UE can be a station (STA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN), a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a terminal in a next-generation communication system (for example, a fifth-generation (5G) communication network) or a terminal device in a future-evolved public land mobile network (PLMN) network. Among them, 5G can also be referred to as a new radio (NR). In one possible application scenario of the present application, the terminal device can also be a terminal device that often works on the ground, such as a vehicle-mounted device. In this application, for the sake of convenience, the chip deployed in the above-mentioned device, or the chip can also be referred to as a terminal device.

[0074] The main function of (R)AN 202 is to control UE 201 to access the mobile communication network via wireless. AN 202 is part of the mobile communication system and implements a wireless access technology. For example, AN 202 can be any device with wireless transceiver capabilities. The device includes but is not limited to: a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB), a radio network controller (RNC), a Node B (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), a base band unit (BBU), an access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (TP) or a transmission and reception point (TRP), etc. It can also be a gNB in ​​a 5G, such as NR, system, or a transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G system, or it can also be a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or a distributed unit (DPU). unit (DU), etc.; or, it can also be a next-generation base station in a sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc.; it can also be a module or unit that completes part of the functions of a base station, for example, it can be a centralized unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU).

[0075] In some deployments, a gNB may include a centralized unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may also include a radio unit (RU). The CU implements some gNB functions, while the DU implements some gNB functions. For example, the CU implements the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers, while the DU implements the functions of the radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and physical (PHY) layers. Because RRC layer information ultimately becomes physical layer information, or is converted from physical layer information, in this architecture, higher-layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or by both the DU and the CU. It is understood that a network device can be a CU node, a DU node, or a device that includes both a CU node and a DU node. In addition, the CU can be divided into a network device in an access network (radio access network, RAN), and the CU can also be divided into a network device in a core network (core network, CN), which is not limited in this application.

[0076] UE 201 and (R)AN 202 can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on water; can also be deployed in the air on aircraft, balloons and artificial satellites. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the application scenarios of AN 202 and UE 201.

[0077] The UE 201 and the (R)AN 202 can communicate via a licensed spectrum, an unlicensed spectrum, or both; they can communicate via a spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), a spectrum above 6 GHz, or both. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communications.

[0078] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station function. The control subsystem that includes the base station function here can be a control center in the application scenarios of the above-mentioned terminals such as smart grid, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or a modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal function.

[0079] UPF 203 is a functional unit of the user plane, which is mainly responsible for packet forwarding, quality of service (QoS) control, billing information statistics and connection to external networks. It includes the relevant functions of the serving gateway (SGW) and public data network gateway (PDN-GW) of the long term evolution technology (LTE).

[0080] DN 204 is a network responsible for providing services to UE 201. For example, some DNs provide Internet access to UE 201, while other DNs provide SMS services to UE 201.

[0081] The core network control plane 206 is mainly responsible for business process interaction, issuing data packet forwarding policies and QoS control policies to the user plane, etc. For example, as shown in Figure 2, the control plane network elements in the core network control plane 206 mainly include: access and mobility function (AMF), session management function (SMF), policy control function (PCF), application function (AF), network exposure function (NEF), authentication server function (AUSF), unified data management (UDM), network repository function (NRF), unified data repository (UDR), etc. Among them, AMF is mainly responsible for the access and mobility management of UE 201, such as mobile state management, allocation of user temporary identity, authentication and authorization of users. The SMF is primarily responsible for session management functions, such as managing the creation and deletion of user protocol data unit (PDU) sessions, maintaining PDU session context and user plane forwarding channel information, UP network element selection and reselection, IP address allocation, bearer establishment, modification, and release, and QoS control. The UDM is primarily responsible for managing subscription data and notifying the appropriate network elements when subscription data is modified. The UDR is primarily responsible for storing and retrieving subscription data, policy data, and public architecture data, making them available to the UDM, PCF, and NEF. The UDR must implement different data access authentication mechanisms for different types of data, such as subscription data and policy data, to ensure data access security. The UDR must be able to return a failure response with an appropriate cause value for illegal service-based operations or data access requests. The AF is used to provide application-layer services to the UE. When providing services to the UE, the AF has requirements for QoS (Quality of Service) and charging policies, and must notify the network of these requirements. The AF also requires application-related information from the core network. NSSF is responsible for the selection of network slices; NRF is responsible for the registration and discovery functions of network elements, and maintains the information of network elements, such as the instance identifier, type, PLMN, slice-related identifier, IP address or FQDN, capabilities of the network element, supported services, etc.

[0082] PCF is mainly responsible for executing policy control, which is similar to the policy and charging rules function (PCRF) network element in long term evolution (LTE), including the generation and management of users, sessions, quality of service (QoS) flow processing policies, quality of service, and charging rules, and sending the corresponding rules to the UPF network element through SMF. AF is mainly responsible for providing various business service functions, and can interact with the core network through the NEF network element, as well as interact with the policy management framework for policy management. NEF is used to provide frameworks, authentication, and interfaces related to network capability exposure, and to transmit information between 5G system network functions and other network functions. For a detailed description of each network element, please refer to the description in the relevant technology and will not be repeated here.

[0083] In the network architecture shown in Figure 2, UE 201 communicates with the AMF via the N1 interface, which is used to transmit non-access stratum (NAS) signaling. AN 202 communicates with the AMF via the N2 interface. AN 202 communicates with UPF 203 via the N3 interface, which uses the GPRS tunneling protocol for the user plane (GTP-U) for tunneling user data. UPF 203 communicates with the SMF via the N4 interface, which is used for policy configuration, etc. UPF 203 communicates with the external DN 204 via the N6 interface. In specific scenarios, the N6 interface is required to support dedicated lines or L2 / L3 tunnels, and can communicate with the DN network based on the Internet Protocol (IP).

[0084] It should be noted that the various network elements involved in the embodiments of the present application can be the network elements mentioned in the above embodiments, or network elements in future communication systems that have the same functions as the above network elements. For example, the user plane function network element can be a UPF network element, or a network element in a future communication system that has the same functions as the UPF network element; the application function network element can be an AF network element, or a network element that has the same functions as the AF network element; and the policy management network element can be a PCF network element, or a network element that has the same functions as the PCF network element.

[0085] For example, the network architecture based on point-to-point interfaces shown in Figure 3 may also be used. The main difference between this architecture and the architecture shown in Figure 2 is that the interfaces between network elements are point-to-point interfaces, rather than service-based interfaces. The functions of each network element are described in the description of each network element in Figure 2 and will not be repeated here. Furthermore, the concepts and detailed descriptions of point-to-point and service-based interfaces can be found in the relevant art and will not be repeated here.

[0086] It should be noted again that FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are merely examples and do not constitute a limitation of the communication system architecture of the present application.

[0087] As an implementation method, the communication system can be given the ability to perceive by deploying an integrated radar communication base station. Furthermore, accurate communication can be achieved based on the precise perception capability of the radar, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0088] In some embodiments, the communication system may time-division multiplex or space-division multiplex resources used for communication and resources used for perception to achieve perception of the surrounding environment or objects.

[0089] It should be understood that for a communication system with sensing capabilities, there may be a need for an application to request that the communication system provide feedback of sensing data. To meet this need, the communication system should be capable of providing this sensing data back to the application. In the embodiments of this application, sensing data specifically refers to the sensing results obtained when the communication system implements sensing based on wireless sensing technology. Therefore, the sensing data in the embodiments of this application can also be referred to as sensing results. The following description will refer to sensing data.

[0090] However, there is currently no solution for how to feed back the perception data. In view of this, the present application provides a communication method to provide the perception data to the required applications, or also known as opening the perception data to the required applications.

[0091] The communication method provided by this application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0092] FIG4 is a flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG4 , the method includes:

[0093] S401: The AF network element sends first information to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element receives the first information. The first information is used to instruct the AF network element to request to subscribe to perception data.

[0094] In this embodiment, the AF network element requests to subscribe to the perception data by sending the first information to the NEF network element.

[0095] In one implementation, the first information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate the type of perception service of the perception data that the AF network element requests to subscribe to.

[0096] It should be noted that this embodiment does not limit the type of perception. For example, the types of perception include, but are not limited to, at least one of the following: intrusion detection-type perception, traffic detection-type perception, path tracking-type perception, collision detection-type perception, positioning-type perception, and speed measurement-type perception. In this embodiment, different types of perception are also referred to as different types of perception services. For example, intrusion detection-type perception is also referred to as an intrusion detection-type perception service, traffic detection-type perception is also referred to as a traffic detection-type perception service, and collision detection-type perception is also referred to as a collision detection-type perception service.

[0097] It should be understood that different types of perception services can also be understood as different perception events. For example, a perception service that perceives vehicle density can also be called a perception event that perceives vehicle density, and a perception service that perceives traffic participants can also be called a perception event that perceives traffic participants. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present application, different types of perception services can also be described as different perception events. Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate the perception service type of the requested perception data, and can also be described as: the first indication information is used to indicate the perception event type of the requested perception data.

[0098] For example, during implementation, the first information may include an identification (ID) of the sensing service type / sensing event type to indicate that the sensing data of the sensing service type / sensing event type is desired to be requested.

[0099] Furthermore, in a case where the first information includes first indication information for indicating the perception service type of the requested perception data, the first information may also include second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate the content that the perception data requested for subscription should include, or in other words, the second indication information is used to indicate the information or parameters that the subscribed perception data should include.

[0100] For example, when the AF network element requests perception data of an intrusion detection type perception service, the second indication information may indicate that the requested perception data should include information including but not limited to at least one of the following: information for indicating whether there is an intrusion, information for indicating the size of the intrusion target, information for indicating the location of the intrusion target, information for indicating the trajectory of the intrusion target, and information for indicating the speed of the intrusion target.

[0101] For example, when the AF network element requests perception data of a traffic detection type perception service, the second indication information may indicate that the requested perception data should include information including but not limited to at least one of the following: information for indicating the size of the traffic flow, information for indicating the ID of the perception target (such as a vehicle), information for indicating the characteristics of the perception target (such as the color of the perception target, etc.), and information for indicating whether to track.

[0102] For example, when the AF network element requests perception data of a path tracking type perception service, the second indication information may indicate that the requested perception data should include information including but not limited to at least one of the following: information used to indicate the characteristics of the perception target being tracked (for example, information indicating the shape, size, initial position, etc. of the perception target), information used to indicate whether visual inspection of the path is required, and information used to indicate whether a path graphic needs to be drawn.

[0103] For example, when the AF network element requests perception data of a collision detection type perception service, the second indication information may indicate that the requested perception data should include information including but not limited to at least one of the following: information for indicating the characteristics of the perception target, information for indicating the initial position of the perception target, information for indicating whether to track, information for indicating the collision warning distance, and information for indicating whether the vehicle speed is planned to the recommended requirements.

[0104] For example, when the perception data of the perception service of the AF network element positioning type is used, the second indication information may indicate that the requested perception data should include information including but not limited to at least one of the following: information used to indicate the characteristics of the perception target (such as the shape information, size information and initial position information of the perception target).

[0105] For example, when the AF network element requests perception data for a speed measurement type perception service, the second indication information may indicate that the requested perception data should include information including but not limited to at least one of the following: information used to indicate the characteristics of the perception target (such as shape information, size information, and initial position information of the perception target).

[0106] In some embodiments, the first information sent by the AF network element also includes an identifier of the AF network element, such as address information and port information of the AF network element.

[0107] S402: The NEF network element sends second information to the first network element, and the first network element receives the second information. The second information is used to instruct the AF network element to request to subscribe to the perception data.

[0108] In this embodiment, after receiving the first information for requesting to subscribe to the perception data sent by the AF network element, the NEF network element sends, to the first network element, second information for instructing the AF network element to request to subscribe to the perception data.

[0109] Or in other words, in this embodiment, the information sent by the AF network element to the NEF network element to indicate that the AF requests to subscribe to the perception data is called the first information, and the information sent by the NEF network element to the first network element after receiving the first information to indicate that the AF network element requests to subscribe to the perception data is called the second information.

[0110] In one implementation, the first information and the second information are the same. In another implementation, the first information and the second information are different.

[0111] In some embodiments, the NEF network element may send the first information to the first network element through the UDM network element. That is, the NEF first sends the first information to the UDM network element, and then the UDM network element sends the first information to the first network element.

[0112] In some embodiments, the second information includes at least one of address information or port information of the AF network element, so as to inform the first network element of the AF network element to which the first network element requests to subscribe to the perception data.

[0113] S403: The first network element sends the perception data subscribed by the AF network element to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element receives the perception data.

[0114] In the embodiment of the present application, the first network element is a network element capable of sending perception data to the NEF network element.

[0115] In some embodiments, the first network element may collect the sensing data. For example, the first network element may collect the sensing data from a sensing device, such as a sensing base station. Optionally, the first network element may process the sensing data.

[0116] In some embodiments, the first network element may be a network element capable of controlling the second network element and obtaining sensing data from the second network element. In this embodiment, the second network element is a network element capable of collecting sensing data. For example, the second network element may collect sensing data from a base station having a sensing function.

[0117] In this embodiment, after receiving the information sent by the NEF network element for instructing the AF to request to subscribe to the perception data, the first network element will obtain the perception data required by the AF network element, and then send the perception data to the NEF network element.

[0118] For example, if the first network element can collect perception data, it will collect the perception data that the AF network element has requested to subscribe to from the perception device and send it to the NEF network element. For another example, if the first network element controls the second network element and obtains perception data from the second network element, it will obtain the perception data that the AF network element has requested to subscribe to from the second network element and send it to the NEF network element. The SF network element collects the perception data that the AF network element has requested to subscribe to from the perception device.

[0119] For example, when the AF network element requests perception data for an intrusion detection type perception service, the second indication information may indicate that the requested perception data should include information including: information indicating whether there is an intrusion, information indicating the size of the intrusion target, information indicating the location of the intrusion target, information indicating the trajectory of the intrusion target, and information indicating the speed of the intrusion target. Then, when the intrusion detection type perception service occurs, the first network element obtains perception data 111, perception data 112, perception data 113, perception data 114, and perception data 115 from the second network element, wherein perception data 111 is used to indicate whether there is an intrusion, perception data 112 is used to indicate the size of the intrusion target, perception data 113 is used to indicate the location of the intrusion target, perception data 114 is used to indicate the trajectory of the intrusion target, and perception data 115 is used to indicate the speed of the intrusion target; and then, perception data 111, perception data 112, perception data 113, perception data 114, and perception data 115 are sent to the NEF network element.

[0120] Let's take the example of subscribing to an intrusion detection type perception service. For example, the AF network element wants to subscribe to the perception data of the intrusion type perception service when perceiving the first area. Specifically, the content of the perception data of the subscribed perception service is whether there is a targeted intrusion within a period of time. Then, when an intrusion detection type event occurs in the first area, if the first network element determines that there is a targeted intrusion, it will send perception data to the NEF, and the perception data is used to indicate that there is a targeted intrusion.

[0121] For example, when the AF network element requests perception data for a traffic detection type perception service, the second indication information indicates that the requested perception data should include information including: information indicating the size of the traffic flow, information indicating the ID of the perception target (e.g., a vehicle), information indicating the characteristics of the perception target (e.g., the color of the perception target), and information indicating whether to track. Then, when the traffic detection type perception service occurs, the first network element obtains perception data 211, perception data 212, perception data 213, and perception data 214 from the second network element, wherein perception data 211 indicates the size of the traffic flow, perception data 212 indicates the ID of the perception target (e.g., a vehicle), perception data 213 indicates the characteristics of the perception target, and perception data 214 indicates whether to track; and then sends perception data 211, perception data 212, perception data 213, and perception data 214 to the NEF network element.

[0122] For example, when the AF network element requests perception data for a perception service of the path tracking type, the second indication information indicates that the requested perception data should include information including: information indicating the characteristics of the perception target being tracked (such as information indicating the shape, size, initial position, etc. of the perception target), information indicating whether a visual inspection of the path is required, and information indicating whether a path graph needs to be drawn. Then, when the perception service of the path tracking type occurs, the first network element obtains perception data 311, perception data 312, and perception data 313 from the second network element, wherein perception data 311 indicates the characteristics of the perception target being tracked, perception data 312 is used to indicate whether a visual inspection of the path is required, and perception data 313 is used to indicate whether a path graph needs to be drawn; and then, perception data 311, perception data 312, and perception data 313 are sent to the NEF network element.

[0123] For example, when the AF network element performs a collision detection type perception service, the second indication information indicates that the requested perception data should include information including: information indicating the characteristics of the perception target, information indicating the initial position of the perception target, information indicating whether to track, information indicating the collision warning distance, and information indicating whether the vehicle speed is planned to meet the recommended requirements. Then, when the collision detection type perception service occurs, the first network element obtains perception data 411, perception data 412, perception data 413, perception data 414, and perception data 415 from the second network element, where perception data 411 is used to indicate the characteristics of the perception target, perception data 412 is used to indicate the initial position of the perception target, perception data 413 is used to indicate whether to track, perception data 414 is used to indicate the collision warning distance, and perception data 415 is used to indicate whether the vehicle speed is planned to meet the recommended requirements; and then, perception data 411, perception data 412, perception data 413, perception data 414, and perception data 415 are sent to the NEF network element.

[0124] For example, when the AF network element performs a positioning-type perception service, the information that the requested perception data indicated by the second indication information should include may include, but is not limited to: information indicating the characteristics of the perception target (e.g., shape information, size information, and initial position information of the perception target). Then, when the positioning-type perception service occurs, the first network element obtains perception data 511 from the second network element, where the perception data 511 indicates the characteristics of the perception target, and then the first network element sends the perception data 511 to the NEF network element.

[0125] Optionally, in some embodiments, when the first network element sends the perception data, the perception service type of the perception data may also be indicated to the first network element.

[0126] S404 , the NEF network element sends the sensing data sent by the first network element to the AF network element; the AF network element receives the sensing data sent by the NEF network element.

[0127] Optionally, in this embodiment, the first network element may further determine whether the subscription is successful, and then execute S403 only if the subscription is successful. As shown in Figure 4, the method further includes S405-S406: S405: The first network element sends a first perception data subscription response message to the NEF network element, where the first perception data subscription response message is used to indicate to the NEF network element whether the AF network element has successfully subscribed or failed to subscribe; the NEF network element receives the first perception data subscription response message; S406: The NEF network element sends a second perception data subscription response message to the AF network element to indicate to the AF network element whether the subscription is successful.

[0128] It can be seen that in the communication method provided by this embodiment, when the AF network element requests to subscribe to the perception data, the first network element will obtain the perception data requested by the AF network element and transmit the perception data to the NEF network element. For example, the first network element collects the perception data from the perception device, or the first network element obtains the perception data from the second network element that collects the perception data, and then the NEF network element feeds back the perception data to the AF network element. That is, in this embodiment, the perception data is opened to the NEF network element through the first network element, and then the perception data is opened to the AF network element through the NEF network element. Or in other words, in this embodiment, the first network element can open the perception data to the AF network element through the NEF network element. Or in other words, in this embodiment, the transmission mode when the perception data is fed back to the AF network element is: first network element-NEF network element-AF network element.

[0129] It should be understood that the end that needs to send perception data and the end that receives perception data should use the same transmission protocol, media type, message format, etc., otherwise there will be problems with parsing.

[0130] For example, if the transmission protocol used by the end sending the perception data is protocol A and the message format is format B, and the transmission protocol used by the end receiving the perception data is protocol C and the message format is format B or other formats, then after the end sending the perception data sends the perception data, the end receiving the perception data may not be able to parse the information sent by the end sending the perception data.

[0131] Therefore, in some embodiments, in S401, when the AF network element of the present application sends the first information to request subscription to perception data, it may also send the third information to the NEF network element, where the third information indicates at least one of the following: the transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, the media type supported by the AF network element, or the message format supported by the AF network element.

[0132] Optionally, the NEF network element may carry the first information and the third information in the same message and send it to the first network element. For example, in an embodiment of the present application, the same message is called a perception data subscription message.

[0133] In this application, the transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, the media type supported by the AF network element, or the message format supported by the AF network element can be considered as the data transmission method when transmitting the perception data. In other words, the third information can be considered as indicating the data transmission method supported by the AF network element.

[0134] Accordingly, after receiving the third information, the NEF network element sends fourth information to the first network element. The fourth information is used to indicate to the first network element the data transmission mode supported by the AF network element. That is, the fourth information is used to indicate at least one of the following: a transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, a media type supported by the AF network element, or a message format supported by the AF network element.

[0135] In other words, in this embodiment, the information sent by the AF network element to the NEF network element to indicate the data transmission method supported by the AF is called the third information, and the information sent by the NEF network element to the first network element after receiving the third information to indicate the data transmission method supported by the AF is called the fourth information.

[0136] In one implementation, the third information and the fourth information are the same. In another implementation, the third information and the fourth information are different.

[0137] Furthermore, when the first network element receives the fourth information, the first network element determines at least one of the following based on the fourth information: the transmission protocol used by the first network element when sending the perception data, the media type used by the first network element when sending the perception data, or the message format used by the first network element when sending the perception data; and then sends the perception data based on the determined transmission protocol, media type, or message format.

[0138] In some embodiments, after the first network element determines one or more of the transmission protocol used, the media type used, and the message format used when sending perception data based on the fourth information, it can also send fifth information to the NEF network element, where the fifth information indicates at least one of the following: the transmission protocol used when the first network element sends the perception data, the media type used when the first network element sends the perception data, or the message format used when the first network element sends the perception data; accordingly, the NEF network element receives the perception data from the first network element based on the fifth information, that is, the NEF network element receives the perception data based on the data transmission method indicated by the first network element.

[0139] In some embodiments, after the first network element determines the data transmission mode to be used when sending the sensing data based on the second information, the fifth information may not be sent. For example, when the first network element uses the system default data transmission mode, the fifth information may not be sent.

[0140] As an optional embodiment, in the embodiment of the present application, after receiving the first information, the NEF network element may further determine the transmission path of the perception data based on the perception data that the AF network element requests to subscribe to.

[0141] In this embodiment, the transmission path of the perception data includes: a first transmission path or a second transmission path. The first transmission path is where the perception data is sent from the first network element to the NEF network element and then from the NEF network element to the AF network element. The second transmission path is where the perception data is sent from the network element that collects the perception data to the AF network element. Optionally, the transmission path can also be referred to as a notification method, which description does not limit the cost application.

[0142] Furthermore, when the NEF network element determines the transmission path, the NEF network element may also send sixth information to the first network element, where the sixth information indicates the transmission path for the perception data; accordingly, the first network element transmits the perception data based on the transmission path indicated by the sixth information. Two embodiments of the first network element transmitting perception data based on the transmission path indicated by the sixth information are described below.

[0143] Below, two embodiments of a method for transmitting perception data when an NEF network element determines a transmission path are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Before introducing these two embodiments, two system architectures provided by this application are first described with reference to FIG5 and FIG6.

[0144] Referring to Figure 5, Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of network elements included in a communication system with perception capabilities provided in this application. As shown in Figure 5, the network elements included in the system architecture are: UE, (R)AN, UPF, AMF, UDM, NWDAF, PCF, a first network element, a second network element, NEF, and AF. The first network element and the AMF communicate via the NS1 interface, the first network element and the NEF communicate via the NS2 interface, the first network element and the UDM communicate via the NS3 interface, the first network element and the NWDAF communicate via the NS4 interface, the first network element and the PCF communicate via the NS5 interface, the first network element and the second network element communicate via the NS6 interface, and the second network element and the UPF communicate via the NS7 interface. It should be noted that the above interface names are only examples and the specific interface names are not limited in this application. Specifically, the first network element can provide control plane functions related to perception capabilities, such as the first network element determining a second network element that includes perception data for a requested perception service. Specifically, the second network element is responsible for collecting perception data, for example, obtaining perception data from a perception base station. Among them, detailed descriptions of other network elements can be found in the descriptions in related technologies and will not be repeated here.

[0145] Refer to Figure 6, which is a schematic diagram of network elements included in a communication system with perception capabilities provided by this application. As shown in Figure 6, in this system architecture, a first network element can collect perception data from a perception device. For example, perception data can be obtained from a perception base station. Detailed descriptions of other network elements can be found in the related art and will not be repeated here.

[0146] Next, in conjunction with FIG7 , a communication method for transmitting sensing data based on a transmission path determined by an NEF network element under the architecture shown in FIG5 will be described. As shown in FIG7 , the method includes:

[0147] S701: The AF network element sends first information and third information to the NEF network element. The first information is used to request subscription to perception data, and the third information indicates a data transmission mode supported by the AF network element.

[0148] Optionally, in some embodiments, when there is a default data transmission mode, the third information in this embodiment is optional.

[0149] The data transmission mode includes, for example, the aforementioned transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, the media type supported by the AF network element, or the message format supported by the AF network element.

[0150] The description of the first information refers to the description in the aforementioned S401 and will not be repeated here.

[0151] Among them, the third information can refer to the aforementioned description of the third information, which will not be repeated here.

[0152] S702: The NEF network element determines a transmission path, where the transmission path includes a first transmission path or a second transmission path.

[0153] Specifically, the first transmission path is that the perception data is sent to the NEF network element through the first network element and then sent to the AF network element through the NEF network element; the second transmission path is that the network element that collects the perception data is sent to the AF network element.

[0154] In this embodiment, the network element that collects the sensing data is the second network element.

[0155] In other words, in the embodiment of the present application, the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is either the first transmission path or the second transmission path. In other words, the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is one of the first transmission path and the second transmission path.

[0156] It should be noted that this embodiment does not limit how the NEF network element determines the transmission path.

[0157] In one implementation, the determination may be made based on the latency requirement of the requested sensing data. For example, if the sensing data subscribed to by the AF network element has a high latency requirement, the transmission path may be determined to be the second transmission path.

[0158] In one implementation, the second transmission path may be determined based on the amount of the requested sensing data. For example, if the sensing data subscribed to by the AF network element has a relatively large amount of data, the second transmission path may be determined.

[0159] In one implementation, the transmission path for the requested sensing data may be determined based on at least one of the sensing service type and the sensing event type of the requested sensing data. For example, a correspondence between each sensing service type / sensing event type and a transmission path may be preset in advance, and then the NEF network element determines the transmission path to be used for the requested sensing data based on the correspondence.

[0160] S703, the NEF network element sends at least one of the second information, the fourth information, and the sixth information to the first network element, and the NEF network element receives at least one of the second information, the third information, and the sixth information, where the sixth information indicates the transmission path determined by the NEF network element.

[0161] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first transmission path may be preset as the default transmission path for the perception data. Accordingly, if the NEF network element determines in S702 that the transmission path for the perception data is the first transmission path, the NEF network element may not send the sixth information to the first network element. In this case, the first network element determines that the transmission path for the perception data is the first transmission path. In other words, the sixth information in this embodiment is optional.

[0162] Optionally, in some embodiments, the second transmission path may be preset as the default transmission path for the perception data. Accordingly, if the NEF network element determines in S702 that the transmission path for the perception data is the second transmission path, the NEF network element may not send the sixth information to the first network element. In this case, the first network element determines that the transmission path for the perception data is the second transmission path. In other words, the sixth information in this embodiment is optional.

[0163] In the embodiment of the present application, the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is the first transmission path. In this case, the method of transmitting the sensing data includes S704 to S705. Alternatively, when the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is the first transmission path, the steps of this embodiment include: S701 to S704.

[0164] S704, the first network element obtains the sensing data from the second network element and sends it to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element then sends the sensing data to the AF network element.

[0165] Among them, the second network element obtains the perception data that the AF requests to subscribe to from the perception device, and then sends the perception data to the first network element, so that the first network element knows the perception data that the AF network element requests to subscribe to. Further, the first network element sends the perception data sent by the second network element to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element then sends the perception data to the AF network element.

[0166] For example, in one implementation, the first network element sends information for requesting the perception data subscribed by the AF network element to the second network element. Correspondingly, after receiving the information, the second network element sends the perception data subscribed by the AF network element to the first network element.

[0167] In this embodiment of the present application, if the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is the second transmission path, the method for transmitting the sensing data includes S705 to S706. Alternatively, when the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is the second transmission path, the steps of this embodiment include: S701, S702, S703, and S706.

[0168] S705. The first network element sends seventh information to the second network element, where the seventh information instructs the second network element to send sensing data to the AF network element.

[0169] Among them, the second network element is a network element that collects perception data.

[0170] In an embodiment of the present application, the seventh information includes an identifier of the AF network element, such as at least one of the address information and port information of the AF network element, so that the second network element can send the sensing data to the AF network element.

[0171] In some embodiments, if the transmission path indicated by the sixth information is the second transmission path, the first network element may further send eighth information to the second network element, where the eighth information indicates at least one of the following: the transmission protocol used by the second network element when sending the perception data, the media type used by the second network element when sending the perception data, or the message format used by the second network element when sending the perception data. In some embodiments, a data transmission method for the perception data may also be preset. Accordingly, after the first network element determines the data transmission method, the first network element may not send the eighth information to the second network element. In this case, the perception data is transmitted to the second network element using the preset data transmission method. That is, the eighth information is optional.

[0172] Optionally, the first network element may further send indication information for indicating the transmission path to the second network element.

[0173] It should be understood that in this embodiment, the first network element also needs to be able to learn the data transmission mode supported by the second network element. In one implementation, the first network element can configure the data transmission mode supported by the second network element in advance, so that the data transmission mode determined by the first network element is the data transmission mode supported by the second network element. Alternatively, in another implementation, the second network element can send information indicating the data transmission mode supported by the second network element to the first network element.

[0174] S706: The second network element sends the sensing data to the AF network element.

[0175] Optionally, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 , S707 to S708 may also be included.

[0176] S707, when the first network element receives at least one of the second information, the fourth information and the sixth information, it sends the first perception data subscription response information to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element receives the first perception data subscription response information to indicate the success or failure of the AF network element's perception data / perception information subscription.

[0177] In some embodiments, when the first network element sends the first perception data subscription response information to the NEF network element, the first perception data subscription response information may also include fifth information, and the fifth information indicates at least one of the following: the transmission protocol used by the first network element when sending the perception data, the media type used by the first network element when sending the perception data, and the message format used by the first network element when sending the perception data.

[0178] In some embodiments, the various network elements may also negotiate in advance the transmission mode for transmitting the perception data. At this time, when the first network element sends the perception data subscription response information to the NEF network element, the perception data subscription response information does not include the fifth information; accordingly, for the NEF network element, the perception data sent by the first network element is received based on the default transmission mode.

[0179] S708, the NEF network element sends second perception data subscription response information to the AF network element, which is used to indicate the success or failure of the AF network element's perception data / perception information subscription.

[0180] Optionally, the first perception data subscription response information and the second perception data subscription response information may also include at least one item of the address information and port information of the second network element, so that the AF network element can know the second network element and thus directly request perception data from the second network element.

[0181] It can be seen that in the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the NEF network element determines the transmission path of the perception data, and then indicates the transmission path to the first network element, so that the first network element controls the transmission of the perception data.

[0182] Next, in conjunction with FIG8 , a communication method for transmitting sensing data based on a transmission path determined by an NEF network element under the architecture shown in FIG6 will be described. As shown in FIG8 , the method includes:

[0183] S801: The AF network element sends first information and third information to the NEF network element. The first information is used to request subscription to perception data, and the third information indicates a data transmission mode supported by the AF network element.

[0184] Optionally, in some embodiments, when there is a default data transmission mode, the third information in this embodiment is optional.

[0185] S802: The NEF network element determines a transmission path, where the transmission path includes a first transmission path or a second transmission path.

[0186] S803, the NEF network element sends at least one of the second information, the fourth information, and the sixth information to the first network element, and the NEF network element receives at least one of the second information, the fourth information, and the sixth information, where the sixth information indicates the transmission path determined by the NEF network element.

[0187] Optionally, in some embodiments, when there is a default data transmission mode, the fourth information in this embodiment is optional.

[0188] In the embodiment of the present application, the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is the first transmission path. In this case, the method of transmitting the sensing data includes S804. Alternatively, when the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is the first transmission path, the steps of this embodiment include: S801 to S804.

[0189] S804: The first network element collects the sensing data requested by the AF network element and sends it to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element then sends the sensing data to the AF network element.

[0190] In the embodiment of the present application, if the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is the second transmission path, the method for transmitting the sensing data includes S805. Alternatively, when the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is the second transmission path, the steps of this embodiment include: S801, S802, S803, and S805.

[0191] S805: The first network element sends the sensing data to the AF network element.

[0192] In this embodiment, the first network element is a network element that collects perception data.

[0193] Optionally, in some embodiments, if the transmission path indicated by the sixth information is the second transmission path, the first network element may also indicate at least one of the following to the AF network element: the transmission protocol used by the first network element when sending perception data, the media type used by the first network element when sending perception data, or the message format used by the first network element when sending perception data.

[0194] Optionally, in some embodiments, the data transmission mode for the perception data may be preset. Accordingly, the first network element sends the perception data based on the preset data transmission mode, and the AF network element receives the perception data using the preset data transmission mode.

[0195] Optionally, the first network element may further indicate at least one of the following information to the AF network element: address information of the first network element and port information of the first network element.

[0196] Optionally, in the embodiment shown in FIG8 , before S804 or S805 , S806 to S807 may be further included.

[0197] S806, when the first network element receives at least one of the second information, the fourth information and the sixth information, it sends the first perception data subscription response information to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element receives the first perception data subscription response information to indicate the success or failure of the AF network element's perception data / perception information subscription.

[0198] S807, the NEF network element sends second perception data subscription response information to the AF network element, which is used to indicate the success or failure of the AF network element's perception data / perception information subscription.

[0199] The detailed description of S806 and S807 refers to S707 and S708 in the embodiment shown in FIG7 , which will not be repeated here.

[0200] As an optional embodiment, the first network element may also determine the transmission path of the perception data. In the following, two embodiments of determining the transmission mode of the perception data by the first network element are described in conjunction with FIG9 and FIG10.

[0201] Specifically, Figure 9 illustrates an embodiment of a method for transmitting perception data when a first network element controls a second network element and obtains perception data from the second network element. Figure 10 illustrates an embodiment of a method for transmitting perception data when a first network element collects perception data.

[0202] As shown in FIG9 , the first network element determines a transmission path and a method for transmitting the perception data includes:

[0203] S901: The AF network element sends first information and third information to the NEF network element. The first information is used to request subscription to perception data, and the third information indicates a data transmission mode supported by the AF.

[0204] Optionally, in some embodiments, when there is a default data transmission mode, the third information in this embodiment is optional.

[0205] S902, the NEF network element sends the second information and the fourth information to the first network element, and the first network element receives the second information and the fourth information.

[0206] Optionally, in some embodiments, when there is a default data transmission mode, the fourth information in this embodiment is optional.

[0207] S903: The first network element determines a transmission path and a data transmission mode.

[0208] In this embodiment, the transmission path includes a first transmission path and a second transmission path. In this embodiment, the transmission path determined by the first network element is either the first transmission path or the second transmission path. In other words, the transmission path determined by the first network element is one of the first transmission path and the second transmission path.

[0209] In this embodiment, the data transmission method includes, for example, the transmission protocol, message format, media type, etc. used when transmitting the perception data.

[0210] Specifically, the detailed description of the first transmission path, the second transmission path and the data transmission mode can refer to the description in the aforementioned embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0211] The embodiment of the present application is different from the embodiments of FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 in that the transmission path is determined by the first network element, not the NEF network element.

[0212] It should be noted that this embodiment does not limit how the first network element determines the transmission path.

[0213] In one implementation, the determination may be made based on a delay requirement of the requested perception data and a data volume of the requested perception data.

[0214] For example, if the perception data subscribed by the AF has a high real-time requirement, the transmission path may be determined to be the second transmission path, while for the perception data with a low real-time requirement, the transmission path may be determined to be the second transmission path.

[0215] For example, if the amount of sensing data subscribed by the AF is relatively large, the transmission path may be determined to be the second transmission path.

[0216] In one implementation, the transmission path for the requested sensing data may be determined based on the sensing service type / event type of the requested sensing data. For example, a correspondence between each sensing service type / sensing event type and a transmission path may be preset in advance, and then the first network element determines the transmission path to be used for the requested sensing data based on the correspondence.

[0217] In the embodiment of the present application, if the transmission path determined by the first network element is the first transmission path, the method of transmitting the sensing data includes S904. Alternatively, when the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is the first transmission path, the steps of this embodiment include: S901 to S904.

[0218] S904: The first network element obtains the sensing data from the second network element and sends it to the NEF network element. The NEF network element then sends the sensing data to the AF network element.

[0219] The description of this step can refer to S704 in the embodiment of FIG. 7 , which will not be repeated here.

[0220] In this embodiment of the present application, if the transmission path determined by the first network element is the second transmission path, the method for transmitting the sensing data includes S905 to S906. Alternatively, when the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is the second transmission path, the steps of this embodiment include: S901, S902, S903, S905, and S906.

[0221] S905. The first network element sends seventh information to the second network element, where the seventh information instructs the second network element to send sensing data to the AF network element.

[0222] S906: The second network element sends the sensing data to the AF network element.

[0223] Among them, S905 and S906 can refer to S90 in the embodiment of Figure 7. The detailed description of this step can refer to S7056~S706 in the embodiment shown in Figure 7, which will not be repeated here.

[0224] Optionally, in the embodiment shown in FIG9 , S907 to S908 may also be included.

[0225] S907, when the first network element receives at least one of the second information, the fourth information and the sixth information, it sends the first perception data subscription response information to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element receives the first perception data subscription response information to indicate the success or failure of the AF network element's perception data / perception information subscription.

[0226] S908. The NEF network element sends second perception data subscription response information to the AF network element, which is used to indicate the success or failure of the AF network element's perception data / perception information subscription.

[0227] The detailed description of S907 to S908 may refer to the description of S707 to S708 in the embodiment shown in FIG7 , and will not be repeated here.

[0228] It can be seen that in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 , the first network element determines a transmission path for the perception data, and then transmits the perception data based on the determined transmission path.

[0229] Optionally, in the embodiment shown in FIG9 , the second perception data subscription response information in step S907 and the second perception data subscription response information in step S908 may further include an identifier for indicating the second network element, for example, at least one of the address information and port information of the second network element, so that the AF can learn about the second network element and thus directly send other information for requesting to subscribe to perception data to the second network element. In other words, through this implementation, when the AF needs to actively interact with the second network element, the AF network element can directly send information to the second network element.

[0230] Next, in conjunction with Figure 10, a communication method for transmitting sensing data based on a transmission path determined by an NEF network element under the architecture shown in Figure 6 is described. As shown in Figure 10, the method includes:

[0231] S1001: The AF network element sends first information and third information to the NEF network element. The first information is used to request subscription to perception data, and the third information indicates a data transmission mode supported by the AF network element.

[0232] Optionally, in some embodiments, when there is a default data transmission mode, the third information in this embodiment is optional.

[0233] S1002 , the NEF network element sends second information and fourth information to the first network element, and the first network element receives the second information and the fourth information.

[0234] Optionally, in some embodiments, when there is a default data transmission mode, the fourth information in this embodiment is optional.

[0235] S1003: The first network element determines a transmission path and a data transmission mode.

[0236] The detailed description of S1001 to S003 can refer to the description in the aforementioned embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0237] In the embodiment of the present application, the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is the first transmission path. In this case, the method of transmitting the sensing data includes S1004. Alternatively, when the transmission path determined by the NEF network element is the first transmission path, the steps of this embodiment include: S1001 to S1004.

[0238] S1004: The first network element collects the sensing data requested by the AF network element and sends it to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element then sends the sensing data to the AF network element.

[0239] The detailed description of this step can be referred to the detailed description in S804, which will not be repeated here.

[0240] In an embodiment of the present application, if the transmission path determined by the first network element is the second transmission path, the method for transmitting the sensing data includes S1005. Alternatively, when the transmission path determined by the first network element is the second transmission path, the steps of this embodiment include: S1001, S1002, S1003, and S1005.

[0241] S1005. The first network element sends the sensing data to the AF network element.

[0242] The detailed description of this step can be referred to the detailed description in S805 and will not be repeated here.

[0243] Optionally, in the embodiment shown in FIG8 , before S804 or S805 , S806 to S807 may be further included.

[0244] S1006, when the first network element receives at least one of the second information, the fourth information and the sixth information, it sends the first perception data subscription response information to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element receives the first perception data subscription response information to indicate the success or failure of the AF network element's perception data / perception information subscription.

[0245] S1007, the NEF network element sends second perception data subscription response information to the AF network element, which is used to indicate the success or failure of the AF network element's perception data / perception information subscription.

[0246] The detailed description of S1006 and S1007 refers to S707 and S708 in the embodiment shown in FIG7 , which will not be repeated here.

[0247] The above describes an embodiment of the present application for opening sensing data to an AF network element. Next, a communication method provided by the present application will be described in conjunction with FIG11 .

[0248] For the convenience of description, the network element that can collect sensing data is called a sensing function (SF).

[0249] It should be understood that the perception range corresponding to each SF network element is limited. For example, if the target area requested by the AF network element requires data from multiple SF network elements, providing the AF network element with only the perception data from a single SF network element would be inaccurate. Therefore, this embodiment describes how to feed perception data back to the AF network element when the target area requested by the AF network element requires perception data from multiple SFs.

[0250] In the following, with reference to FIG11 , an example is provided in which an AF network element requests to subscribe to perception data regarding a target area, and the requested perception data regarding the target area can be collected by a second network element and a third network element. Specifically, the second network element may be used to subscribe to the perception data regarding the target area, while the third network element may be used to collect the data.

[0251] As shown in FIG11 , the communication method includes:

[0252] S1101: The AF network element sends first information to the NEF network element. The first information is used to request subscription to perception data and indicates information of a target area requested by the AF network element.

[0253] Optionally, the AF network element may further send second information to the NEF network element, where the second information indicates a data transmission mode supported by the AF network element.

[0254] The description of the first information and the second information refers to the description in the aforementioned embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0255] Specifically, in this embodiment, when the AF network element requests the NEF network element to subscribe to the perception data, the AF network element will also indicate to the NEF network element that the perception data the AF network element requests to subscribe to is data when the target area is perceived.

[0256] S1102 : The NEF network element indicates to the first network element that the AF network element requests sensing data and indicates information of a target area requested by the AF network element.

[0257] S1103: The first network element determines a transmission path and a data transmission mode, and determines a second network element and a third network element including the sensing data requested by the AF network element according to the target area requested by the AF network element.

[0258] The transmission path and data transmission method can refer to the description in the aforementioned embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0259] In this embodiment, the second network element and the third network element are network elements that can collect perception data.

[0260] For example, as shown in FIG11 , assuming that the perception data that the AF network element requests to subscribe to is data when the target area is sensed, the perception data that the AF requests to subscribe to is provided by the second network element and the third network element.

[0261] It can be understood that, in this embodiment, the first network element needs to be able to know the sensing area corresponding to each SF network element.

[0262] S1104: The first network element instructs the third network element to send the perception data requested to be subscribed by the AF network element to the second network element. Correspondingly, the second network element receives the perception data sent by the third network element.

[0263] In one implementation, when the first network element instructs the third network element to send the perception data requested by the AF network element to the second network element, it can send at least one of the address information and port information of the second network element to the third network element, so that the third network element knows the receiving end of sending the perception data.

[0264] In some embodiments, the first network element may further instruct the third network element on a data transmission mode when sending the sensing data. The data transmission mode may refer to the description in the above embodiments and will not be described in detail here.

[0265] Similarly, it can be understood that in this embodiment, the first network element also needs to be able to know the data transmission mode supported by the second network element and the third network element, so that the data transmission mode determined by the first network element is the data transmission mode supported by the second network element and the third network element.

[0266] S1105. The third network element sends the sensing data to the second network element.

[0267] In the embodiment of the present application, if the transmission path determined by the first network element is the first transmission path, S1106 is executed, and if the transmission path determined by the first network element is the second transmission path, S1107 and S1108 are executed.

[0268] S1106: The first network element obtains the sensing data from the second network element and sends it to the NEF network element. The NEF network element then sends the sensing data to the AF network element.

[0269] It should be understood that the perception data obtained by the first network element from the second network element includes, in addition to the perception data requested by the AF network element originally included in the second network element, also the perception data requested by the AF network element included in the third network element.

[0270] S1107: The first network element instructs the second network element to send, to the AF network element, the perception data that the AF network element requests to subscribe to.

[0271] S1108: The second network element sends the sensing data to the AF network element.

[0272] Similarly, it can be understood that when the second network element sends perception data to the AF network element, since the second network element receives the perception data requested by the AF network element sent by the third network element, when the second network element sends perception data to the AF network element, the perception data sent includes the perception data requested by the AF network element collected by the second network element, as well as the perception data requested by the AF network element collected by the third network element.

[0273] Optionally, the method may further include:

[0274] S1109, the first network element sends first perception data subscription response information to the NEF network element, and the NEF network element receives the perception data subscription response information. The perception data subscription response information is used to indicate whether the subscription of the AF network element is successful or failed.

[0275] In this embodiment, it is assumed that the sensing data subscription response information is used to indicate that the AF network element has successfully subscribed.

[0276] S1110, the NEF network element sends second perception data subscription response information to the AF network element.

[0277] The detailed description of the first perception data subscription response information and the second perception data subscription response information in the aforementioned embodiments S1109 to S1110 will not be repeated here.

[0278] Optionally, the first network element in the present application may send the sensing data to the NEF network element via the UDM network element. That is, the first network element first sends the sensing data to the UDM network element, and then the UDM network element sends the sensing data to the NEF network element.

[0279] The communication method of the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above in conjunction with Figures 5 to 11. The communication device provided in the present application will be described in detail below in conjunction with Figures 12 and 13.

[0280] FIG12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Specifically, as shown in FIG12 , the device 1200 includes: a receiving module 1201 and a sending module 1202 .

[0281] In the first embodiment, the communication device is applied to a NEF network element.

[0282] Specifically, in the first embodiment, the receiving module 1201 is used to receive the perception data from the first network element; the sending module 1202 is used to send the perception data to the application function AF network element.

[0283] In one possible implementation, the receiving module 1201 is further used to receive first information from the AF network element, where the first information is used to indicate that the AF network element requests to subscribe to perception data; the sending module 1202 is further used to send second information to the first network element, where the second information is used to indicate that the AF network element requests to subscribe to perception data.

[0284] In a possible implementation manner, the first information and the second information include first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a type of perception service of the perception data requested for subscription.

[0285] In a possible implementation manner, the first information and the second information include second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate content that the perception data requested for subscription should include.

[0286] In one possible implementation, the receiving module 1201 is further used to receive third information from the AF network element, and the third information indicates at least one of the following: the transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, the media type supported by the AF network element, or the message format supported by the AF network element; the sending module 1202 is further used to send fourth information to the first network element, and the fourth information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, the media type supported by the AF network element, or the message format supported by the AF network element.

[0287] In one possible implementation, the receiving module 1201 is further used to receive fifth information from the first network element, where the fifth information indicates at least one of the following: the transmission protocol used by the first network element when sending the perception data, the media type used by the first network element when sending the perception data, or the message format used by the first network element when sending the perception data; the receiving module 1201 is further used to receive perception data from the first network element based on the fifth information.

[0288] In one possible implementation, the sending module 1202 is also used to send sixth information to the first network element, where the sixth information indicates a transmission path of the perception data, and the transmission path is a first transmission path or a second transmission path. The first transmission path is that the perception data is sent to the NEF network element through the first network element and then sent to the AF network element through the NEF network element. The second transmission path is that the perception data is sent from the network element that collects the perception data to the AF network element. The receiving module 1201 is also used to receive the perception data from the first network element when the transmission path indicated by the sixth information is the first transmission path.

[0289] In a second embodiment, the communication device is used in a first network element.

[0290] Specifically, in the second embodiment, the sending module 1202 is configured to send the sensing data to a network open function NEF network element.

[0291] In a possible implementation, the receiving module 1201 is configured to receive second information from the NEF network element, where the second information is used to instruct the application function AF network element to request subscription to perception data.

[0292] In a possible implementation manner, the second information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a type of perception service of the perception data requested for subscription.

[0293] In a possible implementation manner, the second information includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate content that the perception data requested for subscription should include.

[0294] In one possible implementation, the receiving module 1201 is further used to receive fourth information from the NEF network element, where the fourth information indicates at least one of the following: a transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, a media type supported by the AF network element, or a message format supported by the AF network element.

[0295] In one possible implementation, the sending module 1202 is further used to send fifth information to the NEF network element, where the fifth information indicates at least one of the following: the transmission protocol used by the first network element when sending the perception data, the media type used by the first network element when sending the perception data, or the message format used by the first network element when sending the perception data; the sending module 1202 is further used to send the perception data to the NEF network element based on the fifth information.

[0296] In one possible implementation, the device also includes a processing module 1203, and the processing module 1203 is also used to: determine the transmission path of the perception data, the transmission path is a first transmission path or a second transmission path, the first transmission path is that the perception data is sent to the NEF network element through the first network element and then sent to the AF network element through the NEF network element, and the second transmission path is that the perception data is sent from the network element that collects the perception data to the AF network element; the sending module 1202 is also used to send the perception data to the NEF network element when the transmission path is the first transmission path.

[0297] In a possible implementation, the receiving module 1201 is further configured to receive sixth information from the NEF network element, where the sixth information indicates the transmission path.

[0298] In one possible implementation, the sending module 1202 is also used to send the perception data to the AF network element or send seventh information to the second network element if it is determined that the transmission path of the perception data is the second transmission path, and the seventh information indicates that the second network element sends the perception data to the AF network element, and the seventh information includes the identifier of the AF network element.

[0299] In one possible implementation, the sending module 1202 is also used to: send eighth information to the second network element, and the eighth information indicates at least one of the following: the transmission protocol used by the second network element when sending the perception data, the media type used by the second network element when sending the perception data, or the message format used by the second network element when sending the perception data.

[0300] In a possible implementation, the sending module 1202 is further configured to send ninth information to the AF network element through the NEF network element, where the ninth information indicates an identifier of the second network element.

[0301] In a third embodiment, the communication device is used to apply the function AF network element.

[0302] Specifically, in the third embodiment, the sending module 1202 is used to: send first information to the network open function NEF network element, where the first information is used to instruct the AF network element to request to subscribe to perception data; the receiving module 1201 is used to: receive the perception data sent by the NEF network element.

[0303] In a possible implementation manner, the first information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a type of perception service of the perception data requested for subscription.

[0304] In a possible implementation, the first information includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate content that the perception data requested for subscription should include.

[0305] Figure 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in another embodiment of the present application. The device shown in Figure 13 can be used to execute the method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0306] As shown in Figure 13, the apparatus 1300 of this embodiment includes a memory 1301 and a processor 1302. Optionally, the apparatus 1300 further includes a communication interface 1303 and a bus 1304. The memory 1301, the processor 1302, and the communication interface 1303 are connected to each other via the bus 1304.

[0307] The memory 1301 may be a read-only memory (ROM), a static storage device, a dynamic storage device, or a random access memory (RAM). The memory 1301 may store a program. When the program stored in the memory 1301 is executed by the processor 1302, the processor 1302 is configured to perform the steps of the method shown in Figures 4 to 11.

[0308] The processor 1302 can be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits to execute relevant programs to implement the methods shown in Figures 4 to 11 of the present application.

[0309] The processor 1302 may also be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the method of FIG. 4 to FIG. 11 of the embodiment of the present application may be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor 1302 or by instructions in the form of software.

[0310] The processor 1302 may also be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The processor 1302 may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0311] The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory 1301, and the processor 1302 reads the information in the memory 1301 and, in combination with its hardware, completes the functions required to be performed by the units included in the device of the present application. For example, the various steps / functions of the embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 11 can be executed.

[0312] The communication interface 1303 may use, but is not limited to, a transceiver or other transceiver device to implement communication between the apparatus 1300 and other devices or a communication network.

[0313] The bus 1304 may include a path for transmitting information between various components of the device 1300 (eg, the memory 1301 , the processor 1302 , and the communication interface 1303 ).

[0314] It should be understood that the apparatus 1300 shown in the embodiment of the present application may be an electronic device, or a chip configured in an electronic device. The apparatus 1300 may be deployed in a terminal device, or may be deployed in a network device.

[0315] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any other combination. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer program are loaded or executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can 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 can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via a wired (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains one or more available media sets. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium can be a solid-state drive.

[0316] It should be understood that the term "and / or" as used herein simply describes a relationship between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A alone, A and B together, or B alone. A and B can be singular or plural. Furthermore, the character " / " as used herein generally indicates an "or" relationship between the associated objects, but it may also indicate an "and / or" relationship. For specific understanding, please refer to the context.

[0317] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or plural.

[0318] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0319] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0320] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0321] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0322] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0323] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0324] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0325] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to network open function NEF network elements, including: receiving sensing data from a first network element; The sensing data is sent to the application function AF network element.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving first information from the AF network element, where the first information is used to indicate that the AF network element requests to subscribe to perception data; Sending second information to the first network element, where the second information is used to instruct the AF network element to request to subscribe to perception data.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first information and the second information include first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a type of perception service of the perception data requested to be subscribed.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first information and the second information include second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate content that the perception data requested to be subscribed should include.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving third information from the AF network element, the third information indicating at least one of the following: a transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, a media type supported by the AF network element, or a message format supported by the AF network element; Send fourth information to the first network element, where the fourth information is used to indicate at least one of the following: a transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, a media type supported by the AF network element, or a message format supported by the AF network element.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving fifth information from the first network element, the fifth information indicating at least one of the following: a transmission protocol used by the first network element when sending the perception data, a media type used by the first network element when sending the perception data, or a message format used by the first network element when sending the perception data; The receiving the sensing data from the first network element includes: The sensing data is received from the first network element based on the fifth information.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending sixth information to the first network element, where the sixth information indicates a transmission path of the perception data, where the transmission path is a first transmission path or a second transmission path, where the first transmission path is that the perception data is sent from the first network element to the NEF network element and then sent to the AF network element through the NEF network element, and where the second transmission path is that the perception data is sent from the network element that collects the perception data to the AF network element; The receiving the sensing data from the first network element includes: When the transmission path indicated by the sixth information is the first transmission path, the perception data is received from the first network element.

8. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to the first network element, including: Send the sensing data to the network open function NEF network element.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The method further comprises: Second information is received from the NEF network element, where the second information is used to instruct the application function AF network element to request to subscribe to perception data.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The second information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a type of perception service of the perception data requested to be subscribed.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The second information includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate content that the perception data requested to be subscribed should include.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive fourth information from the NEF network element, where the fourth information indicates at least one of the following: a transmission protocol supported by the AF network element, a media type supported by the AF network element, or a message format supported by the AF network element.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending fifth information to the NEF network element, the fifth information indicating at least one of the following: a transmission protocol used by the first network element when sending the perception data, a media type used by the first network element when sending the perception data, or a message format used by the first network element when sending the perception data; The sending of the sensing data to the network open function NEF network element includes: Based on the fifth information, the sensing data is sent to the NEF network element.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: Determine a transmission path of the perception data, where the transmission path is a first transmission path or a second transmission path, where the first transmission path is that the perception data is sent to the NEF network element through the first network element and then sent to the AF network element through the NEF network element, and where the second transmission path is that the perception data is sent to the AF network element by the network element that collects the perception data; The sending of the sensing data to the network open function NEF network element includes: When the transmission path is the first transmission path, the sensing data is sent to the NEF network element.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The determining a transmission path of the perception data includes: Receive sixth information from the NEF network element, where the sixth information indicates the transmission path.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: If it is determined that the transmission path of the perception data is the second transmission path, the perception data is sent to the AF network element or the seventh information is sent to the second network element, the seventh information instructs the second network element to send the perception data to the AF network element, and the seventh information includes the identifier of the AF network element.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send eighth information to the second network element, where the eighth information indicates at least one of the following: a transmission protocol used by the second network element when sending the perception data, a media type used by the second network element when sending the perception data, or a message format used by the second network element when sending the perception data.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that The method further comprises: Ninth information is sent to the AF network element through the NEF network element, where the ninth information indicates an identifier of the second network element.

19. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to AF network elements with application functions, including: Sending first information to a network open function NEF network element, where the first information is used to instruct the AF network element to request to subscribe to the perception data; Receive the sensing data sent by the NEF network element.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The first information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a type of perception service of the perception data requested to be subscribed.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The first information includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate content that the perception data requested to be subscribed should include.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: include: processor, The processor is configured to enable the communication device to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 by executing a computer program and / or a logic circuit.

23. A communication device, characterized in that: include: processor, The processor is configured to enable the communication device to implement the method according to any one of claims 8 to 18 by executing a computer program and / or through a logic circuit.

24. A communication device, characterized in that: include: processor, The processor is configured to enable the communication device to implement the method according to any one of claims 19 to 21 by executing a computer program and / or through a logic circuit.

25. A communication system, characterized in that: Comprising a communication device as claimed in any one of claims 23 to 24.

26. A computer readable medium, characterized in that The computer-readable medium stores a program code for computer execution, the program code including instructions for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, claims 8 to 18, or claims 19 to 21.

27. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes computer program codes, and when the computer program codes are executed on a computer, the computer is enabled to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, claims 8 to 18, or claims 19 to 21.

28. A chip, characterized in that: It includes at least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected by a line, and the at least one processor is used to run a computer program or instruction to perform the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7 or claims 8 to 18 or claims 19 to 21.

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