Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present application are a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: an SMF network element establishing one or more quality-of-service flows for a certain service, wherein the one or more quality-of-service flows are used for transmitting related data of the service and are not used for transmitting other data; by using the quality-of-service flows as a granularity, an access network device determining energy information for the access network device to transmit, by means of the one or more quality-of-service flows, the data related to the service, and reporting the energy information to the SMF network element; and on the basis of the energy information reported by the access network device, the SMF network element determining energy information for transmitting the service.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on December 29, 2023, with application number 202311869486.8 and application name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Art

[0004] Operators deploy access networks and core networks. After a terminal connects to the core network via the access network, it can transmit service data with the application's server through network elements in the access and core networks. For example, during uplink communications, the terminal sends uplink service data to the application's server through these network elements; during downlink communications, the application's server sends downlink data to the terminal through these network elements. The degree to which the application processes information related to service data transmission affects the service experience.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, which are conducive to improving service experience.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be performed by a session management network element, the method comprising: receiving a first request, the first request being used to request service-related energy information; sending a second request to a first network element, the second request being used to request energy information used by the first network element to transmit a quality of service flow, the quality of service flow being used to transmit data related to the service; receiving a second response from the first network element, the second response including first energy information used by the first network element to transmit the quality of service flow; and sending a first response to the first request based on the first energy information, the first response including second energy information used to transmit the service-related data. For example, the first network element may be an access network device.

[0008] Through the above design, energy information for transmitting business-related data can be provided based on the energy information of one or more service quality flows, so that the recipient of the information can further understand the transmission of business data from an energy perspective and can also make corresponding processing, which helps to improve the business experience.

[0009] In a possible implementation manner, the first request includes a parameter, where the parameter is used to indicate an attribute of the quality of service flow.

[0010] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: establishing the quality of service flow according to the parameter.

[0011] Through the above design, one or more quality of service flows are newly created in the network. The one or more quality of service flows are used to transmit business-related data and do not need to transmit other data.

[0012] In a possible implementation manner, the second request includes the identifier of the quality of service flow and / or the parameter, and the identifier of the quality of service flow is determined according to the parameter.

[0013] In a possible implementation manner, the first request further includes indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate that the data is to be transmitted through a quality of service flow related to the parameter.

[0014] In a possible implementation manner, the first energy information includes: energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; and the second energy information includes the energy consumption.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow; the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data; the second energy information includes the energy efficiency.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data, including: the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow per unit of the data.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow; the energy efficiency is used to indicate the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data; the second energy information includes the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow, and the energy consumption is determined based on the energy efficiency.

[0018] In a possible implementation manner, the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency, including: the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency and the data volume of the data.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data, including: the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow per unit of the data; the energy consumption is equal to: the product of the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow per unit of the data and the data volume.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the second response further includes the data volume.

[0021] In one possible implementation, the second response also includes: a first data volume of the data transmitted by the first network element through the service quality flow; the method also includes: obtaining a second data volume of the data transmitted by the second network element through the service quality flow; and determining the data volume based on the first data volume and the second data volume.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the second response also includes information about the first time, the first time period corresponds to the first energy information, and the method further includes: obtaining the data volume based on the information of the first time period, and the data volume is the data volume of the data transmitted by the first network element or user-plane network element through the service quality flow during the first time period.

[0023] The second aspect is a contralateral method corresponding to the first aspect. For beneficial effects, please refer to the description of the first aspect. A communication method is provided, and the execution subject of the method is an access network device, including: receiving a second request, the second request is used to request the first network element to transmit energy information of the service quality flow, and the service quality flow is used to transmit business-related data; sending a second response, the second response includes the first energy information of the first network element to transmit the service quality flow, and the first energy information is used to determine the second energy information used to transmit the data.

[0024] In a possible implementation manner, the second request includes an identifier and / or parameters of the quality of service flow, where the parameters are used to indicate attributes of the quality of service flow.

[0025] In a possible implementation manner, the second response further includes a first data volume of the data transmitted by the first network element through the quality of service flow.

[0026] In a possible implementation manner, the first energy information includes: energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; and the second energy information includes the energy consumption.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow; the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow and the data; the second energy information includes the energy efficiency.

[0028] In one possible implementation, the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data, including: the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow per unit of the data.

[0029] In one possible implementation, the first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow; the energy efficiency is used to indicate the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data; the second energy information includes the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow, and the energy consumption is determined based on the energy efficiency.

[0030] In a possible implementation manner, the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency, including: the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency and the data volume of the data.

[0031] In one possible implementation, the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data, including: the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow per unit of the data; the energy consumption is equal to: the product of the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow per unit of the data and the data volume.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the second response further includes the data volume.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the second response also includes: the first data volume of the data transmitted by the first network element through the service quality flow; the data volume is determined based on the first data volume and the second data volume, and the second data volume is the second data volume of the data transmitted by the second network element through the service quality flow.

[0034] According to a third aspect, a communication method is provided, the execution subject of which may be a session management network element, including: receiving a first request, the first request being used to request service-related energy information; sending a first response, the first response including first energy information for transmitting a service data stream, the service data stream being used to transmit the service-related data; wherein the first energy information is determined based on second energy information used by the first network element to transmit a quality of service stream, data transmitted by the service data stream, and data transmitted by the quality of service stream, and there is a mapping relationship between the quality of service stream and the service data stream.

[0035] The above design eliminates the need to create new QoS flows or modify QoS flows in a session. Instead, the energy information of a particular service can be determined by determining the ratio of service data flows to data transmitted by the QoS flow, as well as the energy information at the QoS flow granularity reported by the access network device. This allows the recipient of the information to further understand the transmission status of the service data from an energy perspective and take corresponding actions, thereby improving the service experience.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the first energy information is determined based on the second energy information used by the first network element to transmit the service quality flow, the data transmitted by the business data flow, and the data transmitted by the service quality flow, including: the first energy information is determined based on the second energy information and the ratio between the data volume of the data transmitted by the business data flow and the data volume of the data transmitted by the service quality flow.

[0037] In a possible implementation manner, the first request includes an identifier of the service data flow.

[0038] In a possible implementation manner, the first request further includes indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate that the request for service-related energy information includes requesting energy information related to the service data flow.

[0039] In one possible implementation, it also includes: sending a second request to a second network element, where the second request is used to request the data volume of the data transmitted by the business data flow; and receiving a second response from the second network element, where the second response includes the data volume of the data transmitted by the business data flow.

[0040] In a possible implementation, the second request includes an identifier of the service data flow.

[0041] In one possible implementation, the second response also includes at least one of the following: first indication information, an identifier corresponding to the second request, or information about the time period corresponding to the amount of data transmitted by the business data flow, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the data amount is at the granularity of the business data flow, and the amount of data included in the second response is the amount of data transmitted within the time period.

[0042] In a possible implementation, it also includes: sending a third request to the second network element, wherein the third request is used to request the data volume of data transmitted by the service quality flow; and receiving a third response from the second network element, wherein the third response includes the data volume of data transmitted by the service quality flow.

[0043] In a possible implementation manner, the third request includes an identifier of the quality of service flow.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the third response also includes at least one of the following: second indication information, an identifier corresponding to the third request, or information about the time period corresponding to the amount of data transmitted by the service quality flow, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate that the data amount is of service quality flow granularity, and the amount of data included in the third response is the amount of data transmitted within the time period.

[0045] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a fourth request to the first network element, where the fourth request is used to request the second energy information; and receiving a fourth response from the first network element, where the fourth response includes the second energy information.

[0046] In a possible implementation manner, the fourth request includes an identifier of the quality of service flow.

[0047] In a possible implementation manner, the data volume of the quality of service flow transmission data is transmitted by the first network element, and the fourth response also includes the data volume of the quality of service flow transmission data.

[0048] In one possible implementation, the second energy information includes the first energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow; the first energy information includes the second energy consumption for transmitting the business data flow, and the second energy consumption is determined based on the first energy consumption and the ratio between the amount of data transmitted by the business data flow and the amount of data transmitted by the service quality flow.

[0049] In one possible implementation, the second energy information includes a first energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow, and the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between energy consumption and data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; the first energy information includes a second energy efficiency for transmitting the business data flow, and the second energy efficiency is determined based on the first energy efficiency and the ratio between the amount of data transmitted by the business data flow and the amount of data transmitted by the quality of service flow.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow and data, including: the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow per unit of data.

[0051] In one possible implementation, the second energy information includes the first energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow, and the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data; the first energy information includes the first energy consumption for transmitting the business data flow, and the first energy consumption is determined based on the second energy consumption and the ratio between the data volume of the business data flow transmitted and the data volume of the service quality flow transmitted, and the second energy consumption is determined based on the first energy efficiency.

[0052] In a possible implementation, the second energy consumption is determined according to the first energy efficiency, including: the second energy consumption is determined according to the first energy efficiency and the amount of data transmitted by the quality of service flow.

[0053] In one possible implementation, the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow and data, including: the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit per unit of data of the service quality flow; the second energy consumption is equal to: the product of the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit per unit of data of the service quality flow and the data volume of the service quality flow transmitted.

[0054] The fourth aspect is the opposite-side method corresponding to the third aspect. For the beneficial effects, please refer to the description of the third aspect. A communication method is provided, and the execution subject of the method is an access network device, including: receiving a fourth request, the fourth request is used to request the first network element to transmit energy information of the service quality flow; sending a fourth response, the fourth response includes the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow second energy information, the second energy information is used to determine the first energy information used to transmit the business data flow, and there is a mapping relationship between the service quality flow and the business data flow.

[0055] In a possible implementation manner, the fourth request includes an identifier of the quality of service flow.

[0056] In a possible implementation manner, the data volume of the quality of service flow transmission data is transmitted by the first network element, and the fourth response also includes the data volume of the quality of service flow transmission data.

[0057] In a possible implementation, the second energy information includes a first energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow;

[0058] The first energy information includes a second energy consumption for transmitting the service data flow, and the second energy consumption is determined according to the first energy consumption and a ratio between the data volume of the service data flow transmission data and the data volume of the service quality flow transmission data.

[0059] In a possible implementation, the second energy information includes a first energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow, where the first energy efficiency is used to indicate a relationship between energy consumption and data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow;

[0060] The first energy information includes a second energy efficiency for transmitting the service data flow, where the second energy efficiency is determined based on the first energy efficiency and a ratio between the amount of data transmitted by the service data flow and the amount of data transmitted by the quality of service flow.

[0061] In a possible implementation, the first energy efficiency is used to indicate a relationship between energy consumption and data used by the first network element to transmit the quality of service flow, including:

[0062] The first energy efficiency is used to indicate: energy consumption per unit of data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow.

[0063] In a possible implementation, the second energy information includes a first energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow, where the first energy efficiency is used to indicate a relationship between energy consumption and data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow;

[0064] The first energy information includes a first energy consumption for transmitting the business data flow, the first energy consumption is determined based on the second energy consumption and the ratio between the amount of data transmitted by the business data flow and the amount of data transmitted by the service quality flow, and the second energy consumption is determined based on the first energy efficiency.

[0065] In a possible implementation, the second energy consumption is determined according to the first energy efficiency, including:

[0066] The second energy consumption is determined according to the first energy efficiency and the amount of data transmitted by the quality of service flow.

[0067] In a possible implementation, the first energy efficiency is used to indicate a relationship between energy consumption and data used by the first network element to transmit the quality of service flow, including:

[0068] The first energy efficiency is used to indicate: energy consumption per unit of data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow;

[0069] The second energy consumption is equal to: the product of the energy consumption per unit of data used by the first network element to transmit the quality of service flow and the data volume of the data transmitted by the quality of service flow.

[0070] The fifth aspect is the opposite-side method corresponding to the third aspect. For the beneficial effects, please refer to the description of the third aspect. A communication method is provided, and the execution subject of the method is a user-side network element, including: receiving a second request, and the second request is used to request the data volume of the service data flow to transmit data; sending a second response, and the second response includes the data volume of the data transmitted by the service data flow.

[0071] In a possible implementation, the second request includes an identifier of the service data flow.

[0072] In one possible implementation, the second response also includes at least one of the following: first indication information, an identifier corresponding to the second request, or information about the time period corresponding to the amount of data transmitted by the business data flow, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the data amount is at the granularity of the business data flow, and the amount of data included in the second response is the amount of data transmitted within the time period.

[0073] In a possible implementation, it also includes: sending a third request to the second network element, the third request is used to request the data volume of the service quality flow transmission data; receiving a third response from the second network element, the third response including the data volume of the service quality flow transmission data.

[0074] In a possible implementation manner, the third request includes an identifier of the quality of service flow.

[0075] In one possible implementation, the third response also includes at least one of the following: second indication information, an identifier corresponding to the third request, or information about the time period corresponding to the amount of data transmitted by the service quality flow, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate that the data amount is of service quality flow granularity, and the amount of data included in the third response is the amount of data transmitted within the time period.

[0076] In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided, in which the execution subject is a session management network element, including: receiving a first request, the first request being used to request service-related energy information; sending a second request to the first network element, the second request being used to request the first network element to transmit energy information for a session, the session being used to transmit data related to the service; receiving a second response from the first network element, the second response including the first energy information used by the first network element to transmit the session; and sending a first response to the first request based on the first energy information, the first response including the second energy information used to transmit the service-related data.

[0077] Through the above design, one or more new sessions are established in the network. These sessions are used to transmit service-related data and do not transmit other data. Thus, the access network device can determine energy information for these sessions at a session-level granularity. This energy information can be the energy information of the access network device transmitting service-related data, thereby achieving statistical service energy information. This allows the recipient of this information to further understand the data transmission status of the terminal device from an energy perspective and take appropriate action, helping to better ensure the service experience of the terminal device.

[0078] In a possible implementation manner, the first request includes a parameter, where the parameter is used to indicate an attribute of a quality of service flow in the session.

[0079] In a possible implementation, the second request includes the session identifier and / or the parameter, and the session identifier is determined according to the parameter.

[0080] In a possible implementation, the first energy information includes: energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the session;

[0081] The second energy information includes the energy consumption.

[0082] In a possible implementation, the first energy information includes: energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the session; the energy efficiency is used to indicate: a relationship between energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the session and the data;

[0083] The second energy information includes the energy efficiency.

[0084] In a possible implementation, the energy efficiency is used to indicate a relationship between energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the session and the data, including:

[0085] The energy efficiency is used to indicate: energy consumption per unit of the data used by the first network element to transmit the session.

[0086] In a possible implementation, the first energy information includes: energy efficiency of the first network element used to transmit the session; the energy efficiency is used to indicate a relationship between energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the session and the data;

[0087] The second energy information includes energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the session, and the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency.

[0088] In a possible implementation, the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency, including:

[0089] The energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency and the data volume of the data.

[0090] In a possible implementation, the energy efficiency is used to indicate a relationship between energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the session and the data, including:

[0091] The energy efficiency is used to indicate: energy consumption per unit of data used by the first network element to transmit the session;

[0092] The energy consumption is equal to: the product of the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the data per unit of the session and the data volume.

[0093] The seventh aspect is the opposite-side method corresponding to the sixth aspect. For the beneficial effects, please refer to the description of the first aspect. A communication method is provided, and the execution subject of the method is an access network device, including: receiving a second request, the second request is used to request the first network element to transmit energy information of a session, and the session is used to transmit business-related data; sending a second response, the second response includes the first energy information of the first network element used to transmit the session, and the first energy information is used to determine the second energy information used to transmit the data.

[0094] In a possible implementation, the second request includes an identifier and / or parameters of the session, where the parameters are used to indicate attributes of a quality of service flow in the session.

[0095] In a possible implementation manner, the first energy information includes: energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the session; and the second energy information includes the energy consumption.

[0096] In one possible implementation, the first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the first network element used to transmit the session; the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the session and the data; the second energy information includes the energy efficiency.

[0097] In a possible implementation, the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the session and the data, including: the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting each unit of the data for the session.

[0098] In one possible implementation, the first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the first network element used to transmit the session; the energy efficiency is used to indicate the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the session and the data; the second energy information includes the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the session, and the energy consumption is determined based on the energy efficiency.

[0099] In a possible implementation manner, the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency, including: the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency and the data volume of the data.

[0100] In one possible implementation, the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the session and the data, including: the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting each unit of the data for the session; the energy consumption is equal to: the product of the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting each unit of the data for the session and the data volume.

[0101] In an eighth aspect, a device is provided that can implement the method of any one of aspects 1 to 7 above. For example, the device includes means for performing any one of aspects 1 to 7 above. The device can be implemented through hardware, software, or hardware executing the corresponding software implementation.

[0102] In one possible design, the device includes a unit for performing any one of the first to seventh aspects above.

[0103] In one possible design, the device includes a processor, which is used to execute the method of any one of the first to seventh aspects above.

[0104] In one possible design, the device includes a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other devices outside the device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other devices outside the device, and the processor is used to implement the method of any one of the first to seventh aspects above through logic circuits or execution code instructions.

[0105] In one possible design, the device includes a processor and a memory, and the processor is used to execute a computer program or instruction stored in the memory, so that the device implements the method of any one of the first to seventh aspects above.

[0106] Optionally, the device may be the first device, or a module or unit (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit) in the first device that corresponds one-to-one to the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the first to seventh aspects, or a device that can be used in combination with the first device.

[0107] In the ninth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed on a computer, the computer implements the method of any one of the first to seventh aspects.

[0108] In a tenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a computer, enables the method of any one of the first to seventh aspects to be executed.

[0109] In the eleventh aspect, a chip is provided, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory and is configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in the memory, so that the chip implements the method of any one of the first to seventh aspects above.

[0110] In the twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising: a first communication device for implementing the method of the first aspect above, and a second communication device for implementing the method of the second aspect above; or, the first communication device for implementing the method of the third aspect above, the second communication device for implementing the method of the fourth aspect above, and the third communication device for implementing the method of the fifth aspect above; or, the first communication device for implementing the method of the sixth aspect above, and the second communication device for implementing the method of the seventh aspect above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0111] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0112] Figures 2 to 6 are flowcharts of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0113] 7 and 8 are schematic structural diagrams of the device provided in the embodiments of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0114] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of this application more clear, the application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The specific operation methods and functional descriptions in the method embodiments can also be applied to the device embodiments or system embodiments.

[0115] The various numbers and terms such as "first" and "second" used in the embodiments of this application are merely for convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily indicate the order in which they are executed. The order in which the processes are executed should be determined by their functions and internal logic.

[0116] In the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, means "singular noun or plural noun", that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship; "including at least one of A, B or C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B and C.

[0117] FIG1 shows a possible, non-limiting system schematic diagram. As shown in FIG1 , a communication system 10 includes a terminal 100 , a radio access network (RAN) 200 , and a core network (CN) 300 .

[0118] The terminal 100 may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, head-mounted display device, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, wearable device, vehicle, drone, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal.

[0119] RAN 200 includes at least one RAN node. Terminal 100 can be connected to the RAN node wirelessly. The RAN node is connected to core network 300 wirelessly or via a wired connection. The core network equipment in core network 300 and the RAN nodes in RAN 200 can be separate physical devices, or they can be a single physical device that integrates the logical functions of the core network device and the logical functions of a wireless access device.

[0120] RAN 200 may be a cellular system related to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as a fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication system, a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolutionary system, such as a sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system. RAN 200 may also be an open access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. RAN 200 may also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0121] In one possible scenario, the RAN node may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a 6G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. The RAN node may be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an on-board device, etc. For example, the access network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology may be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node in the embodiment of the present application may also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). The RAN node in the embodiment of the present application may also be a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node.

[0122] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0123] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0124] A RAN node, sometimes also referred to as a first network element, access network equipment, RAN entity, or access node, constitutes part of a communication system and is used to help terminals achieve wireless access. In the subsequent description of this application, unless otherwise specified, the term "access network equipment" is used for description. The multiple RAN nodes in RAN 200 can be nodes of the same type or different types. In the access network service-oriented architecture, "access network equipment" can also be replaced by an access network function (ANF) network element.

[0125] The core network 300 includes user plane function (UPF) network elements, access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements, session management function (SMF) network elements, application function (AF) network elements, policy control function (PCF) network elements, network exposure function (NEF) network elements and energy consumption network elements.

[0126] The energy consumption network element is used to determine energy consumption information and send the energy consumption information to other network elements, such as the AF network element. The energy consumption network element can be a newly introduced network element in the core network, or the energy consumption network element can be an existing network element in the core network, and the function of determining energy consumption information is implemented by using the existing network element. For example, the energy consumption network element can be a network data analytics function (NWDAF) network element, or a PCF network element. In this way, the core network 300 may no longer include an energy consumption network element. The energy consumption network element can be set up separately, or can be set up together with other core network network elements, for example, it can be set up together with the SMF network element. In the following description, the energy consumption network element is taken as an example of an NWDAF network element.

[0127] Optionally, the communication system 10 also includes DN400. Terminals, access network devices, UPF network elements, and DNs are generally referred to as user plane functions and entities. User data streams can be transmitted through protocol data unit (PDU) sessions established between the terminal and the DN. The user plane is used to carry service data. Other network elements in the communication system 10, such as SMF network elements and AMF network elements, can be referred to as control plane functions and entities, which are mainly responsible for functions such as authentication and authorization, registration management, session management, mobility management, and policy control, thereby achieving reliable and stable transmission of user plane data streams. The control plane is used to carry signaling messages.

[0128] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal and the AMF network element can interact through the N1 interface, and the messages exchanged between the two can be called N1 messages. Similarly, the interfaces between the access network device and the AMF network element and the access network device and the UPF network element are N2 and N3 interfaces, respectively, and the messages exchanged therebetween can be called N2 messages and N3 messages, respectively. The interface between the UPF network element and the SMF network element is the N4 interface, and the interface between the UPF network element and the DN is the N6 interface, and the messages exchanged therebetween can be called N4 messages and N6 messages, respectively.

[0129] It is understandable that the names of the various network elements in the core network 300 are not restricted. For example, in the 5G communication system, the network element that implements the signaling processing part is called the AMF network element. In the 6G communication system, the network element that implements the above functions can also be called other names, etc., without limitation. In the subsequent description, the names of the various network elements in 5G are mainly used as examples to describe the scheme of the embodiment of the present application. Optionally, the core network 300 may also include other network elements of control plane functions and entities. For example, energy efficiency and saving support function (EESSF) network element, management data analytics function (MDAF) and unified data management (UDM) network element.

[0130] Optionally, the communication system 10 shown in FIG1 also includes operations administration and maintenance (OAM), which is a general term for a set of network management functions, including fault monitoring, fault reporting, fault location, and fault repair. A corresponding OAM exists on the access network side, referred to as access network OAM, and a corresponding OAM exists on the core network side, referred to as core network OAM. Transmission interfaces may exist between different OAM functions.

[0131] It can be understood that access network equipment, terminals, network elements in the core network and OAM, etc. can be called communication devices. For example, access network equipment can be understood as communication devices with base station functions, terminals can be understood as communication devices with terminal functions, and network elements in the core network can be understood as devices with core network network element functions. For example, AMF can be understood as communication devices with AMF functions, and OAM can be understood as devices with OAM functions.

[0132] In the communication system shown in Figure 1, in one possible implementation, after a terminal accesses the core network through the RAN, it can transmit service data with a server of an application deployed in the DN through network elements (such as UPF) in the access network and the core network. For example, during uplink communication, the terminal sends uplink service data to the server corresponding to the application through these network elements; during downlink communication, the server corresponding to the application can send downlink data to the terminal through these network elements. The degree to which the application processes information related to service data transmission will affect the service experience. In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method that helps improve the service experience.

[0133] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the following communication terms are involved. For the convenience of description and understanding, the following communication terms are explained:

[0134] PDU Session: A logical connection between a terminal and a DN, providing a user plane connection between the terminal and the DN. PDU Sessions include sessions between the terminal and an access network device, between an access network device and a UPF network element, and between a UPF network element and a DN. A PDU Session includes at least one Quality of Service (QoS) flow.

[0135] Quality of service flow: The quality of service flow corresponds to a property file, which can also be called a profile, or the quality of service flow corresponds to one or more quality of service flow parameters (Qos parameters). The specific content may be in accordance with the relevant instructions in 3GPP TS23.501. The property file includes at least: the identifier of the quality of service flow, the 5G quality of service flow indication (5G QoS identifier, 5QI) and the service data flow (SDF) identifier, etc. 5QI is used to indicate the properties of the quality of service flow. When the property file of a quality of service flow includes the identifier of a certain SDF, it can be said that there is a mapping relationship between the quality of service flow and the SDF. Alternatively, when the property file of a quality of service flow does not include the identifier of a certain SDF, it can be said that there is no mapping relationship between the quality of service flow and the SDF.

[0136] SDF: A data stream that transmits application (APP) related data. For example, a file transfer protocol (FTP) with a destination port of 21 can be an SDF. SDF is usually described using an Internet protocol (IP) quintuple, an IP triplet, or an IP address. For ease of explanation, in the following description, SDF is described as "SDF identifier". For example, the SDF identifier can be information about an IP quintuple or triplet associated with the SDF, such as an IP address. For example, if the SDF is a data stream transmitted between a terminal and the IP address 192.168.50.1, the SDF identifier can be 192.168.50.1. Of course, the SDF identifier can also be index information of other SDFs, such as an identity document (ID) assigned by the APP, etc., without limitation.

[0137] SDF can be mapped to one or more quality of service flows according to certain rules. For example, homogeneous SDFs can be mapped to one quality of service flow. For example, homogeneous SDFs may refer to SDFs with the same parameters such as bandwidth or delay. Optionally, the operator can configure the mapping relationship between SDF and quality of service flow. Furthermore, APP-related data is mapped to one or more SDFs for transmission, and it is said that there is a mapping relationship between APP and the one or more SDF identifiers. Optionally, the mapping relationship between APP and SDF identifiers can be configured by the operator or predefined. In the description of the embodiments of the present application, "mapping relationship" can be understood as: corresponding relationship, or association relationship, etc., and the descriptions of the three can be interchangeable without distinction.

[0138] As shown in Figure 2, a flow chart is provided, including:

[0139] Step 200: Pre-configuration process.

[0140] During pre-configuration, operators configure the following mappings in each network element: parameters, service identifiers, and SDF identifiers. The parameters indicate the attributes of the quality of service flow, including but not limited to 5QI. Services can refer to services at the APP level, network slice level, or other granularity. The following description of this process uses the example of determining energy information at the APP level, using the 5QI parameter and the APP-level service.

[0141] For example, in a possible implementation, the correspondence between 5QI, APP identifier, and SDF identifier is as shown in Table 1:

[0142] Table 1

[0143] It is understandable that 5QI and APP identifiers are usually one-to-one. For example, one 5QI corresponds to one APP identifier. However, this is not a limitation. In some scenarios, there may be a situation where one APP has multiple identifiers. For example, for an APP installed in a terminal, it may have different identifiers in different operating systems. Therefore, there may be a situation where one APP has multiple identifiers. In this case, there may be a situation where one 5QI parameter corresponds to multiple APP identifiers, but the multiple APP identifiers actually belong to one APP. For example, the parameter 5QI (82) in Table 2 corresponds to two APP identifiers, namely APP2 and APP3, and the two APP identifiers may be the identifiers of the same APP.

[0144] It is understood that, through step 200, the operator configures the correspondence between parameters, APP identifiers, and SDF identifiers in each network element. Alternatively, the correspondence between the parameters, APP identifiers, and SDF identifiers may be pre-determined, for example, as specified by the protocol, in which case step 200 need not be performed. Step 200 is optional.

[0145] Step 210: The AF network element sends an energy request to the PCF network element through the NEF network element, and the PCF network element receives the energy request from the AF network element through the NEF network element.

[0146] Energy requests are used to request energy information for a specific app, or to request energy disclosure information for a specific app. Disclosure refers to the network being open to AF network elements, allowing AF network elements to obtain energy information for a specific app on the network. The energy request includes an app identifier, an SDF identifier, or one or more terminal identifiers.

[0147] When the energy request includes an APP identifier, the PCF network element determines the corresponding 5QI based on the correspondence between the APP identifier and the 5QI. Alternatively, when the energy request includes an SDF identifier, the PCF network element determines the corresponding 5QI based on the correspondence between the SDF identifier and the 5QI. Alternatively, when the energy request includes one or more terminal identifiers, the PCF network element determines the corresponding APP identifier based on the correspondence between the terminal identifier and the APP identifier, and further determines the corresponding 5QI based on the correspondence between the APP identifier and the 5QI. Optionally, the correspondence between the terminal identifier and the APP identifier can be predefined or obtained by the PCF network element from the contract data of the terminal in the UDM network element, without limitation. For example, in a commercial 5G scenario (5G to B), a group of industrial control terminals, i.e., industrial control terminals, use a specific APP to perform tasks, and a correspondence between the group of industrial control devices and the specific APP identifier is established.

[0148] Optionally, the energy request also includes indication information for indicating the reason why the AF network element sends the energy request. For example, the reason may be that the AF network element requests to obtain energy information of a certain APP. The energy request may explicitly carry the indication information, that is, the energy request includes the indication information, or the energy request may implicitly carry the indication information, for example, the name of the energy request may implicitly indicate the indication information.

[0149] In one possible implementation, the NEF network element may forward the above energy request. For example, the NEF network element may forward the energy request received from the AF network element directly to the SMF network element. Alternatively, the NEF network element may further process the energy request sent by the AF network element and send the processed energy request to the SMF network element. For example, when the AF network element is an external AF network element, the energy request sent by the external AF network element to the NEF network element includes an SDF identifier. The NEF network element may determine the corresponding 5QI based on the correspondence between the SDF identifier and the 5QI, and the first request message sent by the NEF network element to the SMF network element includes the above 5QI. Alternatively, the energy request sent by the external AF network element to the NEF network element includes an energy demand indication, and the NEF network element determines, based on the energy demand indication, that the purpose of the external AF network element sending the energy request is to obtain energy information. The NEF network element may obtain the APP identifier corresponding to the AF network element, and determine the corresponding 5QI and SDF identifier, etc. based on the correspondence between the 5QI, APP identifier and SDF identifier. The first request sent by the NEF network element to the SMF network element includes an energy demand indication, a 5QI, and an SDF identifier. Exemplarily, the external AF network element is relative to the internal AF network element. The internal AF network element may refer to the operator's application server, which can obtain various parameters in the network, such as the above-mentioned 5QI and APP identifier. The external AF network element has limited authority and may not be able to obtain the 5QI in the network, and / or the APP identifier assigned by the operator to the APP. It can be understood that the external AF network element corresponds to the application server of the APP, so the NEF can determine the corresponding APP identifier based on the external AF network element that sends the energy request.

[0150] Step 220: The PCF network element sends a first request to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element receives the first request from the PCF network element.

[0151] Among them, the first request is used to request APP-related energy information. Optionally, the name of the first request may be a service quality flow execution request, such as a policy and charging control (PCC) rule, etc. The first request includes the above-mentioned 5QI, which is used to indicate the attributes of the service quality flow. Furthermore, the first request also includes indication information, which is used to indicate: APP-related data is transmitted through the service quality flow associated with the 5QI, and the indication information may be called an energy demand indication. Optionally, the "PCF network element" in the process of Figure 2 may be replaced with an "NWDAF network element".

[0152] Step 230: The SMF network element establishes a service quality flow based on 5QI.

[0153] 1. Establish a quality of service flow through the PDU session establishment process.

[0154] For example, when the SMF network element receives a PDU session establishment request from a terminal: when establishing the PDU session, one or more service quality flows are newly created in the PDU session, and there is a mapping relationship between the one or more service quality flows and the SDF corresponding to the APP, and there is no mapping relationship with other SDFs. In other words, the one or more service quality flows are used to transmit data related to the APP, and are not used to transmit other data. For example, in one possible implementation method: the SMF network element determines the corresponding SDF identifier based on the 5QI included in the first request, and the correspondence between the 5QI and the SDF identifier. When the SMF network element receives a PDU session establishment request from a terminal, it can determine the service quality flow included in the PDU session establishment request, and further determine the SDF identifier that has a mapping relationship with the service quality flow. Determine whether there is an intersection between the SDF identifier determined by the 5QI and the SDF identifier determined by the PDU session establishment request; if there is an intersection, it means that the SDF corresponding to the 5QI is transmitted in the PDU session requested to be established, then when establishing the PDU session, one or more service quality flows are newly created in the PDU session, and a mapping relationship between the one or more service quality flows and the SDF corresponding to the APP is established. The one or more service quality flows are used to transmit data related to the APP and are not used to transmit other data. At the same time, the 5QI in the first request is used as the 5QI of the one or more service quality flows, and an identifier is assigned to the one or more service quality flows. The assigned identifier is called a service quality flow identifier.

[0155] 2. Establish quality of service flow through PDU session modification process.

[0156] In another possible implementation, the SMF network element determines the SDF identifier based on the 5QI included in the first request in step 220 and the correspondence between the 5QI and the SDF identifier. In the established PDU session, the SMF network element determines the service quality flow with a mapping relationship between the SDF identifier; and modifies the mapping relationship between the SDF and the service quality flow. In the PDU session, one or more service quality flows are newly created, and a mapping relationship between the one or more service quality flows and the SDF is established. The one or more service quality flows are used to transmit APP-related data and do not need to transmit other data. At the same time, the 5QI in the first request is used as the 5QI of one or more service quality flows, and an identifier is assigned to the one or more service quality flows.

[0157] It can be understood that in the process of Figure 2, its purpose is to create one or more service quality flows corresponding to 5QI in the network, there is a corresponding relationship between 5QI and APP identifier, and the newly created one or more service quality flows are used to transmit relevant data of the APP corresponding to the 5QI, and are not used to transmit other data. The access network device can use the service quality flow as the granularity to count energy information, and the access network device counts the energy information of the data transmitted through the one or more service quality flows. The energy information can be considered as the energy information of the access network device transmitting APP-related data. Therefore, in one possible implementation method, when the SMF network element creates one or more service quality flows corresponding to 5QI, it can determine whether there is only a service quality flow corresponding to the 5QI in the network. If so, the 5QI attribute of the above-mentioned service quality flow is modified.

[0158] Step 240: The SMF network element sends an energy response to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element receives the energy response from the SMF network element.

[0159] For example, the energy response may be a response to the energy request in step 210, and the energy response is used to notify the PCF network element that the APP-level quality of service flow has been successfully established. Step 240 is optional and may or may not be performed. For example, the SMF network element may not send the energy response to the PCF network element.

[0160] It can be understood that the process shown in Figure 2 can be called a new process for creating a quality of service flow. Through the process shown in Figure 2, one or more quality of service flows are newly created in the network. The one or more quality of service flows are used to transmit APP-related data and do not need to transmit other data. In this way, the access network device can use the quality of service flow as the granularity to determine the energy information of the one or more quality of service flows. The energy information of the one or more quality of service flows can be the energy information of the access network device transmitting APP-related data, thereby realizing the statistical energy information of the APP granularity. This can further understand the transmission of relevant business data from the perspective of energy, which helps to improve the business experience.

[0161] As shown in Figure 3, the embodiment of the present application also provides a flow chart. The process shown in Figure 3 can be implemented separately, or the process shown in Figure 3 can be implemented together with the process shown in Figure 2. In the process of Figure 3, it is mainly used to: request the access network device to determine the first energy information of one or more quality of service flows transmitted by the access network device. The 5QI of one or more quality of service flows is the same and are all used to transmit relevant data of a certain business (such as APP). The process shown in Figure 3 can be called a statistical process for energy information of the access network device for transmitting quality of service flow related data, referred to as the quality of service flow energy statistical process, which includes:

[0162] Step 310: The NWDAF network element sends a first request to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element receives the first request from the NWDAF network element.

[0163] For example, the first request is for requesting service-related energy information. The first request includes a 5QI. Furthermore, the first request also includes indication information for instructing the reporting of energy information for the service corresponding to the 5QI. This indication information may be referred to as an energy demand indication. Optionally, the first request may be named an energy statistics request.

[0164] It is understood that, in the scenario where the process shown in Figure 3 is implemented independently, the operator can configure the correspondence between parameters, service identifiers, and SDF identifiers in each network element. Alternatively, the correspondence between parameters, service identifiers, and SDF identifiers can be predefined, and each network element can obtain the correspondence between the three from the predefined information. The description of the process in Figure 3 uses the example of a service with 5QI as the parameter and APP-level granularity as the service.

[0165] Step 320: The SMF network element sends a second request to the access network device, and the access network device receives the second request from the SMF network element.

[0166] For example, the second request is used to request the access network device to transmit energy information of a quality of service flow, and there is a mapping relationship between the quality of service flow and the SDF corresponding to the APP. In other words, the quality of service flow is used to transmit data related to the APP. Optionally, the name of the second request can be an energy monitoring request.

[0167] For example, the second request includes an identifier and / or 5QI of the quality of service flow. For example, the first request includes 5QI. When the second request includes 5QI, the 5QI may be obtained by the SMF network element in the first request. When the second request includes an identifier of the quality of service flow, the identifier of the quality of service flow is determined based on 5QI, for example, based on the 5QI obtained by the SMF network element in the first request. In one possible implementation, the SMF network element may determine one or more terminals based on 5QI. In the quality of service flow of one or more terminals, determine the quality of service flow whose attribute is the 5QI, and further determine the identifier of the quality of service flow. For example, the SMF network element determines the SDF identifier corresponding to the current 5QI based on the correspondence between 5QI and SDF identifier. The SMF network element determines one or more terminals in the terminals of the current session that communicate using the SDF corresponding to the SDF identifier. In the quality of service flow of one or more terminals, determine the identifier of the quality of service flow whose attribute matches the current 5QI.

[0168] In a possible implementation, upon receiving the second request, the access network device may enable energy statistics for the above-mentioned quality of service flow. For example:

[0169] 1. The access network device determines the corresponding quality of service flow according to the identifier of the quality of service flow, and determines energy information used by the access network device to transmit the quality of service flow, which is called first energy information.

[0170] For example, the access network device determines one or more target terminals. The access network device determines, among the quality of service flows of the target terminal, a quality of service flow that matches the quality of service flow identifier in the second request message, and determines energy information for the quality of service flow, referred to as first energy information. The scheme by which the access network device determines one or more target terminals includes, but is not limited to, the following: the access network device may maintain a list of currently running quality of service flows for each terminal. If the identifier of the quality of service flow currently running on a terminal matches the identifier of the quality of service flow obtained in the second request, then the terminal is the target terminal. Alternatively, the SMF network element sends the second request to the access network device via the AMF network element. The connection between the AMF network element and the access network device is called a next generation application protocol (NGAP) connection. Messages for different terminals are transmitted via corresponding NGAP connections. The access network device may determine the corresponding terminal based on the NGAP connection through which the second message is received. Alternatively, the second request may include one or more terminal identifiers, and the access network device may determine one or more target terminals based on the one or more terminal identifiers included in the second request.

[0171] 2. The access network device determines a corresponding quality of service flow according to the 5QI, and determines first energy information used by the access network device to transmit the quality of service flow.

[0172] For example, the access network device determines one or more quality of service flows whose attributes match the 5QI in the second request from the currently maintained quality of service flows, and determines energy information of the one or more quality of service flows, referred to as first energy information.

[0173] It is understandable that the service quality flow is established for the terminal. An APP may be installed in multiple terminals. For each terminal, the SMF network element needs to create one or more service quality flows for transmitting data related to the APP. Take the example of creating a new service quality flow in each terminal to transmit data related to the APP. The SMF network element can request energy information of the service quality flow of one or more terminals through the second request. For example, the second request may include one or more terminal identifiers, etc. The access network device can count the energy information of the service quality flow of each terminal. The access network device can report the energy information of the service quality flow of each terminal to the SMF network element through the second response, or the SMF network element can integrate the energy information of the service quality flows of multiple terminals and report it to the SMF network element.

[0174] Step 330: The access network device sends a second response to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element receives the second response from the access network device.

[0175] For example, the second response includes the first energy information of the quality of service flow transmitted by the access network device. For example, the access network device may report the energy information of the quality of service flow of each terminal, or integrate the energy information of the quality of service flows corresponding to multiple terminals and report the integrated energy information to the SMF network element, without limitation.

[0176] Optionally, the second response also includes: a first data volume of data transmitted by the access network device through the quality of service flow. For example, the first data volume may include at least one of the following: the data volume of uplink data, the data volume of downlink data, or the sum of the data volumes of uplink data and downlink data transmitted by the access network device through the quality of service flow. For example, when the first energy information reported by the access network device is energy efficiency, the first data volume may be reported in the second response. The SMF network element determines the energy consumption of the access network device for transmitting data through the quality of service flow based on the energy efficiency and the first data volume. Alternatively, the SMF network element may determine the retransmission ratio based on the first data volume and the second data volume obtained on the UPF network element side, and calibrate and / or modify the first energy information reported by the access network device based on the retransmission ratio. For details, please refer to the relevant instructions in step 340.

[0177] Optionally, the second response also includes: information about the time corresponding to the first energy information. For example, the information about the time corresponding to the first energy information can be referred to as a timestamp, specifically the timestamp of the first energy information. The information about the time corresponding to the first energy information indicates the time when the access network device collected the first energy information. This time is a time interval, a point in time, or a period of time, such as the past hour or day, etc., where the first energy information is determined by the access network device. Alternatively, the second response also includes: information about a first time period, which is used to obtain data volume. The data volume is the volume of data transmitted by the access network device or user plane function network element via the quality of service flow during the first time period. In other words, the access network device may report the first time period corresponding to the volume of data transmitted by the quality of service flow to the SMF network element. Based on the first time period, the SMF network element searches for the corresponding data volume in the information reported by the access network device, or requests the data volume of the quality of service flow for the first time period from the UPF.

[0178] It is understandable that the access network device and the SMF network element can forward the second request and the second response through the AMF network element. For example, the SMF network element sends the second request to the access network device through the AMF network element, and the access network device can send the second response to the SMF network element through the AMF network element.

[0179] Step 340: The SMF network element sends a first response to the NWDAF network element based on the first energy information, and the NWDAF network element receives the first response from the SMF network element.

[0180] For example, the SMF network element determines the second energy information for transmitting APP-related data based on the first energy information, and the first response includes the second energy information. For example, the first energy information reported by the access network device is the energy information for transmitting the APP-related data on the access network side. The SMF network element can report the first energy information reported by the access network device to the NWDAF network element. At this time, the second energy information reported by the SMF network element to the NWDAF network element is the first energy information. Alternatively, the SMF network element can also obtain the energy information for transmitting the APP-related data on the core network side. The second energy information reported by the SMF network element to the NWDAF network element may include at least one of the following: the first energy information, the energy information for transmitting the APP-related data on the core network side, or other energy information determined based on the first energy information and the data source information for transmitting the APP-related data on the core network side.

[0181] Take the example of the SMF network element reporting the energy information of the APP-related data transmitted from the access network side to the NWDAF network element:

[0182] 1. The first energy information includes: the energy consumption of the access network device for transmitting the quality of service flow, and the second energy information includes the energy consumption.

[0183] For example, the unit of energy consumption can be joules, watts per hour, or other energy consumption units, without limitation. The energy consumption of the access network device for transmitting the quality of service flow includes: the energy consumption of the access network device for sending downlink data using the quality of service flow, the energy consumption of the access network device for receiving uplink data using the quality of service flow, or the sum of the energy consumption of the access network device for sending downlink data and the energy consumption of the access network device for receiving uplink data using the quality of service flow.

[0184] For example, the energy consumption of the access network device using the service quality flow to send downlink data = the product of the access network device's transmission power and the transmission duration. The energy consumption of the access network device using the service quality flow to send uplink data = the product of the access network device's receiving power and the receiving duration. For example, for a terminal, the service quality flow 1 is used to transmit data related to a certain APP. The energy consumption of the service quality flow 1 for sending downlink data within a certain time period is 50 joules, and the energy consumption of the service quality flow 1 for receiving uplink data within a certain time period is 150 joules. The first energy information reported by the access network device to the SMF network element can be 50 joules, 150 joules, or 200 joules. The SMF network element can report the energy consumption reported by the access network device to the NWDAF network element. For example, the second energy information reported by the SMF to the NWDAF network element can be 50 joules, 150 joules, or 200 joules.

[0185] It is understandable that the access network device can report the specific value of energy consumption to the SMF network element, or can report the index corresponding to the energy consumption. For example, a correspondence between the energy consumption value and the index can be established in advance, which is of course not limited to: establishing a correspondence between the energy consumption value range and the index. The access network device can further determine the corresponding index based on the determined energy consumption, and the access network device reports the corresponding index to the SMF network element. In the description of this application, "index" is also called "identifier", and the descriptions of "index" and "identifier" are not distinguished, and the two can be replaced with each other.

[0186] 2. The first energy includes: the energy efficiency of the access network device used to transmit the service quality flow; the second energy information includes the energy efficiency.

[0187] The energy efficiency is used to indicate the relationship between the energy consumption of the access network device for transmitting the quality of service flow and the data. For example, the energy efficiency is used to indicate the energy consumption per unit of data used by the access network device for transmitting the quality of service flow. Each unit of data may refer to each bit of data. For example, the energy efficiency is used to indicate the energy consumption of the access network device for each bit of data transmitted through the quality of service flow. For example, the unit of energy efficiency may be joules per bit (J / bit) or watts per hour per bit (W / h / bit).

[0188] Similarly, the access network device can determine the energy consumption of transmitting downlink data and / or the energy efficiency of receiving uplink data using the quality of service flow. The first energy information reported by the access network device to the SMF network element includes: the energy efficiency of the access network device using the quality of service flow to send downlink data, the energy efficiency of receiving uplink data, or other energy efficiency determined based on the energy efficiency of downlink data and the energy efficiency of uplink data. In this implementation, the SMF network element reports the energy efficiency reported by the access network device to the NWDAF network element.

[0189] It is understood that the access network device can report the specific energy efficiency value to the SMF, or it can report the index corresponding to the energy efficiency. For example, a pre-established correspondence between energy efficiency values ​​and indices can be established, although this is not limited to establishing a correspondence between energy efficiency value ranges and indices. The access network device can further determine a corresponding index based on the determined energy efficiency, and report the corresponding index to the SMF network element. For example, the pre-established correspondence between energy efficiency value ranges and indices may include: 0 to 50 joules / bit corresponds to index 1; 50 to 100 joules / bit corresponds to index 2; and 100 to 150 joules / bit corresponds to index 3. Alternatively, the energy efficiency index reported by the access network device indicates the energy efficiency level. For example, three energy efficiency levels may be pre-defined: high, medium, and low. The access network device determines the energy efficiency level for the quality of service flow and reports the energy efficiency level to the SMF network element. The SMF network element can obtain the energy efficiency value corresponding to the energy efficiency level reported by the access network device from the management network element or the NWDAF network element. For example, the SMF network element determines based on the management network element that for the "low" energy efficiency level, the corresponding energy efficiency is 10 joules per bit.

[0190] 3. The first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the access network device for transmitting the quality of service flow; the second energy information includes the energy consumption of the access network device for transmitting the quality of service flow.

[0191] The energy consumption is determined based on the energy efficiency, for example, the energy consumption is determined based on the energy efficiency and the amount of data transmitted by the access network device through the quality of service flow. Furthermore, the energy consumption is equal to the product of the energy efficiency and the amount of data used to transmit the data through the quality of service flow.

[0192] For example, upon receiving the energy efficiency reported by the access network device, the SMF network element determines the energy consumption of the access network device for transmitting the quality of service flow based on the product of the energy efficiency and the data volume used to transmit the quality of service flow. For example, when the second response includes the first data volume of the quality of service flow transmitted by the access network device, the SMF network element obtains the first data volume in the second response, and the energy consumption of the access network device for transmitting the quality of service flow is equal to the product of the energy efficiency and the first data volume. Alternatively, the SMF network element may obtain the second data volume of the data transmitted by the UPF network element via the quality of service flow. The energy consumption of the access network device for transmitting the quality of service flow is equal to the product of the energy efficiency and the second data volume. Optionally, the SMF network element further obtains the second data volume of the data transmitted by the UPF network element via the quality of service flow, where the second data volume includes at least one of the following: the data volume of uplink data, the data volume of downlink data, or the sum of the uplink and downlink data volumes transmitted by the UPF network element via the quality of service flow. Alternatively, the SMF network element determines the data volume based on the first data volume obtained from the access network device and the second data volume obtained from the UPF network element; the energy consumption of the access network device for transmitting the service quality flow is equal to the product of the energy efficiency and the data volume. Alternatively, the SMF network element can determine the retransmission ratio based on the first data volume and the second data volume. The first energy information is adjusted based on the retransmission ratio. For example, the first energy information reported by the access network device includes the energy consumption of the access network device for transmitting data through the service quality flow, an energy coefficient is determined based on the retransmission ratio, and the adjusted energy consumption is determined based on the energy information and energy consumption. The first response sent by the SMF network element to the NWDAF network element includes the adjusted energy consumption, etc. For example, when the retransmission ratio is greater than a threshold, the threshold may be 0.5, and the SMF network element may multiply the energy consumption reported by the access network device by the energy coefficient corresponding to the retransmission ratio, for example, the value of the energy coefficient is greater than 1.

[0193] Step 350: The NWDAF network element sends an energy response to the AF network element through the NEF network element, and the AF network element receives the energy response from the NWDAF network element through the NEF network element.

[0194] For example, the second energy information received by the NWDAF network element from the SMF network element may be the energy information of the access network transmitting APP-related data, and the NWDAF network element may report the second energy information directly to the AF network element. Alternatively, the NWDAF network element may obtain the energy information of the core network transmitting APP-related data, and the NWDAF network element determines other energy information based on the energy information of the access network transmitting the APP-related data and the energy information of the core network transmitting the related data, and the NWDAF network element reports the other energy information to the AF network element. For example, the energy information is energy consumption, and the NWDAF network element adds the energy consumption of the access network device transmitting the APP-related data and the energy consumption of the core network transmitting the APP-related data, and the NWDAF network element reports the two and the corresponding energy information to the AF network element. Alternatively, the second energy information received by the NWDAF network element from the SMF network element is determined based on the energy information of the access network device transmitting the APP-related data and the energy information of the core network transmitting the APP-related data, and the NWDAF network element may report the second energy information directly to the AF network element.

[0195] Optionally, the energy response includes time indication information. For example, this time indication information is primarily used for time alignment. For example, the AF network element's request may be based on hourly feedback. The timestamps fed back by the SMF network element to the NWDAF network element align the hourly statistics. These statistics are then categorized according to natural time. For example, SMF1 reports APP1's energy consumption of 100 watt-hours from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, SMF2 reports APP1's energy consumption of 120 watt-hours from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, and SMF3 reports APP1's energy consumption of 130 watt-hours from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM. The NWDAF network element then summarizes the information based on time and sends it to the AF network element as follows: APP1's network consumption: 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, 220 watt-hours (100 + 120); 11:00 AM to 12:00 AM, 130 watt-hours.

[0196] Through the above design, since the access network device can only count energy information at the granularity of service quality flow. In an embodiment of the present application, one or more service quality flows are newly created, and the one or more service quality flows are used to transmit data related to the APP and are not used to transmit other data. The access network device determines the energy information of the one or more service quality flows and reports it to the SMF network element. The SMF network element can determine the energy information of the access network device transmitting the APP-related data based on the energy information of the one or more service quality flows, thereby realizing the statistics of the energy information of the access network device transmitting the APP-related data.

[0197] It is understandable that in the process of Figure 3, step 310 and step 350 are optional. For example, step 310 and step 350 can be executed, or step 310 and step 350 can be not executed. For example, when Figure 3 is executed alone, the NWDAF network element initiates energy statistics, and the SMF network element reports the energy statistics results to the NWDAF network element. The process can be ended without executing step 350 and reporting the energy statistics results to the AF network element. Alternatively, when the processes of Figures 2 and 3 are executed together, step 240 in the process of Figure 2 and step 310 in the process of Figure 3 can be not executed. For example, after step 230 in the process of Figure 2, step 320 can be executed directly.

[0198] It can be understood that in the description of Figure 2 or Figure 3, the establishment of one or more service quality flows for transmitting APP-related data is described as an example. In one possible implementation, the SMF network element can establish one or more PDU sessions for transmitting APP-related data, and the PDU session no longer transmits other data. In this way, the access network device can transmit the energy information of the data through the one or more PDUs and report it to the SMF network element. The SMF network element can determine the energy information for transmitting the APP-related data based on the energy information of the data transmitted through the one or more PDU sessions.

[0199] It is understandable that the description in FIG2 or FIG3 mainly uses the example of determining the energy information of the transmission APP granularity. It is understandable that the description in FIG2 or FIG3 can also be used to determine energy information of other granularities, such as network slice granularity. For example, an SMF network element can establish one or more quality of service flows, which are used to transmit data related to a certain network switching and are not used to transmit other data. The access network device determines the energy information of the data transmitted by the one or more quality of service flows and reports it to the SMF network element. The SMF network element determines the energy information of the data corresponding to the network slice based on the energy information of the access network device.

[0200] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method for determining the energy information of the SDF transmission data corresponding to the APP. Since the access network device cannot perceive the SDF, it can only count the energy information of the service quality flow granularity. In an embodiment of the present application, the access network device reports the energy information of the service quality flow granularity to the SMF. Furthermore, the SMF network element obtains the ratio between the energy information of the SDF and the energy information of the service quality flow; based on the energy information of the service quality flow and the ratio between the two, the energy information of the SDF is determined, thereby realizing the statistics of the energy information of the SDF granularity. Since there is a mapping relationship between the APP and the SDF, the energy information of the APP can be further determined based on the energy information of the SDF.

[0201] As shown in FIG4 , the embodiment of the present application provides a flow chart, including:

[0202] Step 410: The AF network element sends an energy request to the NWDAF network element, and the NWDAF network element receives the energy request from the AF network element.

[0203] In a possible implementation, the AF network element may send an energy request to the NWDAF network element through the NEF network element, and the NWDAF network element may receive the energy request from the AF network element through the NEF network element. The energy request is used to request statistics of energy information of a certain service.

[0204] In the process of Figure 4 , the service can be at the app granularity, and the method in the process of Figure 4 can be used to determine the energy information of a specific app. Alternatively, the service can be at the network slice granularity, and the method in the process of Figure 4 can be used to determine the energy information of a specific network slice. Alternatively, the service can be at other granularities, and there is no limitation. In the following description, the service at the app granularity is used as an example.

[0205] For example, the energy request includes APP description information, and the NWDAF network element may determine one or more APPs based on the APP description information. The APP description information may be an APP identifier or other information, without limitation. Alternatively, the energy request includes SDF description information, such as an SDF identifier. The NWDAF network element determines the APP identifier corresponding to the SDF identifier based on the correspondence between the APP identifier and the SDF identifier.

[0206] Optionally, the energy request may explicitly or implicitly indicate the purpose for which the AF network element is sending the energy request, which is to request energy information statistics for a specific app. In the explicit case, the energy request includes an energy demand indication, which indicates the purpose for which the AF network element is sending the energy request. Alternatively, in the implicit case, the name of the energy request implicitly indicates the purpose for which the AF network element is sending the request.

[0207] Step 420: The NWDAF network element determines the SDF identifier according to the energy request.

[0208] For example, when the energy request includes a service identifier, the SDF identifier is determined based on the correspondence between the service identifier and the SDF identifier. Alternatively, when the energy request includes an SDF identifier, the NWDAF network element obtains the SDF identifier from the energy request. Optionally, the AF network element may request energy information from one or more SDFs. The NWDAF network element may further filter the message requested by the AF network element. For example, if it finds that a particular SDF does not require filtering, it will no longer request energy information from the SMF network element.

[0209] Step 430: The NWDAF network element sends a first request to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element receives the first request from the NWDAF network element.

[0210] For example, the first request includes an SDF identifier. The number of SDF identifiers can be one or more. That is, the NWDAF network element requests energy information for one or more SDFs from the SMF network element through the first request. Furthermore, the first request also includes indication information, which indicates that the requested service-related energy information includes requesting energy information related to the service data flow. Optionally, the indication information is named "energy consumption demand indication" and the first request is named "energy consumption statistics request."

[0211] Step 440a: The SMF network element sends a second request to the UPF network element, and the UPF network element receives the second request from the SMF network element.

[0212] For example, the second request is used to request the amount of data transmitted by the SDF, for example, the second request is used to request the amount of data transmitted by the SDF in the quality of service flow. The second request includes an SDF identifier. In one possible implementation, the second request includes an SDF-based energy statistics rule, and the statistics rule includes the SDF identifier.

[0213] Step 450a: The UPF network element sends a second response to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element receives the second response from the UPF network element.

[0214] For example, when the UPF network element receives the second request, it determines the data volume of the SDF transmitted data and sends a second response to the SMF network element, and the second response includes the data volume of the SDF transmitted data. Optionally, the second response also includes at least one of the following: indication information of the SDF granularity, an identifier corresponding to the second request, or information of the time period corresponding to the data volume of the SDF transmitted data. The indication information of the SDF granularity is also called the first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the data volume is of the service data flow granularity, and the data volume included in the second response is the data volume transmitted within the time period. The identifier corresponding to the second request is used to identify the second request. The way in which the UPF network element obtains the identifier corresponding to the second request includes: the second request includes the identifier of the second request, or the UPF network element determines the identifier of the second request based on the port that receives the second request and the correspondence between the port and the identifier.

[0215] In one possible implementation, the SMF network element may request the UPF network element for the data volume of one SDF transmission data through a first request. For example, the first request includes an SDF identifier. The UPF network element feeds back the data volume of the SDF transmission data to the SMF network element through a first response. If the SMF network element requests the data volumes of multiple SDF transmission data, the SMF network element performs steps 440a and 450a multiple times.

[0216] In another possible implementation, the SMF network element may request the UPF network element for the data volume of data transmitted by multiple SDFs through a first request. For example, if the first request includes identifiers of multiple SDFs, the UPF network element may determine the data volume of data transmitted by each SDF respectively, and sequentially feed back the data volumes of data transmitted by the multiple SDFs to the SMF network element through a first response.

[0217] Step 440b: The SMF network element sends a third request to the UPF network element, and the UPF network element receives the third request from the SMF network element.

[0218] For example, the third request is used to request the data volume of the quality of service flow. There is a mapping relationship between the quality of service flow and the SDF for the data volume requested above. For example, the third request includes the identifier of the quality of service flow. In one possible implementation, the third request includes an energy statistics rule based on the quality of service flow, and the rule includes the identifier of the quality of service flow.

[0219] Step 450b: The UPF network element sends a third response to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element receives the third response from the UPF network element.

[0220] For example, the third response includes the data volume of the quality of service flow transmission data. Furthermore, the third response also includes: indication information of the quality of service flow granularity, an identifier corresponding to the third request, or information about the time period corresponding to the data volume of the quality of service flow transmission data. The indication information of the quality of service flow granularity may also be referred to as second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the data volume is of quality of service flow granularity, and the data volume included in the third response is the data volume transmitted during the time period.

[0221] It is understood that the order of steps 440a, 440b, 450a, and 450b is not limited. For example, the SMF network element may first request the data volume at the SDF granularity from the UPF network element, and then request the data volume at the QoS flow granularity from the UPF network element, that is, first executing step 440a, and then executing step 440b. Alternatively, the SMF network element may first request the data volume at the QoS flow granularity from the UPF network element, and then request the data volume at the SDF granularity from the UPF network element, that is, first executing step 440b, and then executing step 440a, etc.

[0222] It is understandable that when an APP identifier corresponds to multiple SDF identifiers, the multiple SDF identifiers may be distributed in one or more quality of service flows. The SDF identifier can be the IP address of the DN that communicates with the terminal. In Table 2 below, the SDF identifier can be an IP address. When the SDF identifier corresponding to an APP identifier is distributed in multiple quality of service flows, the SMF network element can perform the above steps 440a, 450a, 440b and 450b multiple times. For example, as shown in Table 2, an APP identifier corresponds to two SDF identifiers, namely SDF1 and SDF2, and the mapping relationship between the SDF identifier and the quality of service flow identifier is as follows:

[0223] Table 2

[0224] For example, for SDF1, the SMF network element can request the UPF network element for the data volume transmitted by SDF1. Furthermore, the SMF network element also requests the UPF network element for the data volume transmitted by Quality of Service Flow 1 and Quality of Service Flow 4, which are mapped to SDF1. For SDF2, the SMF network element requests the UPF network element for the data volume transmitted by SDF2. At this point, the SMF network element also requests the UPF network element for the data volume transmitted by Quality of Service Flow 1, Quality of Service Flow 2, and Quality of Service Flow 3, which are mapped to SDF2. Alternatively, the UPF network element reports the data volume transmitted by multiple Quality of Service flows together to the SMF network element. For example, the UPF network element reports the data volume transmitted by Quality of Service Flow 1, Quality of Service Flow 2, Quality of Service Flow 3, and Quality of Service Flow 4. Based on the maintained mapping between SDFs and Quality of Service flows, the SMF network element determines the ratio of the data volume transmitted by each SDF to the data volume transmitted by each Quality of Service flow. For example, for SDF1, the SMF network element can obtain the ratio of the data volume transmitted by SDF1 to Quality of Service Flow 1, as well as the ratio of the data volume transmitted by SDF1 to Quality of Service Flow 4. For SDF2, the SMF network element can obtain the ratio of the data transmission volume of SDF2 to the service quality flow 1, the service quality flow 2 and the service quality flow 3 respectively.

[0225] Step 460: The SMF network element sends a fourth request to the access network device, and the access network device receives the fourth request from the SMF network element.

[0226] For example, the fourth request is used to request the access network device to transmit energy information of the quality of service flow. The fourth request includes the identifier of the quality of service flow. Since the access network device can count the energy information of the quality of service flow at the granularity of the quality of service flow. In an embodiment of the present application, when the access network device receives the fourth request, it obtains the identifier of the service flow in the fourth request. The access network device determines the energy information corresponding to the quality of service flow, and the energy information can be referred to as the second energy information. It can be understood that since the quality of service flow is at the terminal granularity, the fourth request can also include the identifier of the terminal, or different terminals correspond to different connections, for example, NGAP connections, and the SMF network element can directly or indirectly send the fourth message to the access network device through the corresponding connection. The access network device can determine the corresponding terminal based on the corresponding connection. Further, in the quality of service flow of the terminal, the quality of service flow corresponding to the quality of service flow identifier is determined.

[0227] Step 470: The access network device sends a fourth response to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element receives the fourth response from the access network device.

[0228] Among them, the fourth response includes the second energy information used by the access network device to transmit the service quality flow. Further, the fourth response may also include: the data volume of data transmitted by the access network device through the service quality flow, and / or, information of the time period corresponding to the second energy information. Optionally, the data volume of data transmitted by the access network device through the service quality flow may include at least one of the following: the data volume of uplink data transmitted by the access network device through the service quality flow, the data volume of downlink data transmitted, or the sum of the data volume of uplink data and downlink data transmitted. In a possible implementation, the SMF network element requests the UPF network element for the data volume of the SDF transmitted data; the SMF network element obtains the data volume of the service quality flow transmitted data in the fourth response; the SMF network element determines the ratio between the two based on the data volume of the SDF transmitted data and the data volume of the service quality flow transmitted data.

[0229] It is understandable that in steps 460 and 470, the access network device and the SMF network element may communicate via the AMF network element. For example, the AMF network element may forward the fourth request and the fourth response.

[0230] Step 480: The SMF network element sends a first response to the NWDAF network element, and the NWDAF network element receives the first response from the SMF network element.

[0231] For example, the first response includes first energy information for transmitting an SDF, where the SDF is used to transmit data related to the APP; wherein the first energy information is determined based on second energy information used by the access network device to transmit a quality of service flow, the data transmitted by the UPF network element through the SDF, and the data transmitted by the UPF network element through the quality of service flow. For example, the first energy information is determined based on the second energy information and the ratio of the amount of data transmitted by the UPF network element through the SDF to the amount of data transmitted by the UPF network element through the quality of service flow.

[0232] In one possible implementation, the SMF network element can determine the ratio of the data volume transmitted by the UPF via the SDF to the data volume transmitted by the UPF network element via the QoS flow. For example, APP1 is transmitted via SDF2. SDF2 is mapped to QoS flow 1. If the data volume transmitted by the UPF network element via QoS flow 1 is 5G, and the data volume transmitted by the UPF via SDF2 is 3G, then the ratio of the data volume transmitted by SDF2 to QoS flow 1 is 0.6. It can be understood that the ratio of the data volume transmitted by the SDF to the QoS flow can be considered as the ratio of the energy information corresponding to the SDF and QoS flow. Therefore, in the following description, the SDF network element can determine the energy information of the SDF based on the energy information of the QoS flow transmitted by the access network device and this ratio. For example, the energy information of the SDF is equal to the product of the energy information of the QoS flow and the ratio. If the energy information of the QoS flow is 100 joules and the ratio of the SDF to the QoS flow is 0.6, then the energy information of the SDF is 60 joules.

[0233] In one possible implementation, the second energy information reported by the access network device regarding the quality of service flow transmitted by the access network device is statistically generated by the access network device. Therefore, the SMF network element can determine the energy information of the SDF on the access network side based on the second energy information and the proportional relationship between the SDF and the quality of service flow. The SMF network element can directly report the energy information of the SDF on the access network side to the NWDAF network element. Alternatively, the SMF network can obtain the energy information of the SDF on the core network side and determine other energy information based on the energy information of the SDF on the access network side and the energy information of the SDF on the core network side. The SMF network element then reports the other energy information to the NWDAF network element. For example, if the unit of energy information is energy consumption, the SMF network element can report to the NWDAF network element the sum of the energy consumption of the SDF on the access network side and the energy consumption of the SDF on the core network side. Alternatively, if one APP corresponds to multiple SDFs, the SMF network element can determine the energy information corresponding to the APP based on the energy information of the multiple SDFs. The SMF network element then reports the energy information of the APP to the NWDAF network element.

[0234] Take the example of the SMF network element reporting the energy information of the SDF access network equipment to the NWDAF network element:

[0235] 1. The second energy information reported by the access network device includes the first energy consumption used by the access network device to transmit the service quality flow, and the first energy information includes the second energy consumption used to transmit SDF. The second energy consumption is determined based on the first energy consumption and the ratio of the amount of data transmitted by the UPF network element through the SDF to the amount of data transmitted by the UPF network element through the service quality flow.

[0236] For example, as shown in Table 2, there is a mapping relationship between SDF1, QoS flow 1, and QoS flow 4. The energy consumption of QoS flow 1 reported by the access network device is 100 joules, and the energy consumption of QoS flow 2 is 200 joules. From the data reported by the UPF network element, we can determine that the ratio of SDF1 to QoS flow 1 is 0.2, and the ratio of SDF1 to QoS flow 2 is also 0.2. Therefore, it can be determined that the energy consumption of SDF1 is equal to 20 + 40 = 60 joules.

[0237] 2. The second energy information reported by the access network device includes a first energy efficiency for transmitting the quality of service flow by the access network device. For an explanation of energy efficiency, refer to the process in Figure 3. The first energy information includes a second energy efficiency for transmitting the SDF. The second energy efficiency is determined based on the first energy efficiency and the ratio of the amount of data transmitted by the UPF network element via the SDF to the amount of data transmitted by the UPF network element via the quality of service flow.

[0238] For example, as in the example above, the ratio of SDF1 to QoS flow 1 is 0.2, and the ratio of SDF1 to QoS flow 2 is 0.2. The energy efficiency of QoS flow 1 reported by the access network device is 10 joules per bit, and the energy efficiency of QoS flow 2 is 20 joules per bit. Therefore, the energy efficiency of SDF1 is 2 + 4 = 6 joules per bit.

[0239] 3. The second energy information reported by the access network device includes the first energy efficiency of the access network device for transmitting the service quality flow; the first energy information includes the first energy consumption for transmitting SDF, and the first energy consumption is determined based on the second energy consumption and the ratio of the amount of data transmitted by the UPF network element through SDF to the amount of data transmitted by the UPF network element through the service quality flow.

[0240] The second energy consumption is determined based on the first energy efficiency. For example, the second energy consumption is determined based on the first energy efficiency and the amount of data transmitted by the access network device via the quality of service flow. Furthermore, the second energy consumption is equal to the product of the amount of data used to transmit the data using the first quality of service and the first energy efficiency.

[0241] In one possible implementation, the SMF network element determines the second energy consumption of the access network device transmitting data through the quality of service flow based on the first energy efficiency of the quality of service flow reported by the access network device and the data volume of the access network device transmitting data through the quality of service flow. It can be understood that the data volume of the access network device transmitting data through the quality of service flow can be reported by the access network device through the fourth response, or determined based on the data volume of the quality of service flow transmitted by the UPF network element. For example, the data volume of the quality of service flow transmitted by the UPF can be considered as the data volume of the access network device transmitting data through the quality of service flow. Further, the SMF network element determines the ratio between the data volume of the SDF transmission data and the data volume of the quality of service flow transmission data. The SMF network element determines the first energy consumption of the access network device transmitting data through the SDF based on the second energy consumption of the access network device transmitting data through the quality of service flow and the above ratio.

[0242] It is understood that in one possible implementation, when the access network device reports the second energy information, the second response includes information about the time corresponding to the second energy information. The UPF network element also includes information about the time corresponding to the data volume at the QoS flow and SDF granularity. The time information reported by the access network device or UPF network element can be referred to as a timestamp. For details about time information, please refer to the description of time information reported by the SMF in Figure 3. This time information can refer to statistics collected by the access network device or UPF network element. This time information can refer to a specific point in time, a specific time interval, or a specific duration, such as energy information or data volume for the past hour or two hours. When the SMF network element determines the first energy information of the SDF based on the second energy information of the QoS flow reported by the access network device and the ratio of the SDF to the second QoS flow, the SMF network element can perform time matching between the two. For example, the SMF network element determines the time corresponding to the second energy information and searches the data reported by the UPF for information about the data volume corresponding to that time to further determine the ratio between the SDF and the QoS flow.

[0243] Step 490: The NWDAF network element sends an energy response to the AF network element through the NEF network element, and the AF network element receives the energy response from the NWDAF network element through the NEF network element.

[0244] For example, the energy response in step 490 is a response to the energy request in step 410, and the energy response message includes energy information for transmitting APP-related data. In one possible implementation, the SMF network element can report SDF-granular energy information to the NWDAF network element, and the NWDAF network element can determine the energy information of an APP based on the energy information of multiple SDFs corresponding to an APP, and report the APP-granular energy information to the AF network element. Alternatively, the NWDAF network element can also report SDF-granular energy information to the AF network element. Furthermore, when the energy information reported by the SMF network element is the energy information on the access network side, the NWDAF network element can also obtain the energy information on the core network side, and the NWDAF network element reports the energy information of the access network side and the core network side to the AF network element.

[0245] It is understandable that since the quality of service flow is terminal-granular, in the embodiment of the present application, the energy information of each service is calculated at the terminal granularity. For a service, when the energy information of each terminal is obtained, the SMF network element or NWDAF network element can integrate it to determine the energy information of the service.

[0246] The above design eliminates the need to create a new QoS flow or modify the QoS flow in a PDU session. The energy information of a service can be determined by determining the ratio of data transmitted by the SDF to the QoS flow, as well as the energy information of the QoS flow granularity reported by the access network device.

[0247] It is understood that the process in Figure 4 primarily uses the APP service granularity as an example to describe the process of determining energy information for an app. It is understood that the service can also be at other granularities, such as the network slice granularity. Using the method in the process in Figure 4, the energy information corresponding to the network slice can be determined. In this case, a network handoff may correspond to at least one SDF.

[0248] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method, which differs from the process of Figure 3 above in that: in the process of Figure 3, the access network device counts the energy information of the service quality flow under a terminal. In this embodiment, the access network device can count the energy information of all service quality flows that match the 5QI. This process can be called energy statistics of access network device nodes, etc.

[0249] As shown in FIG5 , the embodiment of the present application provides a flow chart, including:

[0250] Step 500: Pre-configuration process.

[0251] For example, during the preconfiguration process, the operator configures the following correspondences in each network element: parameters, service identifiers, and SDF identifiers. Step 500 is optional. For example, step 500 may be performed or not performed. For example, when step 500 is not performed, the correspondences between parameters, service identifiers, and SDF identifiers may be predefined.

[0252] In the process description of FIG5 , the service is APP and the parameter is 5QI as an example.

[0253] Step 510: The AF network element sends an energy request to the NWDAF network element through the NEF network element, and the NWDAF network element receives the energy request from the AF network element through the NEF network element.

[0254] The energy request in step 510 may refer to the description of the energy request in step 210 in FIG. 2 .

[0255] Step 520: The NWDAF network element sends a first request to the second network element, and the second network element receives the first request from the NWDAF network element.

[0256] For example, there is no restriction on the second network element. For example, the second network element may be an AMF network element, an OAM network element of an access network device, or an MDAF network element, etc. The first request includes 5QI. Optionally, the first request also includes regional information. For example, the regional information may include regional parameters, or regional prefixes, etc. The second network element may determine one or more access network devices based on the regional information, and the second network element requests the energy information of the service quality flow corresponding to the 5QI from the one or more access network devices. For example, if the regional information is used to indicate the city center of a city, the second network element may determine one or more access network devices corresponding to the city center based on the regional information, and request the energy information of the service quality flow corresponding to the 5QI from one or more servers corresponding to the city center.

[0257] Step 530: The second network element sends a second request to the access network device, and the access network device receives the second request from the second network element.

[0258] Among them, the second request is used to request the access network device to transmit the energy information of the service quality flow, and the second request includes 5QI. When the access network device obtains 5QI in the second request, it can determine whether there is a service quality flow whose attributes match the 5QI among the service quality flows maintained by the access network device; if not, the access network device sends a failure response to the second network element, or ignores the second request. If there are one or more service quality flows whose attributes match the 5QI, the access network device starts energy statistics and determines the energy information of the one or more service quality flows. Regarding the process of determining the energy information of the service quality flow, refer to the description in the process of Figure 3 and will not be repeated here.

[0259] It is understandable that before step 530, one or more quality of service flows may be established, and the attribute of the one or more quality of service flows is the above-mentioned 5QI. There is no limitation on the process of establishing one or more quality of service flows. For example, in one possible implementation, when the NWDAF network element / PCF network element receives the energy consumption request message from the AF network element, it requests the SMF network element to establish one or more quality of service flows, and the one or more quality of service flows use the above-mentioned 5QI, and assign an identifier to the one or more quality of service flows. The one or more quality of service flows are used to transmit data related to the APP corresponding to the 5QI, and no other data is transmitted.

[0260] Step 540: The access network device sends a second response to the third network element, and the third network element receives the second response from the access network device.

[0261] For example, the second response includes energy information used by the access network device to transmit the quality of service flow. The second network element and the third network element may be the same or different. For example, the second network element may be the OAM network element of the access network device, and the third network element may be the AMF network element. Alternatively, the second network element may be the AMF network element, and the third network element may be the UPF network element. Alternatively, the second network element may be the AMF network element, and the third network element may be the MDAF network element. For example, the AMF may send the second request to the access network device via the control plane, and the access network device may report the energy information of the quality of service flow to the UPF network element via the user plane. For example, when the access network device reports the energy information of the quality of service flow to the UPF network element, the energy information of the quality of service flow is transmitted via the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol-User Plane (GTP-U) protocol. For example, the energy information of the quality of service flow is carried in a GTP-U data packet, and the header of the GTP-U data packet is specific.

[0262] It is understandable that when the second network element sends the second request to multiple access network devices based on the regional information, the multiple access network devices all report the energy information of the quality of service flow to the third network element. The third network element can determine the energy information to report to the NWDAF network element based on the energy information of the multiple quality of service flows.

[0263] Step 550: The third network element sends a first response to the NWDAF network element, and the NWDAF network element receives the first response from the third network element.

[0264] For example, the first response includes energy information for transmitting APP-related data. For example, the APP's energy information is determined based on energy information for one or more quality of service flows reported by the access network device. The process of determining the energy information for transmitting APP-related data based on the energy information of one or more quality of service flows is described in the process of FIG3 and is not further described.

[0265] Step 560: the NWDAF network element sends an energy response to the AF network element through the NEF network element. The AF network element receives the energy consumption response from the NWDAF network element through the NEF network element. The energy response includes energy information used to transmit APP-related data.

[0266] It can be understood that in the process of Figure 5, the example of establishing one or more service quality streams to transmit the data related to the APP is used for explanation. One or more PDU sessions can also be established to transmit the data related to the APP. At this time, the energy consumption of the one or more PDU sessions to transmit the data can be counted.

[0267] It is understood that the process in Figure 5 uses the example of determining energy information for data transmitted by an APP at the granularity of the service. Alternatively, the service can be at a granularity such as a network slice. The process in Figure 5 can also be used to determine energy information for data transmitted by a network slice.

[0268] The present application also provides a communication method. The difference from FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 is that a new PDU session is created. The PDU session is only used to transmit APP-related data and is not used to transmit other data. As shown in FIG. 6 , the method includes at least:

[0269] Step 600: Pre-configuration process.

[0270] For example, during the preconfiguration process, the operator configures the following correspondences in each network element: parameters, service identifiers, and SDF identifiers. Step 600 is optional. For example, step 600 may be performed or not performed. For example, when step 600 is not performed, the correspondences between parameters, service identifiers, and SDF identifiers may be predefined.

[0271] In the process description of FIG6 , the service is APP and the parameter is 5QI as an example.

[0272] Step 610: The AF network element sends an energy request to the NWDAF network element via the NEF network element, and the NWDAF network element receives the energy request from the AF network element via the NEF network element.

[0273] Regarding the energy request, please refer to the description in step 210 in Figure 2. The NWDAF network element may determine the 5QI based on the information carried in the energy request.

[0274] Step 620: The PCF network element sends a first request to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element receives the first request from the PCF network element.

[0275] The first request is used to request APP-related energy information. Optionally, the name of the first request can be a session creation policy execution request. The first request includes the above-mentioned 5QI, which is used to indicate the attributes of the service quality flow. Furthermore, the first request also includes indication information, which is used to indicate: APP-related data is transmitted through the service quality flow associated with the 5QI. This indication information can be called an energy demand indication. Optionally, in the text description of Figure 6, "PCF network element" can be replaced with "NWDAF network element".

[0276] When the SMF network element receives the first request, it can determine the following strategy: when the SMF network element receives a request to establish a PDU session, if the PDU session establishment request carries the SDF identifier associated with the above-mentioned 5QI, the newly created PDU session is used to transmit data related to the APP corresponding to the 5QI, and no other data needs to be transmitted. For example, when a new PDU session is created, one or more service quality flows are newly created in the PDU session, and the attributes of the one or more service quality flows use the above-mentioned 5QI. There is a mapping relationship between the one or more service quality flows and the SDF corresponding to the 5QI, that is, there is a mapping relationship between the one or more service quality flows and the SDF corresponding to the APP identifier, and there is no mapping relationship with other SDFs.

[0277] Step 630a: The terminal determines the PDU session identifier.

[0278] Step 630b: The terminal sends a PDU session establishment request to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element receives the PDU session establishment request from the terminal.

[0279] For example, the terminal sends a PDU session establishment request to the SMF through a non-access stratum (NAS) message, and the PDU session establishment request includes: a terminal identifier, a PDU session identifier, and an SDF identifier.

[0280] Step 640: The SMF network element establishes a session. For example, the session is a PDU session. In the following description, the PDU session is taken as an example.

[0281] For example, when the SMF network element receives a PDU session establishment request, it obtains the SDF identifier in the PDU session establishment request. The SMF network element determines whether there is a correspondence between the SDF identifier and the 5QI in the first request; if there is a correspondence, a new PDU session is created, which is used to transmit relevant data of the APP corresponding to the 5QI and is not used to transmit other data.

[0282] Step 650: The SMF network element sends a first response to the first request to the PCF network element, and the PCF network element receives the first response from the SMF network element.

[0283] For example, the first response is called a session creation policy execution request response, and the first response includes a PDU session identifier. Step 650 is optional.

[0284] Step 660: The NWDAF network element sends a second request to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element receives the second request from the NWDAF network element.

[0285] For example, the second request includes a 5QI and / or a PDU session identifier, and the name of the second request may be an energy statistics request. Step 620 is optional.

[0286] Step 670: The NWDAF network element sends a third request to the access network device, and the access network device receives the third request from the NWDAF network element.

[0287] For example, the third request includes a 5QI and / or a PDU session identifier, and the name of the third request may be an energy consumption monitoring request. Upon receiving the third request, the access network device may determine the energy information of the PDU session based on the 5QI and / or the PDU session identifier.

[0288] Step 680: The access network device sends a third response to the NWDAF network element, and the NWDAF network element receives the third response from the access network device.

[0289] For example, the third response includes: the first energy information of the PDU session. Further, the third response also includes: information about the time corresponding to the first energy information, and / or the amount of data transmitted by the access network device through the PDU session. The third response is named Energy Consumption Monitoring Response Message.

[0290] Step 690: The SMF network element sends a second response to the NWDAF network element, and the NWDAF network element receives the second response from the SMF network element.

[0291] For example, the second response includes the second energy information of the APP-related data. Optionally, the fourth response also includes information about the time corresponding to the second energy information. The fourth response may be named "Energy Summary."

[0292] Step 6010: The SMF network element sends an energy consumption response to the AF network element through the NEF network element, and the AF network element receives the energy consumption response from the SMF network element through the NEF network element.

[0293] For example, the energy consumption response includes the second energy information related to the APP, and further includes information about the time corresponding to the second energy information.

[0294] It is understandable that steps 600 to 650 may be referred to as a PDU session creation process, and steps 660 to 6010 may be referred to as an energy statistics process. The two processes may be executed separately or together without limitation.

[0295] It is understandable that in the processes of Figures 2 to 6, the names such as "access network equipment, SMF network element, UPF network element, and NWDAF network element" are used as examples for explanation. It is understandable that with the development of communication technology and the evolution of communication architecture, the functions of access network equipment or core network elements can also be implemented by other network elements. For example, the access network equipment can be replaced by a first network element, and the first network element can implement the functions of the access network equipment in the processes of Figures 2 to 6. The UPF network element can be replaced by a second network element, and the second network element can implement the functions of the UPF network element in the processes of Figures 2 to 6. The SMF network element can be replaced by a third network element, and the third network element can implement the functions of the SMF network element in the processes of Figures 2 to 6. The NWDAF network element can be replaced by a fourth network element, and the fourth network element can implement the functions of the NWDAF network element in Figures 2 to 6.

[0296] It is understood that in the embodiments of the present application:

[0297] 1. In addition to focusing on describing the differences between different processes, the descriptions of different processes can refer to each other.

[0298] 2. In each process, the order of different steps is not limited. In addition, each process may include fewer steps or more steps than the flowchart or text description.

[0299] 3. In the processes of Figures 2 to 6, the access network device and the core network element (e.g., AF element, NEF element, NWDAF element, PCF element, SMF element, etc.) are described as the execution entities. It is understood that in each process, the functions of the access network device can be implemented by the access network device, or by a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) in the access network device, or by a logical node, logical module, or software that can fully or partially implement the functions of the access network device. The functions of the core network element can be implemented by the core network element, or by a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) in the core network element.

[0300] 4. In the embodiments of the present application, "(such as an access network device) receives information from (such as an SMF network element)" can be understood as the source of the information being the SMF network element and the destination being the access network device, which may include the access network device directly or indirectly receiving information from the SMF network element. The information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination of the information, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be understood similarly and will not be repeated here.

[0301] 5. In the above embodiments, the size of the sequence number of each process 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 this application.

[0302] In the embodiments provided in the present application, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspective of the interaction between the access network device and the core network element. In order to implement the various functions in the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application, the access network device or the core network element, etc., may include a hardware structure and / or a software module, and implement the above functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. Whether a certain function among the above functions is executed in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends on the design constraints of the specific application of the technical solution.

[0303] Figures 7 and 8 are schematic diagrams of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can implement one or more corresponding functions in the above-described method embodiments. For example, functions implemented by access network equipment or SMF network elements, etc., can thus achieve the beneficial effects of the above-described method embodiments.

[0304] As shown in Figure 7, a communication device 700 includes a processing unit 710 and a transceiver unit 720. The communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the SMF network element method embodiments in Figures 2 to 6 above.

[0305] Optionally, the transceiver unit 720 may also be referred to as an output unit, an interface unit, or a communication unit. In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 720 includes at least one of a transmitting unit and a receiving unit. The transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be integrated together or may be two independent units.

[0306] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the SMF network element in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 , specifically:

[0307] The transceiver unit 720 is used to receive a first request, where the first request is used to request energy information related to the business; the transceiver unit 720 is also used to send a second request to the first network element, where the second request is used to request the first network element to use energy information for transmitting a quality of service flow, where the quality of service flow is used to transmit data related to the business; the transceiver unit 720 is also used to receive a second response from the first network element, where the second response includes the first energy information used by the first network element to transmit the quality of service flow; the processing unit 710 is also used to control the transceiver unit 720 to send a first response to the first request based on the first energy information, where the first response includes the second energy information used to transmit the data related to the business.

[0308] In a possible implementation manner, the first request includes a parameter, where the parameter is used to indicate an attribute of the quality of service flow.

[0309] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 710 is configured to establish the quality of service flow according to the parameters.

[0310] In a possible implementation manner, the second request includes the identifier of the quality of service flow and / or the parameter, and the identifier of the quality of service flow is determined according to the parameter.

[0311] In a possible implementation manner, the first request further includes indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate that the data is to be transmitted through a quality of service flow related to the parameter.

[0312] In a possible implementation, the first energy information includes: energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow;

[0313] The second energy information includes the energy consumption.

[0314] In one possible implementation, the first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow; the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data; the second energy information includes the energy efficiency.

[0315] In one possible implementation, the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data, including: the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow per unit of the data.

[0316] In one possible implementation, the first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow; the energy efficiency is used to indicate the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data; the second energy information includes the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow, and the energy consumption is determined based on the energy efficiency.

[0317] In a possible implementation manner, the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency, including: the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency and the data volume of the data.

[0318] In one possible implementation, the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data, including: the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow per unit of the data; the energy consumption is equal to: the product of the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow per unit of the data and the data volume.

[0319] In a possible implementation, the second response further includes the data volume.

[0320] In one possible implementation, the second response also includes: a first data volume of the data transmitted by the first network element through the service quality flow; the processing unit 710 is also used to obtain a second data volume of the data transmitted by the second network element through the service quality flow; the processing unit 710 is also used to determine the data volume based on the first data volume and the second data volume.

[0321] In one possible implementation, the second response also includes information of the first time period, and the first time period corresponds to the first energy information. The processing unit 710 is also used to: obtain the data volume based on the information of the first time period, and the data volume is the data volume of the data transmitted by the first network element or the second network element through the service quality flow during the first time period.

[0322] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the access network device in Figure 2 or Figure 3, specifically: the transceiver unit 720 is used to receive a second request, and the second request is used to request the first network element to use energy information to transmit the service quality flow, and the service quality flow is used to transmit business-related data; the processing unit 710 is used to generate a second response; the transceiver unit 720 is also used to send a second response, and the second response includes the first energy information of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow, and the first energy information is used to determine the second energy information used to transmit the data.

[0323] In a possible implementation manner, the second request includes an identifier and / or parameters of the quality of service flow, where the parameters are used to indicate attributes of the quality of service flow.

[0324] In a possible implementation manner, the second response further includes a first data volume of the data transmitted by the first network element through the quality of service flow.

[0325] In a possible implementation manner, the first energy information includes: energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; and the second energy information includes the energy consumption.

[0326] In one possible implementation, the first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow; the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow and the data; the second energy information includes the energy efficiency.

[0327] In one possible implementation, the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data, including: the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow per unit of the data.

[0328] In a possible implementation, the first energy information includes: energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; the energy efficiency is used to indicate a relationship between energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow and the data;

[0329] The second energy information includes energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow, and the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency.

[0330] In a possible implementation manner, the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency, including: the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency and the data volume of the data.

[0331] In one possible implementation, the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data, including: the energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow per unit of the data; the energy consumption is equal to: the product of the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow per unit of the data and the data volume.

[0332] In a possible implementation, the second response further includes the data volume.

[0333] In one possible implementation, the second response also includes: the first data volume of the data transmitted by the first network element through the service quality flow; the data volume is determined based on the first data volume and the second data volume, and the second data volume is the second data volume of the data transmitted by the second network element through the service quality flow.

[0334] In one possible implementation, the second response also includes information of the first time period, and the information of the first time period is used to obtain the data volume, which is the data volume of the data transmitted by the first network element or the second network element through the service quality flow during the first time period.

[0335] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the SMF network element in FIG4 , specifically:

[0336] The transceiver unit 720 is used to receive a first request, where the first request is used to request business-related energy information; the processing unit 710 is used to generate a first response; the transceiver unit 720 is also used to send a first response, where the first response includes first energy information for transmitting a business data stream, where the business data stream is used to transmit the business-related data; wherein the first energy information is determined based on the second energy information used by the first network element to transmit a quality of service stream, the data transmitted by the business data stream, and the data transmitted by the quality of service stream, and there is a mapping relationship between the quality of service stream and the business data stream.

[0337] In one possible implementation, the first energy information is determined based on the second energy information used by the first network element to transmit the service quality flow, the data transmitted by the business data flow, and the data transmitted by the service quality flow, including: the first energy information is determined based on the second energy information and the ratio between the data volume of the data transmitted by the business data flow and the data volume of the data transmitted by the service quality flow.

[0338] In a possible implementation manner, the first request includes an identifier of the service data flow.

[0339] In a possible implementation manner, the first request further includes indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate that the request for service-related energy information includes requesting energy information related to the service data flow.

[0340] In one possible implementation, it also includes: a transceiver unit 720, which is also used to send a second request to the second network element, and the second request is used to request the data volume of the data transmitted by the business data flow; the transceiver unit 720 is also used to receive a second response from the second network element, and the second response includes the data volume of the data transmitted by the business data flow.

[0341] In a possible implementation, the second request includes an identifier of the service data flow.

[0342] In one possible implementation, the second response also includes at least one of the following: first indication information, an identifier corresponding to the second request, or information about the time period corresponding to the amount of data transmitted by the business data flow, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the data amount is at the granularity of the business data flow, and the amount of data included in the second response is the amount of data transmitted within the time period.

[0343] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 720 is further used to send a third request to the second network element, where the third request is used to request the data volume of data transmitted by the service quality flow; and receive a third response from the second network element, where the third response includes the data volume of data transmitted by the service quality flow.

[0344] In a possible implementation manner, the third request includes an identifier of the quality of service flow.

[0345] In one possible implementation, the third response also includes at least one of the following: second indication information, an identifier corresponding to the third request, or information about the time period corresponding to the amount of data transmitted by the service quality flow, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate that the data amount is of service quality flow granularity, and the amount of data included in the third response is the amount of data transmitted within the time period.

[0346] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 720 is further used to: send a fourth request to the first network element, where the fourth request is used to request the second energy information; the transceiver unit 720 is further used to: receive a fourth response from the first network element, where the fourth response includes the second energy information.

[0347] In a possible implementation manner, the fourth request includes an identifier of the quality of service flow.

[0348] In a possible implementation manner, the data volume of the quality of service flow transmission data is transmitted by the first network element, and the fourth response also includes the data volume of the quality of service flow transmission data.

[0349] In one possible implementation, the second energy information includes the first energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow; the first energy information includes the second energy consumption for transmitting the business data flow, and the second energy consumption is determined based on the first energy consumption and the ratio between the amount of data transmitted by the business data flow and the amount of data transmitted by the service quality flow.

[0350] In one possible implementation, the second energy information includes a first energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow, and the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between energy consumption and data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; the first energy information includes a second energy efficiency for transmitting the business data flow, and the second energy efficiency is determined based on the first energy efficiency and the ratio between the amount of data transmitted by the business data flow and the amount of data transmitted by the quality of service flow.

[0351] In a possible implementation, the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow and data, including: the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow per unit of data.

[0352] In a possible implementation, the second energy information includes a first energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow, where the first energy efficiency is used to indicate a relationship between energy consumption and data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow;

[0353] The first energy information includes a first energy consumption for transmitting the business data flow, the first energy consumption is determined based on the second energy consumption and the ratio between the amount of data transmitted by the business data flow and the amount of data transmitted by the service quality flow, and the second energy consumption is determined based on the first energy efficiency.

[0354] In a possible implementation, the second energy consumption is determined according to the first energy efficiency, including: the second energy consumption is determined according to the first energy efficiency and the amount of data transmitted by the quality of service flow.

[0355] In one possible implementation, the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow and data, including: the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit per unit of data of the service quality flow; the second energy consumption is equal to: the product of the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit per unit of data of the service quality flow and the data volume of the service quality flow transmitted.

[0356] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the access network device in FIG4 , specifically:

[0357] The transceiver unit 720 is used to receive a fourth request, wherein the fourth request is used to request the first network element to use energy information to transmit the service quality flow; the processing unit 710 is used to generate a fourth response; the transceiver unit 720 is also used to send a fourth response, wherein the fourth response includes the second energy information used by the first network element to transmit the service quality flow, and the second energy information is used to determine the first energy information used to transmit the business data flow, and there is a mapping relationship between the service quality flow and the business data flow.

[0358] In a possible implementation manner, the fourth request includes an identifier of the quality of service flow.

[0359] In a possible implementation manner, the data volume of the quality of service flow transmission data is transmitted by the first network element, and the fourth response also includes the data volume of the quality of service flow transmission data.

[0360] In one possible implementation, the second energy information includes the first energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow; the first energy information includes the second energy consumption for transmitting the business data flow, and the second energy consumption is determined based on the first energy consumption and the ratio between the data volume of the business data flow transmitted and the data volume of the service quality flow transmitted.

[0361] In one possible implementation, the second energy information includes a first energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow, and the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between energy consumption and data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; the first energy information includes a second energy efficiency for transmitting the business data flow, and the second energy efficiency is determined based on the first energy efficiency and the ratio between the amount of data transmitted by the business data flow and the amount of data transmitted by the quality of service flow.

[0362] In a possible implementation, the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow and data, including: the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow per unit of data.

[0363] In one possible implementation, the second energy information includes the first energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow, and the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the service quality flow and the data; the first energy information includes the first energy consumption for transmitting the business data flow, and the first energy consumption is determined based on the second energy consumption and the ratio between the data volume of the business data flow transmitted and the data volume of the service quality flow transmitted, and the second energy consumption is determined based on the first energy efficiency.

[0364] In a possible implementation, the second energy consumption is determined according to the first energy efficiency, including: the second energy consumption is determined according to the first energy efficiency and the amount of data transmitted by the quality of service flow.

[0365] In one possible implementation, the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit the service quality flow and data, including: the first energy efficiency is used to indicate: the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit per unit of data of the service quality flow; the second energy consumption is equal to: the product of the energy consumption of the first network element used to transmit per unit of data of the service quality flow and the data volume of the service quality flow transmitted.

[0366] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the UPF network element in FIG4 , specifically:

[0367] The transceiver unit 720 is used to receive a second request, where the second request is used to request the data volume of the business data stream transmitted; the processing unit 710 is used to generate a second response; the transceiver unit 720 is used to send a second response, where the second response includes the data volume of the data transmitted by the business data stream.

[0368] In a possible implementation, the second request includes an identifier of the service data flow.

[0369] In one possible implementation, the second response also includes at least one of the following: first indication information, an identifier corresponding to the second request, or information about the time period corresponding to the amount of data transmitted by the business data flow, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the data amount is at the granularity of the business data flow, and the amount of data included in the second response is the amount of data transmitted within the time period.

[0370] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 720 is used to send a third request to the second network element, where the third request is used to request the data volume of the service quality flow transmission data; the transceiver unit 720 is also used to receive a third response from the second network element, where the third response includes the data volume of the service quality flow transmission data.

[0371] In a possible implementation manner, the third request includes an identifier of the quality of service flow.

[0372] In one possible implementation, the third response also includes at least one of the following: second indication information, an identifier corresponding to the third request, or information about the time period corresponding to the amount of data transmitted by the service quality flow, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate that the data amount is of service quality flow granularity, and the amount of data included in the third response is the amount of data transmitted within the time period.

[0373] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 710 and the transceiver unit 720, reference may be made to the descriptions in FIG. 2 to FIG. 6 in the above method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0374] It is understood that the division of units in the embodiments of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. In addition, the various functional units in the embodiments of the present application can be integrated into a physical device (for example, a processor), or each functional unit can be a separate physical device, or two or more units can be integrated into a unit for implementation. The above-mentioned integrated units can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules.

[0375] As shown in Figure 8, communication device 800 includes a processor 810 and an interface circuit 820. Processor 810 and interface circuit 820 are coupled to each other. It will be appreciated that interface circuit 820 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, communication device 800 may further include a memory 830 for storing instructions executed by processor 810, input data required by processor 810 to execute instructions, or data generated after processor 810 executes instructions.

[0376] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the methods shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 6 , the processor 810 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 710 , and the interface circuit 820 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 720 .

[0377] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip used in an access network device, the chip implements the functions of the access network device in the aforementioned method embodiments. The chip receives information sent from a core network element to the access network device via other modules in the access network device (e.g., a radio frequency module or antenna); alternatively, the chip sends information to other modules in the access network device (e.g., a radio frequency module or antenna), where the information is sent from the access network device to the core network element.

[0378] When the communication device is a module applied to a core network element (e.g., an SMF element), the module implements the functions of the core network element in the above method embodiments. The module receives information from other modules in the core network element (e.g., a radio frequency module or an antenna), where the terminal sends information to the core network element; or the module sends information to other modules in the core network element (e.g., a radio frequency module or an antenna), where the core network element sends information to the terminal.

[0379] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0380] The memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art.

[0381] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disk, mobile hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC.

[0382] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, which includes a processor and a memory, the processor and the memory are coupled, and the processor is used to implement the functions of the access network device or core network element in Figures 2 to 6.

[0383] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, including a processor, which is used to implement the functions of the access network device or core network element in Figures 2 to 6.

[0384] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which may also be referred to as a computer program, computer program code, etc. The instructions are executed on a computer, causing the computer to perform the functions of the access network device or core network element in Figures 2 to 6 of the above method embodiments.

[0385] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed on a computer, the method of the access network device or core network element in Figures 2 to 6 is implemented.

[0386] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip, which includes a processor, which is coupled to a memory, and the processor is used to execute computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, so that the functions of the access network device or core network element in Figures 2 to 6 are implemented.

[0387] The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, including a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device and the second communication device can be used to implement the functions of the access network device and the core network element in Figures 2 to 6, respectively.

[0388] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disk; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0389] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, including: receiving a first request for requesting energy information related to a service; sending a second request to a first network element, the second request for requesting energy information of the first network element for transmitting a quality of service flow for transmitting the service-related data; receiving a second response from the first network element, the second response including first energy information of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; sending a first response to the first request according to the first energy information, the first response including second energy information for transmitting the service-related data.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first request includes a parameter for indicating an attribute of the quality of service flow.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein It further includes: establishing the quality of service flow according to the parameter.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The second request includes an identifier of the quality of service flow and / or the parameter, and the identifier of the quality of service flow is determined according to the parameter.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that, The first request further includes indication information for indicating that the data is transmitted through the quality of service flow related to the parameter.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The first energy information includes: the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; The second energy information includes the energy consumption.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; the energy efficiency is used to indicate the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow and the data; The second energy information includes the energy efficiency.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein The energy efficiency is used to indicate the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow and the data, including: The energy efficiency is used to indicate the energy consumption per unit of the data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; the energy efficiency is used to indicate the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow and the data; The second energy information includes the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow, and the energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein The energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency, including: The energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency and the data volume of the data.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein The energy efficiency is used to indicate the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow and the data, including: The energy efficiency is used to indicate the energy consumption per unit of the data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; The energy consumption is equal to: the product of the energy consumption per unit of the data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow and the data volume.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that The second response further includes the data volume.

13. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that, The second response further includes: a first data volume of the data transmitted by the first network element through the quality of service flow; The method further includes: obtaining a second data volume of the data transmitted by the second network element through the quality of service flow; determining the data volume according to the first data volume and the second data volume.

14. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that The second response further includes information about a first time period, the first time period corresponding to the first energy information. The method further includes: Obtaining the data volume according to the information about the first time period, the data volume being the data volume of the data transmitted by the first network element or the user plane network element through the quality of service flow during the first time period.

15. A communication method, characterized in that, including: Receiving a second request for requesting energy information of a first network element for transmitting a quality of service flow for transmitting service-related data; Sending a second response including first energy information of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow, the first energy information being used to determine second energy information for transmitting the data.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein, The second request includes an identifier and / or parameters of the quality of service flow, the parameters being used to indicate an attribute of the quality of service flow.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that, The second response further includes a first data volume of the data transmitted by the first network element through the quality of service flow.

18. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that, The first energy information includes: the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; The second energy information includes the energy consumption.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that, The first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; the energy efficiency being used to indicate the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow and the data; The second energy information includes the energy efficiency.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein The energy efficiency being used to indicate the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow and the data includes: The energy efficiency being used to indicate the energy consumption per unit of the data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow.

21. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that, The first energy information includes: the energy efficiency of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; the energy efficiency being used to indicate the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow and the data; The second energy information includes the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow, the energy consumption being determined according to the energy efficiency.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein The energy consumption being determined according to the energy efficiency includes: The energy consumption is determined according to the energy efficiency and the data volume of the data.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein The energy efficiency being used to indicate the relationship between the energy consumption of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow and the data includes: The energy efficiency being used to indicate the energy consumption per unit of the data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow; The energy consumption is equal to the product of the energy consumption per unit of the data of the first network element for transmitting the quality of service flow and the data volume.

24. The method according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that The second response further includes the data volume.

25. The method according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that, The second response further includes: a first data volume of the data transmitted by the first network element through the quality of service flow; The data volume is determined according to the first data volume and a second data volume, the second data volume being the second data volume of the data transmitted by the second network element through the quality of service flow.

26. A communication device, characterized in that, including a unit for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, or a unit for implementing the method according to any one of claims 15 to 25.

27. A communication device, characterized in that, including: A memory for storing a computer program or the instructions, A processor for executing the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, When the computer program or the instructions are running, such that the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 15 to 25 is executed.

28. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, Instructions are stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and the instructions run on a computer such that the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, or executes the method according to any one of claims 15 to 25.

29. A communication system, characterized in that, Comprising: A first communication device for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14; A second communication device for executing the method according to any one of claims 15 to 25.

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