Communication method and apparatus, and system

Abstract

The present application relates to a communication method and apparatus, and a system. A third core network element determines a first computing power resource on the basis of a delay threshold of a first computing task and a first delay. The first computing power resource is a computing power resource required by a computing node to process the first computing task, the delay threshold is related to an end-to-end delay requirement of the first computing task, and the first delay is a transmission delay of a message corresponding to the first computing task and transmitted between a terminal device and an access network element. The third core network element sends a first request, which is used to trigger a first computing node to use the first computing power resource to process the first computing task. In the embodiments of the present application, the sum of a processing delay of a first computing node and a transmission delay of a message (i.e. actual end-to-end delay) can meet an end-to-end delay requirement of a first computing task as much as possible, so that the efficiency of accessing the first computing task is improved, and the user experience is also improved.

Description

A communication method, apparatus and system

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202311819274.9, filed on December 26, 2023, entitled "A Communication Method, Apparatus and System", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, apparatus and system. Background Technology

[0004] The current 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) system enables UEs to access services processed by compute nodes by establishing connections. These compute nodes can be service servers. From an end-to-end perspective (e.g., user equipment (UE) at one end and compute nodes at the other), service latency includes the transmission delay of the service's packets in the network (this transmission delay, for example, is loopback delay, which may include uplink and downlink transmission delays of the service's packets in the network), and the processing delay of the compute node handling the service. The transmission delay in the network includes, for example, the transmission delay between the UE and the compute node; taking a service server as an example, the compute node's processing delay is also called server processing delay, which reflects the server's service quality.

[0005] When interference occurs, such as network congestion, the transmission delay of packets in the network may increase. This may lead to increased end-to-end latency of services, thereby affecting service access efficiency and reducing user experience. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides a communication method, apparatus, and system to improve service access efficiency.

[0007] Firstly, a first communication method is provided, which can be executed by a core network element, or by other devices including core network element functions, or by a chip system (or chip) or other functional module capable of implementing the core network element functions, for example, being disposed within the core network element. This core network element is, for example, a third core network element. In the following description, the method being executed by a third core network element is taken as an example. Optionally, the third core network element is, for example, a computing management function (CMF), or other core network element capable of implementing similar functions. Optionally, regarding the steps performed by the third core network element, reference can be made to the steps performed by the CMF in the embodiments shown in any of Figures 2A, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 below. The method includes: determining a first computing resource based on a latency threshold of a first computing task and a first latency, wherein the first computing resource is the computing resource required by the computing node to process the first computing task, the latency threshold is related to the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task, the end-to-end latency requirement is the latency requirement for transmitting and processing the message corresponding to the first computing task between the terminal device and the computing node, and the first latency is the transmission latency for transmitting the message corresponding to the first computing task between the terminal device and the access network element; and sending a first request, wherein the first request is used to trigger the first computing node to use the first computing resource to process the first computing task.

[0008] The latency threshold is related to the end-to-end latency requirement. For example, one implementation method is to determine the latency threshold based on the end-to-end latency requirement. In this embodiment, the first computing power resource can be determined based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the first latency. This is equivalent to determining the computing power resource (first computing power resource) that the computing node should provide for the first computing task based on the end-to-end latency requirement and transmission latency of the first computing task. When the first computing node processes the first computing task according to the first computing power resource, the sum of the processing latency of the first computing node and the transmission latency of the message (i.e., the actual end-to-end latency) can meet the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task, thereby improving the access efficiency of the first computing task and enhancing the user experience.

[0009] In one optional implementation, the latency threshold is the end-to-end latency requirement. For example, the latency threshold may be greater than, less than, or equal to the end-to-end latency requirement. This document does not limit how the latency threshold is determined based on the end-to-end latency requirement.

[0010] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: determining the first computing node based on the first computing power resources. If no computing node has been selected, the third core network element can select a computing node based on the first computing power resources, so that the selected computing node can provide the first computing power resources to ensure the execution of the computing task.

[0011] In one optional implementation, determining the first computing node based on the first computing power resource includes: sending a second request to a first core network element, the second request being used to request the discovery (or provision; or indication) of the computing node, the second request further including information about the first computing power resource; and receiving information about the first computing node from the first core network element, the information of the first computing node including its identifier. For example, if a computing node is registered to a first core network element, a third core network element can request the first core network element to discover the computing node. Alternatively, if a computing node is registered to a third core network element, or if the first core network element sends the computing node's registration information to the third core network element, the third core network element can also determine the computing node itself.

[0012] In one optional implementation, the information of the first computing node also includes information about the maximum computing power resources supported by the first computing node. Once the third core network element knows this information, if the computing power resources used to process the first computing task change later, the third core network element can determine whether the first computing node can provide the changed computing power resources. If the first computing node's capabilities are insufficient to provide the changed computing power resources, the third core network element can also promptly select a new computing node, thus helping to improve the processing efficiency of the computing task.

[0013] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: sending information about the first computing task to the access network element; and receiving first information from the access network element, the first information including information about the first delay. The third core network element can send the information about the first computing task to the access network element, and the access network element can predict the delay, i.e., the first delay, in transmitting the message corresponding to the first computing task between the access network element and the terminal device based on the information about the first computing task, thereby allowing the third core network element to obtain the first delay.

[0014] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: sending first time information to the access network element, wherein the first time information is used to instruct the access network element to determine the time of the first delay. Alternatively, the access network element may determine the first time information itself, or the first time information may be pre-configured in the access network element or predefined by a protocol. If the access network element only begins to predict the first delay when or after the first computing task begins execution, and the third core network element obtains the first delay before requesting the first computing node to provide corresponding computing resources to process the first computing task, the first computing task may have already been executing for some time, or even completed. This strategy of adjusting computing resources is lagging and will affect the execution of the first computing task. Therefore, in this embodiment, the access network element can use the first time information to predict the first delay in advance. For example, the first computing task may only begin execution after the computing resources have been adjusted, thereby reducing the impact on the first computing task.

[0015] In an optional implementation, the first information is further used to indicate the effective duration of the first delay. This effective duration means that utilizing the first delay is feasible within this effective duration; however, if this effective duration is exceeded, the first delay becomes invalid. If a third core network element needs to utilize the air interface delay (e.g., to determine computing resources), it may need to re-obtain the air interface delay. This approach helps improve the accuracy of the first delay.

[0016] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: receiving second information from a second core network element, the second information including information about the first computing task and the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task; or, sending a third request to a database network element, the third request being used to request information about the first computing task and the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task, and receiving the information about the first computing task and the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task from the database network element. The information about the first computing task and the end-to-end latency requirement, etc., may come from the second core network element, or may come from the database network element, or may be obtained through other means, without limitation.

[0017] In one optional implementation, the information of the first computing task includes one or more of the following: the maximum uplink data volume corresponding to the first computing task, the maximum downlink data volume corresponding to the first computing task, or the execution cycle of the first computing task. In addition, the information of the first computing task may also include other information, or it may exclude this information and include other information; there is no limitation in this regard.

[0018] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: receiving second delay information from the access network element, wherein the second delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network element for transmitting a message corresponding to the first computing task, and the second delay is different from the first delay; determining a second computing resource based on the delay threshold and the second delay, wherein the second computing resource is the computing resource required by the computing node to process the first computing task; and sending a fourth request, the fourth request being used to trigger the second computing node to use the second computing resource to process the first computing task. If the air interface delay changes, for example, from the first delay to the second delay, the access network element can inform the third core network element, and the third core network element can re-determine the computing resource accordingly, so that the actual end-to-end delay of the first computing task can continue to meet the end-to-end delay requirements of the first computing task. The second computing node and the first computing node can be the same computing node or different computing nodes.

[0019] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: determining the second computing node based on the second computing resources when it is determined that the first computing node cannot provide the second computing resources. For example, if the first computing node can provide the second computing resources, the second computing node and the first computing node can be the same computing node; or, if the first computing node cannot provide the second computing resources, the second computing node and the first computing node can be different computing nodes, for example, the third core network element reselects a second computing node that can provide the second computing resources.

[0020] In one optional implementation, the first computing node is a UPF, an access network element, or a service server. The second computing node is a UPF, an access network element, or a service server. The first and second computing nodes can be of the same type, for example, both can be UPFs or both can be service servers; alternatively, the first and second computing nodes can be of different types, for example, the first computing node is an access network element, and the second computing node is a UPF or a service server, etc.

[0021] Secondly, a second communication method is provided, which can be executed by a computing node, or by other devices including computing node functions, or by a chip system (or chip) or other functional module capable of implementing the computing node's functions, such as being disposed within the computing node. The computing node is, for example, a first computing node. The first computing node is, for example, a UPF, an access network element, or a service server, or it can also be other network elements in the network. Optionally, regarding the steps performed by the computing node, reference can be made to the steps performed by the first computing node in the embodiments shown in any of Figures 2A, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 below; or, regarding the steps performed by the computing node, reference can be made to the steps performed by the second computing node in the embodiments shown in any of Figures 5 or 7 below. The method includes: receiving a first request, the first request being used to trigger the first computing node to use first computing resources to process a first computing task; and, according to the first request, using the first computing resources to process the first computing task.

[0022] In one optional implementation, a fourth request is received, the fourth request being used to trigger the first computing node to use the second computing resources to process the first computing task; the computing resources scheduled for the first computing task are adjusted to the second computing resources according to the fourth request; and the second computing resources are used to process the first computing task.

[0023] In one optional implementation, the first computing node is a UPF, an access network element, or a service server.

[0024] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: sending a registration request, the registration request including the identifier of the first computing node and information including the maximum computing power resources supported by the first computing node. For example, the first computing node can register with a second core network element or a third core network element, etc., without limitation.

[0025] For the technical effects of the second aspect or various alternative implementation methods, please refer to the introduction of the technical effects of the first aspect or corresponding implementation methods.

[0026] Thirdly, a third communication method is provided, which can be executed by an access network element, or by other devices including access network element functions, or by a chip system (or chip) or other functional module capable of implementing the functions of the access network element, such as being disposed within the access network element. Optionally, the access network element is, for example, a base station, or other network element within the access network. Optionally, regarding the steps performed by the access network element, reference can be made to the steps performed by the access network element in the embodiments shown in any of Figures 2A, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 below. The method includes: receiving information about a first computing task from a core network element; determining a first delay, the first delay being the transmission delay of the message corresponding to the first computing task between the terminal device and the access network element; and sending first information to the core network element, the first information including information about the first delay.

[0027] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: receiving first time information from the core network element; determining a first delay, including: determining the first delay at a time determined according to the first time information.

[0028] In an alternative implementation, the first information is further used to indicate the effective duration of the first delay.

[0029] In one optional implementation, a first request is received from the core network element, the first request being used to trigger the access network element to use the first computing resources to process the first computing task. For example, if the access network element is a computing node, it can receive the first request and provide the first computing resources to process the first computing task.

[0030] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: determining that the transmission delay of the message corresponding to the first computing task between the terminal device and the access network element has been changed to a second delay; and sending information about the second delay to the core network element.

[0031] For information on the technical effects of the third aspect or various alternative implementation methods, please refer to the description of the technical effects of the first aspect or corresponding implementation methods.

[0032] Fourthly, a fourth communication method is provided, which can be executed by a core network element, or by other devices including core network element functions, or by a chip system (or chip) or other functional module capable of implementing the core network element functions, for example, being disposed within the core network element. This core network element is, for example, a second core network element. In the following description, the method being executed by a second core network element is taken as an example. Optionally, the second core network element is, for example, a PCF or NEF, or other core network elements capable of implementing similar functions. Optionally, regarding the steps performed by the second core network element, reference can be made to the steps performed by the PCF in the embodiments shown in any of Figures 2A, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, or the steps performed by the NEF in the embodiments shown in any of Figures 2A, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9. The method includes: receiving information about a first computing task and the correspondence between it and a DNN and / or S-NSSAI, and receiving the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task; determining second information based on the received information, the second information including the correspondence information and the end-to-end latency requirement; and sending the second information to a core network element.

[0033] For the technical effects of the fourth aspect or various alternative implementation methods, please refer to the introduction of the technical effects of the first aspect or corresponding implementation methods.

[0034] Fifthly, a communication device is provided. The communication device can be a third core network element as described in any of the first to fourth aspects above. The communication device possesses the functions of the aforementioned third core network element. The communication device is, for example, a third core network element, or a larger device including a third core network element, or a functional module within a third core network element, such as a baseband device or a chip system. In one optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also called a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also called a transceiver module). The transceiver unit can implement both transmitting and receiving functions. When the transceiver unit implements the transmitting function, it can be called a transmitting unit (sometimes also called a transmitting module), and when the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it can be called a receiving unit (sometimes also called a receiving module). The transmitting unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is called the transceiver unit and can implement both transmitting and receiving functions; or, the transmitting unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the transceiver unit is a collective term for these functional modules.

[0035] In one optional implementation, the processing unit is configured to determine a first computing power resource based on a latency threshold of the first computing task and a first latency, wherein the first computing power resource is the computing power resource required by the computing node to process the first computing task, the latency threshold is related to the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task, the end-to-end latency requirement is the latency requirement for transmitting and processing the message corresponding to the first computing task between the terminal device and the computing node, and the first latency is the transmission latency for transmitting the message corresponding to the first computing task between the terminal device and the access network element; the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is configured to send a first request, the first request being used to trigger the first computing node to use the first computing power resource to process the first computing task.

[0036] In an alternative embodiment, the communication device further includes a storage unit (sometimes also called a storage module), and the processing unit is configured to couple with the storage unit and execute programs or instructions in the storage unit to enable the communication device to perform the functions of the third core network element described in any of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0037] Sixthly, a communication device is provided. The communication device can be a first computing node as described in any of the first to fourth aspects above. The communication device possesses the functions of the first computing node. The communication device is, for example, a first computing node, or a larger device including a first computing node, or a functional module within a first computing node, such as a baseband device or a chip system. In one optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also called a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also called a transceiver module). For details on the implementation of the transceiver unit, please refer to the description in the fifth aspect.

[0038] In one optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive a first request, the first request being used to trigger a first computing node to use first computing resources to process a first computing task; the processing unit is configured to use the first computing resources to process the first computing task according to the first request.

[0039] In an alternative embodiment, the communication device further includes a storage unit (sometimes also called a storage module), and the processing unit is configured to couple with the storage unit and execute programs or instructions in the storage unit to enable the communication device to perform the functions of the first computing node described in any of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0040] A seventh aspect provides a communication device. The communication device can be an access network element as described in any of the first to fourth aspects above. The communication device possesses the functions of the aforementioned access network element. The communication device is, for example, an access network element, or a larger device including an access network element, or a functional module within an access network element, such as a baseband device or a chip system. In one optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also called a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also called a transceiver module). For details on the implementation of the transceiver unit, please refer to the description in the fifth aspect.

[0041] In one optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive information about a first computing task from a core network element; the processing unit is configured to determine a first delay, the first delay being the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network element for transmitting a message corresponding to the first computing task; the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is configured to send first information to the core network element, the first information including information about the first delay.

[0042] In an alternative embodiment, the communication device further includes a storage unit (sometimes also called a storage module), and the processing unit is configured to couple with the storage unit and execute programs or instructions in the storage unit to enable the communication device to perform the functions of the access network element described in any of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0043] Eighthly, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be a second core network element as described in any of the first to fourth aspects above. The communication device possesses the functions of the aforementioned second core network element. The communication device may be, for example, a second core network element, a larger device including a second core network element, or a functional module within a second core network element, such as a baseband device or a chip system. In one optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also called a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also called a transceiver module). For details on the implementation of the transceiver unit, please refer to the description in the fifth aspect.

[0044] In one optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive the correspondence information between the information of the first computing task and the DNN and / or S-NSSAI, and to receive the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task; the processing unit is configured to determine second information based on the received information, the second information including the correspondence information and the end-to-end latency requirement; the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is configured to send the second information to the core network element.

[0045] In an alternative embodiment, the communication device further includes a storage unit (sometimes also called a storage module), and the processing unit is configured to couple with the storage unit and execute programs or instructions in the storage unit to enable the communication device to perform the functions of the second core network element described in any of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0046] Ninthly, a communication device is provided, which can be a third core network element, or a chip or chip system used in a third core network element. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory stores a computer program, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions, it causes the communication device to execute the methods performed by the third core network element in the aforementioned aspects.

[0047] In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a first computing node or a chip or chip system for use in a first computing node. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory stores a computer program, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions, it causes the communication device to execute the methods performed by the first computing node as described in the preceding aspects.

[0048] Eleventhly, a communication device is provided, which can be an access network element, or a chip or chip system used in an access network element. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory stores a computer program, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions, it causes the communication device to execute the methods performed by the access network element in the above aspects.

[0049] In a twelfth aspect, a communication device is provided, which can be a second core network element, or a chip or chip system used in a second core network element. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory stores a computer program, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions, it causes the communication device to execute the methods performed by the second core network element in the aforementioned aspects.

[0050] In a thirteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a third core network element and an access network element. The third core network element is used to execute the method described in any one of the first to fourth aspects, and the access network element is used to execute the method described in any one of the first to fourth aspects. For example, the third core network element can be implemented using the communication device described in the fifth or ninth aspect; the access network element can be implemented using the communication device described in the seventh or eleventh aspect.

[0051] Optionally, the communication system may further include a first computing node. The first computing node is used to execute the methods described in any one of the first to fourth aspects. For example, the first computing node can be implemented using the communication apparatus described in the sixth or tenth aspect.

[0052] Optionally, the communication system may further include a second core network element. This second core network element is used to execute the methods described in any one of the first to fourth aspects. For example, the second core network element can be implemented using the communication apparatus described in the eighth or twelfth aspect.

[0053] In a fourteenth aspect, another communication system is provided, comprising a third core network element and a first computing node. The third core network element is used to execute the method described in any one of the first to fourth aspects, and the first computing node is used to execute the method described in any one of the first to fourth aspects. For example, the third core network element can be implemented using the communication device described in the fifth or ninth aspect; the first computing node can be implemented using the communication device described in the sixth or tenth aspect.

[0054] Optionally, the communication system may further include an access network element. This access network element is used to execute the methods described in any of the first to fourth aspects above. For example, the access network element can be implemented using the communication apparatus described in the seventh or eleventh aspect.

[0055] Optionally, the communication system may further include a second core network element. This second core network element is used to execute the methods described in any one of the first to fourth aspects. For example, the second core network element can be implemented using the communication apparatus described in the eighth or twelfth aspect.

[0056] In a fifteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed, cause the methods performed by the third core network element, access network element, first computing node, or second core network element in the foregoing aspects to be implemented.

[0057] In a sixteenth aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided that, when run on a computer, enables the methods described in the above aspects to be implemented.

[0058] In a seventeenth aspect, a chip system is provided, including a processor and an interface, the processor being configured to call and execute instructions from the interface to enable the chip system to implement the methods of the above aspects. Attached Figure Description

[0059] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of a 5G network based on a service-oriented architecture;

[0060] Figure 1B is a schematic diagram of a 5G network based on a point-to-point interface;

[0061] Figures 2A, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are flowcharts of several communication methods provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0062] Figures 2B and 2C are schematic diagrams of several time delays in the embodiments of this application;

[0063] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an access network element determining air interface delay based on advance prediction time in an embodiment of this application;

[0064] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of an end-to-end latency guarantee in an embodiment of this application;

[0065] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of a device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0066] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of another device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0067] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of this application clearer, the embodiments of this application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0068] In this application embodiment, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, refers to "singular nouns or plural nouns," that is, "one or more." "At least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A or B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B means: A or B. Expressions such as "at least one of the following" or "one or more of them" refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c, or one or more of a, b, or c, means: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c. Each of a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0069] The ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority, or importance of the multiple objects. Furthermore, the numbering of steps in the various embodiments described in this application is only to distinguish different steps and is not used to limit the order of steps. For example, S301 may occur before S301, or may occur after S301, or may occur simultaneously with S301.

[0070] The following explanations of some terms or concepts used in the embodiments of this application are provided to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0071] (1) In this application embodiment, the terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver function, which may be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device (e.g., a mobile phone), a wearable device, an in-vehicle device, or a wireless device (e.g., a communication module, a modem, or a chip system, etc.) built into the above devices. The terminal devices are used to connect people, things, and machines, and can be widely used in various scenarios, including but not limited to the following: sensing scenarios, cellular communication, device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine / machine-type (M2M / MTC) communication, Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, self-driving, remote medical care, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, and terminal devices in indoor commercial scenarios (such as mobile phone screen mirroring, file sharing, and mobile phone to VR glasses). When the terminal equipment is applied to V2X, it can also be called a V2X device, such as a smart car, digital car, unmanned car, driverless car, pilotless car, or automobile, self-driving car, or autonomous car, pure electric vehicle (EV), hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), range-extended electric vehicle (REEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), new energy vehicle, or roadside unit (RSU). The terminal equipment can also be a device used in D2D communication, such as an electricity meter or water meter.

[0072] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the terminal device can also be a terminal device in an IoT system. IoT is an important component of the future development of information technology. Its main technical feature is to connect objects to the network through communication technology, thereby realizing an intelligent network of human-machine interconnection and object-to-object interconnection.

[0073] The various terminal devices described above, if located in a vehicle (e.g., placed inside or installed inside a vehicle), can all be considered in-vehicle terminal devices, also known as on-board units (OBUs). The terminal device of this application can also be an in-vehicle module, in-vehicle component, in-vehicle chip, or in-vehicle unit built into a vehicle as one or more components or units. The vehicle can implement the methods of this application through the built-in in-vehicle module, in-vehicle component, in-vehicle chip, or in-vehicle unit.

[0074] The terminal equipment may sometimes be referred to as UE, terminal, access station, UE station, remote station, wireless communication equipment, or user equipment, etc.

[0075] In this application embodiment, the communication device used to implement the terminal device function can be the terminal device itself, or it can be a device capable of supporting the terminal device in implementing the function, such as a chip system. This device can be installed in the terminal device. In the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment, the terminal device is used as an example to describe the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment. Furthermore, for ease of description, the terminal device in this application embodiment is described using a UE as an example.

[0076] (2) The network devices in this application embodiment include, for example, access network devices and / or core network devices. The access network device is a device with wireless transceiver functionality, used to communicate with the terminal device. The access network device includes, but is not limited to, base stations (base transceiver stations, BTS, Node B, eNodeB / eNB, or gNodeB / gNB), transmission reception points (TRPs), base stations evolved from the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), access nodes in Wi-Fi systems, wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, etc. The base station can be: a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, a small cell, a relay station, etc. Multiple base stations can support networks using the same access technology or networks using different access technologies. A base station can contain one or more co-located or non-co-located transmission and reception points. The access network equipment can also be a radio controller, centralized unit (CU), and / or distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The access network equipment can also be a server, etc. For example, the network equipment in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a roadside unit (RSU). The following description uses a base station as an example to illustrate the access network equipment. A base station can communicate with a terminal device, or it can communicate with a terminal device through a relay station. A terminal device can communicate with multiple base stations in different access technologies. The core network equipment is used to implement functions such as mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and billing. The names of the equipment implementing core network functions may differ in systems using different access technologies; this application does not limit this. Taking the 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system as an example, the core network equipment includes: AMF, session management function (SMF), policy control function (PCF), or user plane function (UPF), etc.

[0077] In the CU-DU architecture, access network equipment can include one or more logical network elements such as a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). CUs and DUs can be separate entities or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). RUs can be included in radio equipment or radio units, such as remote radio units (RRUs), active antenna units (AAUs), or remote radio heads (RRHs).

[0078] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an open radio access network (ORAN) system, CU can also be called open (O)-CU, DU can also be called O-DU, CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP can also be called O-CU-UP, and RU can also be called O-RU. For ease of description, the embodiments of this application use CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples. Any of the units among CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0079] In this application embodiment, the communication device used to implement the network device function can be a network device itself, or it can be a device capable of supporting the network device in implementing that function, such as a chip system. This device can be installed within the network device. In the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment, the example of a network device being used to implement the network device function is used to describe the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment.

[0080] Computing power refers to the ability of a computer or other device to perform certain operations, usually measured in floating-point operations (FLOPS). Higher computing power means a computer or other device can process more data at a faster speed, and thus has a greater ability to complete complex computational tasks. Computing resources can be understood as the resources used to implement computing power. By increasing the computing resources of computing nodes (such as business servers), the processing latency of those nodes can be reduced.

[0081] The central processing unit (CPU) is a crucial component of a computer system, responsible for executing various instructions and controlling the computer's operations. Located on the motherboard, the CPU is one of the most important parts of the computer, handling a large number of computational tasks. Generally, the CPU is well-suited for general-purpose computing tasks. Currently, desktop CPUs typically achieve peak floating-point operations (GFLOPS) of around several hundred, while high-end server CPUs can reach levels of one trillion floating-point operations (TFLOPS).

[0082] A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a processor specifically designed for efficient image and graphics processing. It's a type of processor in a computer system capable of parallel computing, suitable for massively parallel processing tasks. Currently, GPUs are widely used in scientific computing, computer vision, deep learning, and graphics rendering. Compared to CPUs, GPUs have more cores and higher memory bandwidth, enabling them to process large amounts of data in a shorter time. High-end GPUs now boast peak floating-point performance exceeding 10 TFLOPS, even reaching tens of TFLOPS, making them ideal for training deep learning models. For example, in artificial intelligence (AI) inference tasks, GPUs outperform CPUs; for the same AI inference task, the inference time required using a GPU is shorter than that required using a CPU.

[0083] A neural processing unit (NPU) is a chip used for deep learning computations. NPUs have become one of the most popular technologies in the field of artificial intelligence in recent years, and are widely used in various AI applications, such as autonomous driving, facial recognition, and intelligent voice recognition.

[0084] As mentioned above, CPUs, GPUs, NPUs, etc., can all be used as computing resources. In addition, other hardware and / or software resources within the business server can also be used as computing resources without restriction.

[0085] Please refer to Figure 1A, which is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service-oriented architecture. This network architecture is also one of the network architectures applied in the embodiments of this application. The 5G network architecture shown in Figure 1A may include three parts: the UE part, the data network (DN), and the operator network part.

[0086] The operator network may include one or more of the following network elements: network exposure function (NEF) network elements, policy control function (PCF) network elements, unified data repository (UDR) network elements, network repository function (NRF) network elements, application function (AF) network elements, CMF network elements, access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements, SMF network elements, radio access network ((R)AN) or user plane function (UPF) network elements, etc.

[0087] The aforementioned operator network includes a radio access network and a core network. The UE accesses the core network through (R)AN, which includes user plane network elements and control plane network elements. Among them, the user plane network elements of the core network include UPF; the control plane network elements of the core network include at least one of the following: AUSF, AMF, SMF, NSSF, NEF, NRF, UDM, PCF, or AF.

[0088] User plane network elements (such as UPF) are mainly responsible for packet forwarding, quality of service (QoS) control, and billing information statistics. Control plane network elements are mainly responsible for service process interaction, issuing packet forwarding policies and QoS control policies to the user plane. In the embodiments of this application, it is considered that devices such as sensors can access the core network through UE and (R)AN devices, so that the controller connected to the sensors and other devices in the industrial Ethernet can perform industrial data communication in the user plane through the UPF.

[0089] The core network control plane can adopt a service-oriented architecture, meaning that interactions between control plane network elements use service calls to replace the point-to-point communication method in the traditional architecture. In a service-oriented architecture, one control plane network element exposes services to other control plane network elements for them to call; in point-to-point communication, the communication interface between control plane network elements uses a specific set of messages that can only be used by the control plane network elements at both ends of the interface during communication.

[0090] The functions of network elements in the core network are described below:

[0091] UPF supports all or some of the following functions: interconnecting Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions with data networks, packet routing and forwarding (e.g., supporting uplink classifiers for traffic before forwarding to data networks, supporting branching points to support multi-homed PDU sessions), or packet inspection.

[0092] AMF (Access Management Function) manages the UE's access and mobility. It is responsible for maintaining the UE's state, managing UE reachability, forwarding non-access-stratum (NAS) messages (mobility management, MM), and forwarding N2 messages (session management, SM).

[0093] SMF (Session Management for UE) allocates and releases resources for UE sessions. These resources include Session Quality of Service (QoS), session paths, and forwarding rules. SMF is responsible for selecting or reselecting UPFs, allocating Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, and establishing, modifying, and releasing bearers.

[0094] NEF exposes its network functionality to third parties through a northbound application programming interface (API).

[0095] NRF provides other network elements with the functions of storing and selecting network function entity information.

[0096] PCF, or User Policy Management, is used to generate and manage user, session, and QoS stream processing policies.

[0097] Application management (AF) provides application-layer services to the user (UE). When providing services to the UE, AF has requirements regarding QoS (policy) and charging policies, and needs to notify the network. Additionally, AF also requires application-related information from the core network.

[0098] The interfaces between network element functions involved in the embodiments of this application include:

[0099] N1: The interface between the UE and the core network control plane.

[0100] N2: Communication interface between (R)AN and the core network control plane.

[0101] N3: The communication interface between (R)AN and UPF, used to transmit user plane data.

[0102] N4: Communication interface between SMF and UPF, used by SMF to configure policies for UPF, etc.

[0103] N6: Communication port between UPF and DN.

[0104] Please refer to Figure 1B, which is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on point-to-point interfaces. This network architecture is another network architecture applied in the embodiments of this application. For information on the network elements in Figure 1B, please refer to the description of the relevant network elements in Figure 1A. The main difference between Figure 1B and Figure 1A is that the interfaces between the network elements in Figure 1B are point-to-point interfaces, rather than service-oriented interfaces.

[0105] Figure 1B illustrates a scenario where the CMF is an independent network element. Alternatively, in other implementations, the CMF can be integrated with existing network elements, such as the SMF or AMF. Furthermore, the location of the CMF and its communication connections with other network elements in Figures 1A and 1B are merely examples. For instance, besides having a direct communication connection with the (R)AN, the CMF may also have direct or indirect communication connections with other network elements, such as one or more of the UPF, AMF, SMF, or PCF. Alternatively, the CMF may not have a direct communication connection with the (R)AN, but rather rely on other network elements (such as the AMF) for forwarding. This application does not limit the location or communication connections of the CMF within the network.

[0106] The method provided in the embodiments of this application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the various embodiments herein, "computing task" can be understood as a business or service. In the various embodiments herein, "business server" can be used to process computing tasks, such as a server providing computing tasks. For example, the business server is a server located on a mobile edge computing (MEC) platform, or it can be other servers. In the various embodiments herein, the CMF is, for example, a newly added network element within the network (not shown in Figures 1A and 1B), responsible for selecting or reselecting computing nodes, and can also be responsible for determining the computing power resources that the computing nodes should provide; or, the CMF can also be an SMF or AMF with added computing power management functions, or an access network element; or, the CMF can also be a module in an SMF or AMF or an access network element; or, the CMF can also have one or more of the functions of an SMF, AMF, and an access network element.

[0107] The various embodiments described herein can be applied to the network architecture shown in Figure 1A or Figure 1B. For example, the computing nodes (e.g., the first computing node or the second computing node, etc.) described in the various embodiments of this document can be UPFs in Figure 1A or Figure 1B, or they can be service servers not shown in Figure 1A or Figure 1B, or they can be access network elements in Figure 1A or Figure 1B, such as (R)AN; the third core network element described in the various embodiments of this document can be CMFs not shown in Figure 1A or Figure 1B, and will be described using CMFs as an example in the following text, that is, "CMF" can be replaced with "third core network element" in the following text; the second core network element described in the various embodiments of this document can be PCFs or NEFs in Figure 1A or Figure 1B, and will be described using PCFs or NEFs as examples in the following text, that is, will be replaced with "third core network element" in the following text. The "PCF" or "NEF" can be replaced with "second core network element"; the first core network element described in the various embodiments of this document can be the NRF in Figure 1A or Figure 1B, and will be described using NRF as an example below, that is, "NRF" can be replaced with "first core network element" below; the application function network element described in the various embodiments of this document is, for example, the AF in Figure 1A or Figure 1B, and will be described using AF as an example below, that is, "AF" can be replaced with "application function network element" below; the storage network element described in the various embodiments of this document (hereinafter, the database network element is used as an example) is not shown in Figure 1A and Figure 1B. Optionally, the storage network element can be, for example, a newly added network element in the core network, or it can also be implemented through UDR. In the accompanying drawings corresponding to the various embodiments of this application, all steps indicated by dashed lines are optional steps.

[0108] This application provides a first communication method, as shown in Figure 2A, which is a flowchart of the method.

[0109] S201 and CMF determine the first computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the first latency.

[0110] The latency threshold for the first computing task can be determined based on the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task, or the latency threshold can be related to the end-to-end latency requirement. The end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task refers to the end-to-end latency between the UE and the computing node while meeting user experience requirements. For example, this end-to-end latency requirement is the end-to-end latency requirement for the first computing task. During message transmission for the first computing task, when the end-to-end latency of the first computing task meets the end-to-end latency requirement (e.g., the end-to-end latency of the first computing task is less than or equal to the end-to-end latency requirement), the network can provide a good user experience. Optionally, user experience can be represented by the mean opinion score (MOS). For example, MOS = 5 indicates a very good user experience; MOS = 4 indicates a good user experience, meaning the user can perceive some lag in the service, but it has little impact on the service experience; MOS = 3 indicates a moderate user experience, where the user's service experience is affected; MOS = 2 indicates a poor user experience; MOS = 1 indicates a very poor user experience, and so on. For example, if the end-to-end latency requirement for the first computing task is 20 milliseconds (ms), then the sum of the network's transmission latency for the message corresponding to the first computing task and the computing node's processing latency for the first computing task can be less than or equal to 20 ms. This helps to ensure that the user experience is maintained at MOS=4 or MOS=5.

[0111] Optionally, the latency threshold of the first computing task can be less than or equal to the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task. Here, the latency threshold being equal to the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task can also be understood as the latency threshold of the first computing task being the same as the end-to-end latency requirement. For example, if the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task is 20ms, then the latency threshold of the first computing task can be equal to or less than 20ms.

[0112] The computing node can be used to process the first computing task. Here, "computing node" can be a general term, not referring to a specific computing node used to process the first computing task. That is, the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task refers to the end-to-end latency between the UE and the computing node, regardless of which network element the computing node is. This end-to-end latency requirement can also be expressed as an end-to-end latency requirement index, which can be a numerical value or a range of values. Specifically, the end-to-end latency of the first computing task is the sum of the latency for transmitting and processing the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the computing node. This can be understood as including transmission latency and processing latency, where transmission latency includes the latency for transmitting the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the computing node; processing latency includes, for example, the latency for processing the message corresponding to the first computing task between computing nodes. Since the computing node may have multiple implementations, the computing node corresponding to this end-to-end latency will also differ. For example, if the computing node is a UPF, the end-to-end latency can be the latency between the UE and the UPF for transmitting and processing the message corresponding to the first computing task; or, if the computing node is a service server (or, in various embodiments of this document, the service server may also be referred to as an application server), the end-to-end latency can be the latency between the UE and the service server for transmitting and processing the message corresponding to the first computing task; or, if the computing node is an access network element, the end-to-end latency can be the latency between the UE and the access network element for transmitting and processing the message corresponding to the first computing task.

[0113] As previously mentioned, the end-to-end latency of the first computing task includes the transmission latency between the UE and the computing node processing the first computing task. This transmission latency includes the transmission latency between the UE and the access network element, and if the computing node is not an access network element, it also includes the transmission latency between the access network element and the computing node. Refer to Figure 2B, where the transmission latency between the access network element and the computing node is referred to as transmission latency 'a'. For example, subtracting transmission latency 'a' from the latency threshold of the first computing task, and then subtracting the first latency, gives the processing latency of the computing node for the first computing task. If the access network element is the computing node, then the transmission latency can be the same as the first latency. Refer to Figure 2C, where subtracting the first latency from the latency threshold of the first computing task gives the processing latency of the computing node for the first computing task. The first delay is the transmission delay (which may include uplink transmission delay and downlink transmission delay) between the UE and the access network element for transmitting the message corresponding to the first computing task. The first delay can also be called air interface delay or air interface transmission delay, etc.

[0114] The first computing power resource is the computing power resource required by the computing node to process the first computing task. That is, based on the latency threshold and the first latency, it can be determined that the computing node needs to provide the first computing power resource to process the first computing task so that the transmission and processing of the first computing task can meet the latency threshold. Therefore, the CMF determines the first computing power resource based on the latency threshold and the first latency of the first computing task. For example, one method of determination includes: the CMF can determine the processing latency of the computing node for the first computing task based on the latency threshold and the first latency (for example, if the access network element is a computing node, the processing latency can be obtained by subtracting the first latency from the latency threshold; or, if the access network element is not a computing node, the processing latency can be obtained by subtracting the first latency from the latency threshold and the latency between the access network element and the computing node). The first computing power resource can be determined based on the processing latency. The first computing power resource may include one or more of the computing node's CPU resources, GPU resources, or NPU resources, or may include other types of resources, without specific limitations.

[0115] This application's embodiments assume that the transmission delay between the access network element and the computing node can be a fixed value. For example, the transmission delay between the access network element and the computing node (such as a UPF or service server) can be guaranteed to remain essentially constant through a deterministic transmission mechanism, and can be considered a known quantity. The sum of the first delay and this known quantity is the transmission delay between the UE and the computing node processing the first computing task, for example, transmission delay b. The delay threshold of the first computing task minus the transmission delay b is the processing delay of the computing node for the first computing task. Based on this processing delay, it is possible to determine how much computing power resources the computing node needs to provide, or in other words, the computing node provides the first computing power resources to process the first computing task, ensuring that the end-to-end delay of the first computing task meets the delay threshold, for example, making the end-to-end delay of the first computing task less than or equal to the delay threshold. The latency threshold is determined based on the theoretical end-to-end latency of the first computing task. This is equivalent to ensuring that the actual end-to-end latency of the first computing task meets the theoretical end-to-end latency. This means that the transmission and processing of the first computing task can meet the latency requirements of the first computing task, thereby maximizing the transmission and processing efficiency of the first computing task and improving the user experience.

[0116] S202, CMF sends the first request.

[0117] A first request can trigger a first computing node to use first computing resources to process a first computing task. For example, the first request may include information about the first computing resources. The process of a computing node using computing resources to process a computing task can also be considered a computing process. The first request can ultimately reach the first computing node, or the content included in the first request (e.g., information about the first computing resources) can reach the first computing node. The CMF can send the first request to the first computing node without the need for other network elements to relay it; alternatively, the CMF can send the first request to other network elements, which then send the information about the first computing resources to the first computing node. These other network elements may either pass through the first request or parse the first request and then send the information about the first computing resources to the first computing node. After receiving the first request or the content included in the first request (e.g., information about the first computing resources), the first computing node can provide the first computing resources to process the first computing task.

[0118] The first computing node is, for example, a computing node used to process the first computing task. The term "first computing node" is not generic, but refers to a specific computing node used to process the first computing task. For example, the first computing node is a computing node selected by the CMF (Computational Network Provider), and the first computing node is, for example, a computing node capable of providing the first computing power resource. For instance, after determining the first computing power resource, the CMF can select a computing node capable of providing the first computing power resource, such as selecting the first computing node. The CMF can directly send the first request to the first computing node, or it can send the first request to the first computing node through other network elements. Figure 2A illustrates this by showing the first request reaching the first computing node. The first computing node can directly receive the first request from the CMF, or it can receive the first request from the CMF through other network elements.

[0119] This application embodiment can determine the first computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the first latency. This is equivalent to determining the computing power resource (first computing power resource) that the computing node should provide for the first computing task based on the end-to-end latency and transmission latency of the first computing task. When the first computing node processes the first computing task according to the first computing power resource, the sum of the processing latency of the first computing node and the transmission latency of the message (i.e., the actual end-to-end latency) can meet the end-to-end latency requirements of the first computing task, thereby improving the access efficiency of the first computing task and also improving the user experience.

[0120] As mentioned earlier, the computing nodes in this paper can be implemented in various ways, and the specific execution process may vary depending on the computing node. Therefore, the following sections will introduce the solution provided by the embodiment shown in Figure 2A through multiple method implementations. It can be understood that each method implementation described below is a different implementation of the embodiment shown in Figure 2A.

[0121] This application provides a second communication method, as shown in Figure 3, which is a flowchart of the method. In this method, the computing node is a UPF as an example.

[0122] S301, AF transmits information A. Correspondingly, PCF receives information A.

[0123] Information A may include, for example, first correspondence information, which is, for example, the correspondence between data network name (DNN) and / or single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) and the information of the first computation task; or, information A may include the first correspondence information and the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computation task. Here, "correspondence" may also be referred to as mapping relationship or association relationship, etc. Optionally, information A may include at least one set of correspondence information and at least one end-to-end latency requirement of a computation task, wherein one set of correspondence information represents the correspondence between DNN and / or S-NSSAI and the information of a computation task, and the at least one computation task is, for example, the computation task involved in the at least one set of correspondence information. The at least one computation task may be all or part of the computation tasks supported by AF. The at least one computation task includes the first computation task, wherein different computation tasks correspond to the same or different DNNs; different computation tasks correspond to the same or different S-NSSAIs. For details regarding the end-to-end latency requirement, please refer to the description of the embodiment shown in Figure 2A.

[0124] There are several ways to implement information A that includes the content described above.

[0125] Scenario 1: Information A includes the correspondence between the DNN and / or S-NSSAI and the information of the first computation task. The information of the first computation task may indicate the end-to-end latency requirements of the first computation task.

[0126] Scenario 2: Information A includes the correspondence between the DNN and / or S-NSSAI and the information of the first computation task, as well as the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computation task. In this case, the information of the first computation task does not include the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computation task.

[0127] This article mainly uses case 2 as an example in its introduction.

[0128] Information about a computational task can be implemented in the form of a business model. A business model for a computational task may include one or more of the following: the maximum uplink data volume corresponding to the computational task, the maximum downlink data volume corresponding to the computational task, or the execution cycle of the computational task. For example, the information about a first computational task can be implemented in the form of a business model, which may include one or more of the following: the maximum uplink data volume corresponding to the first computational task, the maximum downlink data volume corresponding to the first computational task, or the execution cycle of the first computational task.

[0129] Alternatively, the information about the computation task may not be implemented in the form of a business model. For example, it can be implemented as a list, which includes one or more of the following: the maximum uplink data volume corresponding to the computation task, the maximum downlink data volume corresponding to the computation task, or the execution cycle of the computation task. Alternatively, the information about the computation task can be implemented in other ways, without restriction.

[0130] For example, AF sends information A to NEF, and NEF then sends information A to PCF. Alternatively, NEF can pass information A through to PCF.

[0131] S302, PCF determines the second information based on information A. The second information may also be called policy information, or it may have other names.

[0132] The second information may include (or indicate) at least one set of correspondence information mentioned above, which is used for one or more protocol data unit (PDU) sessions. For example, the computational task corresponding to the at least one set of correspondences is transmitted through the one or more PDU sessions. Additionally, the second information may also include the end-to-end latency requirements of the computational task corresponding to the at least one set of correspondences. For example, the second information may include a set of correspondence information between DNN and / or S-NSSAI and the information of the first computational task, and the second information may also include (or indicate) the end-to-end latency requirements of the first computational task.

[0133] Optionally, the PCF can determine a policy and charging control (PCC) rule based on information A. This PCC rule may include (or indicate) correspondence information between the DNN and / or S-NSSAI and the information of the first computational task, and may include (or indicate) the end-to-end latency requirements of the first computational task. The PCC rule may include second information.

[0134] For example, the number of PCC rules can be one or more, where each PCC rule can correspond to a PDU session. The second information (e.g., including at least one set of correspondence information mentioned above) can be included in these PCC rules, and one of the PCC rules can include all or part of the correspondence information in the second information. For example, one of the PCC rules can include (or indicate) K sets of correspondence information from the aforementioned at least one set of correspondence information. These K sets of correspondence information are used for the PDU session corresponding to the PCC rule. For example, the computation task corresponding to these K sets of correspondences is transmitted through this PDU session, where K is a positive integer. Additionally, the PCC rule can also include the end-to-end latency requirements of the computation task corresponding to these K sets of correspondences. For example, the first PCC rule in these one or more PCC rules includes (or indicates) the correspondence information between the DNN and / or S-NSSAI and the information of the first computation task, and includes (or indicates) the end-to-end latency requirements of the first computation task.

[0135] S303, PCF sends a second message to CMF. Correspondingly, CMF receives the second message from PCF.

[0136] Optionally, the CMF can send a request to the PCF to request information about the computation task, the PCC rule, or the mapping information between the DNN and / or S-NSSAI and the computation task. Based on this request, the PCF can send second information to the CMF. This method allows the PCF to send second information to the CMF only when needed, reducing the transmission of redundant information. Alternatively, the CMF can subscribe to the PCF for information about the computation task, the PCC rule, or the mapping information between the DNN and / or S-NSSAI and the computation task. Based on the CMF's subscription, the PCF can send the second information to the CMF after obtaining it. In the subscription method, the CMF only needs to send a subscription message, without having to send multiple requests (e.g., without subscribing, the CMF might send separate requests for different computation tasks), saving signaling overhead. Alternatively, the PCF can also proactively send the second information to the CMF; for example, the PCF can send the second information to the CMF after obtaining it, without the CMF needing to send a request or perform a subscription, thus saving signaling overhead.

[0137] Alternatively, a storage network element can be configured, such as a database network element. All embodiments in this document use a database network element as an example. This database network element can store at least one set of correspondence information and at least one end-to-end latency requirement for a computing task. For example, the AF can store this at least one set of correspondence information and at least one end-to-end latency requirement for a computing task in the database network element. For a description of this at least one set of correspondence information and at least one computing task, please refer to the preceding text. If a database network element is configured, the CMF can send a third request to the database network element to request information about the corresponding computing task and its end-to-end latency requirement. The database network element can then send the corresponding computing task information and its end-to-end latency requirement to the CMF according to the third request. In this case, steps S301 to S303 do not need to be executed; therefore, steps S301 to S303 are optional.

[0138] S304. The UE sends request A to the CMF. Correspondingly, the CMF receives request A from the UE.

[0139] Request A can be, for example, a session establishment request message, which can be used to request the establishment of a PDU session, equivalent to the UE initiating a session establishment procedure; alternatively, Request A can be other messages, without specific restrictions. Request A may include, for example, the DNN and / or S-NSSAI corresponding to the PDU session. Optionally, if Request A is a session establishment request message, Request A may also include the identifier of the PDU session to be established (PDU session ID).

[0140] Optionally, the UE can send the request A to the AMF through the access network element; after receiving the request A, the AMF can select an SMF based on the DNN and / or S-NSSAI included in the request A, and send the request A to the selected SMF; after receiving the request A, the SMF can select a CMF based on the DNN and / or S-NSSAI included in the request A, and send the request A to the CMF.

[0141] Alternatively, the UE can send Request A to the AMF through the access network element; after receiving Request A, the AMF can select the CMF based on the DNN and / or S-NSSAI included in Request A, and then send Request A to the CMF.

[0142] Alternatively, the UE can send Request A directly to the CMF through the access network element.

[0143] This application embodiment does not restrict the way the UE sends request A to the CMF.

[0144] S305 and CMF send the information for the first computing task to the access network element.

[0145] After receiving request A, the CMF, based on the DNN and / or S-NSSAI included in request A, can determine the correspondence information (such as the correspondence between the DNN and / or S-NSSAI and the computation task) from the second information. For example, the CMF can determine M sets of correspondence information, where M is a positive integer. Each set of correspondence information represents the correspondence between the DNN and / or S-NSSAI and the computation task, except that the computation tasks in different sets of correspondence information are different. The first computation task is, for example, any one of the M computation tasks corresponding to the M sets of correspondence information. The CMF can adopt a similar processing method for all M computation tasks. This embodiment of the application will use the first computation task as an example for description.

[0146] The CMF sends information about the first computation task to the access network element. This information is used by the access network element to predict (or determine) the air interface transmission delay of the first computation task, i.e., to predict the first delay. For example, the access network element can predict the first delay based on factors such as the channel quality between the UE and the access network element, and the information about the first computation task. Optionally, the CMF can also send first time information to the access network element. This first time information can also be called prediction time information, or it can have other names; this document does not limit the names. This first time information can instruct the access network element to determine the time of the first delay, or it can instruct the access network element to begin determining the first delay. For example, referring to Figure 4, which is a schematic diagram of the access network element predicting the air interface delay, the horizontal axis represents time. In Figure 4, the UE starts executing computation task 1 at time t1 (computation task 1 is shown as the diagonal rectangle in Figure 4; this example assumes computation task 1 is a periodic service). If the access network element starts predicting the air interface delay at or after time t1 and sends the predicted air interface delay to the CMF, and the CMF then determines the computing resources accordingly and instructs the computing node to provide those resources, then by the time the computing node adjusts the computing resources to suit computation task 1, computation task 1 may have already been executing for some time, or even completed. Therefore, because the access network element's prediction time is too late, the adjustment of computing resources for computation task 1 is not timely, which may lead to insufficient computing resources for computation task 1. Therefore, in this embodiment, the access network element can predict the air interface latency of computing task 1 before it begins. For example, the access network element can start predicting the air interface latency of computing task 1 at time t2 as shown in Figure 4, where time t2 is earlier than time t1, and time t2 (or the time difference between time t2 and time t1) can be determined based on this first time information. The access network element sends the predicted air interface latency to the CMF, which determines the computing resources accordingly and instructs the computing node to provide those resources. When the computing node adjusts the computing resources to be suitable for computing task 1 and the current network conditions, computing task 1 may not have started execution yet (Figure 4 uses this as an example) or may have just started execution. Therefore, when executing computing task 1, the computing node provides computing resources suitable for computing task 1 and the current network conditions, ensuring that the end-to-end latency of computing task 1 meets the requirements and improving the processing efficiency of computing task 1.

[0147] Optionally, the CMF can also send indication information to the access network element, which instructs the access network element to provide the transmission delay for transmitting the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the access network element. Alternatively, the CMF may not need to send this indication information to the access network element; the access network element can determine whether to provide the CMF with the transmission delay for transmitting the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the access network element upon receiving the information of the first computing task.

[0148] The CMF can send the aforementioned information (e.g., information about the first computing task; or information about the first computing task, along with first time information and / or indication information) to the access network element in different ways. For example, the CMF can send the aforementioned information to the SMF, the SMF can send the aforementioned information to the AMF, and the AMF can then send the aforementioned information to the access network element. Alternatively, the CMF can send the aforementioned information to the AMF, and the AMF can then send the aforementioned information to the access network element. Or, the CMF can send the aforementioned information directly to the access network element without going through other network elements.

[0149] S306. The access network element sends the first information to the CMF. Correspondingly, the CMF receives the first information from the access network element.

[0150] The first information may include (or indicate) a first delay. After receiving the information described in S305 (e.g., information about the first computing task; or information about the first computing task, along with first time information and / or indication information), the access network element can predict the delay required for the first computing task to be transmitted over the air interface, that is, predict the transmission delay of the first computing task between the UE and the access network element. For example, the access network element can predict the delay required for the first computing task to be transmitted over the air interface based on factors such as the channel quality between the UE and the access network element and the information about the first computing task. Wherein, if the access network element receives the first time information, the access network element can begin predicting the transmission delay of the first computing task between the UE and the access network element at the time indicated by the first time information.

[0151] Optionally, the access network element can also determine the effective duration of the first delay (or effective usage duration, usage period, etc., the name is not limited). This effective duration indicates the validity period of the first delay; for example, the CMF can start timing from receiving the first delay and end timing at the first duration. Within this first duration, the CMF can determine computing resources based on the first delay. If the first duration is exceeded, the CMF can no longer use the first delay to determine computing resources. At this time, if computing resources need to be determined, for example, the CMF can re-request the access network element to provide the delay required for the first computing task to be transmitted over the air interface. By using this effective duration, channel changes can be taken into account, making the computing resources determined by the CMF more accurate.

[0152] Optionally, the first information may include (or indicate) the effective duration of the first delay. For example, if the access network element does not determine the effective duration, the first information includes the first delay but does not include the effective duration; or, if the access network element determines the effective duration, the first information may include both the first delay and the effective duration.

[0153] There are different ways for the access network element to send the first information to the CMF. For example, the access network element can send the first information to the AMF, the AMF can send the first information to the SMF, and the SMF can then send the first information to the CMF. Alternatively, the access network element can send the first information to the AMF, and the AMF can then send the first information to the CMF. Or, the access network element can send the first information directly to the CMF without going through other network elements.

[0154] S307 and CMF determine the first computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the first latency.

[0155] For example, the CMF can determine the latency threshold of the first computing task based on the second information; or, if the CMF has not received the second information, but the database network element stores the correspondence between the computing task information and the DNN and / or S-NSSAI, as well as the end-to-end latency requirements of the computing tasks, then the CMF can request the end-to-end latency requirements of the first computing task from the database network element. For example, the CMF can send request B to the database network element, which may include the DNN and / or S-NSSAI, for example, from request A, or it may be determined by the CMF in other ways. After receiving request B, the database network element can determine the corresponding computing task based on the DNN and / or S-NSSAI. For example, if the determined computing task includes the first computing task, the database network element can send the end-to-end latency requirements of the determined computing task to the CMF, thereby obtaining the end-to-end latency requirements of these computing tasks. Optionally, the CMF requests the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task from the database network element. This can occur in S307, before S307, or after S304, without restriction. Optionally, the database network element can send the determined end-to-end latency requirement of the computing task to the CMF, along with the correspondence information between the DNN and / or S-NSSAI and the computing task information; or, the database network element can send the determined end-to-end latency requirement of the computing task to the CMF, along with the computing task information corresponding to the DNN and / or S-NSSAI. The CMF can determine the latency threshold of the first computing task based on the end-to-end latency requirement. Furthermore, if the CMF obtains the first latency from the access network element, the CMF can determine the first computing power resource based on the latency threshold and the first latency. Optionally, the latency between the access network element and the UPF (e.g., referred to as the third latency) can be known to the CMF. In this case, the CMF can determine the first computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task, the third latency, and the first latency. For example, the processing latency corresponding to the first computing power resource = latency threshold of the first computing task - third latency - first latency.

[0156] Alternatively, the CMF may not need to obtain the first delay from the access network element. For example, the CMF can determine the first delay itself, or it can determine the first delay through other means. For instance, the access network element may have already sent the first delay to the CMF in advance, or the CMF may have information such as the channel quality between the access network element and the UE. Combining this with the information from the first calculation task, the CMF can determine the first delay itself. Therefore, steps S305 and S306 are optional.

[0157] The CMF may not need to determine the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task based on the second information or through database network elements. For example, the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task can be predefined by the protocol or pre-configured in the CMF, or the CMF can obtain the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task through other means. Therefore, from this perspective, steps S301 to S303 are optional.

[0158] Additionally, for the CMF to execute S307, one triggering condition is receiving a request from the UE (e.g., request A). Alternatively, there could be other triggering conditions, such as the CMF periodically determining the first computing resources corresponding to the first computing task without needing to receive a request from the UE. Therefore, S304 is an optional step.

[0159] S307 and S201 shown in FIG2A can be the same step. For more implementation details of S307, please refer to S201 of the embodiment shown in FIG2A.

[0160] S308 and CMF send a second request to NRF. Correspondingly, NRF receives the second request.

[0161] The second request can be used to request the discovery of a UPF. Additionally, the second request may also include information about the first computing resource. After receiving the second request, the NRF can determine the UPF based on the information about the first computing resource. For example, if the second request includes other information besides the first computing resource information, such as the UE's location information, the NRF can determine the UPF based on factors such as the UE's location information and the first computing resource information. For instance, if the NRF determines a first UPF, the first UPF may support the first computing resource, or the first UPF may be able to provide the first computing resource.

[0162] S309 and NRF send the information of the first UPF to the CMF. Correspondingly, the CMF receives the information of the first UPF.

[0163] The information of the first UPF includes, for example, the identifier of the first UPF. The identifier of the first UPF includes, for example, the ID of the first UPF, and / or the address information of the first UPF, such as the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first UPF.

[0164] Optionally, the information of the first UPF may also include information about the maximum computing power resources supported by the first UPF.

[0165] S308 and S309 illustrate the example of a CMF requesting an NRF to discover a UPF. For instance, if the UPF is registered with the NRF and the NRF stores its registration information, the CMF can select the UPF. Alternatively, if the UPF is registered with the CMF, or the NRF sends the UPF's registration information to the CMF, or the CMF obtains the UPF's information through other means, the CMF can also select the UPF itself, in which case S308 and S309 do not need to be executed. Or, the UPF may already be selected, and further selection is unnecessary, in which case S308 and S309 also do not need to be executed. Therefore, S308 and S309 are optional steps.

[0166] S310, CMF sends the first request to SMF. Correspondingly, SMF receives the first request from CMF.

[0167] For example, if the CMF receives request A from the UE, and request A is a session establishment request message, then the first request is, for example, a session establishment request. Alternatively, if request A is another message, or if the CMF does not receive request A from the UE, then the first request can have other implementations. The first request may include, for example, information about the first computing resource and information about the first UPF. Optionally, if the first request is a session establishment request, then the first request may also include the ID of the PDU session to be established.

[0168] After receiving the first request, the SMF can identify the first UPF based on its information. The SMF can then send request C to the first UPF. Request C may be the first request itself; for example, the SMF may not process the first request but simply pass it through to the UPF. Alternatively, request C may not be the first request, but the content included in request C can be determined based on the first request. For instance, the SMF can process the first request and send its content (such as information about the first computing resources) to the UPF. Refer to S310 in Figure 3 for further details. Request C may include information about the first computing resources (S310 in Figure 3 uses this as an example). Upon receiving the information about the first computing resources, the first UPF can instantiate and perform other processing on the first computing resources, thereby providing the first computing resources for the first computing task. Optionally, the first UPF can also send a response A to the SMF. The SMF receives this response A. This response A may include, for example, the N3 CN tunnel information allocated by the first UPF.

[0169] Alternatively, if request C is a session establishment request message, the first UPF can also allocate N3 core net (CN) tunnel information, which can be used to transmit user plane data packets between the access network element and the first UPF via the N3 interface.

[0170] S310 and S202 of the embodiment shown in FIG2A can be the same step.

[0171] Through the above steps, the first UPF can process the first computing task according to the first computing power resources. The sum of the processing delay of the first UPF and the transmission delay of the message (i.e., the actual end-to-end delay) can meet the end-to-end delay requirements of the first computing task, thereby improving the access efficiency of the first computing task and improving the user experience.

[0172] Optionally, embodiments of this application may further include steps S311 to S315 as follows. In the following description of the steps, we mainly take the example where both the first request and request C are session establishment request messages.

[0173] S311. The CMF sends an N2 message to the access network element. Correspondingly, the access network element receives the N2 message from the CMF. For example, this N2 message can be referred to as N2 message A.

[0174] The N2 message A may include N3 CN tunnel information allocated by the first UPF, and may also include a response B, such as a session establishment accept message to be sent to the UE.

[0175] S312. The access network element sends a session establishment acceptance message to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives the session establishment acceptance message.

[0176] S313. The access network element sends an N2 message to the CMF. Correspondingly, the CMF receives the N2 message. For example, this N2 message is referred to as N2 message B. N2 message B may include, for example, N3 CN tunnel information allocated by the access network element, which can be used to transmit user plane data packets via the N3 interface between the access network element and the first UPF.

[0177] S314, CMF sends a session establishment request message to the first UPF. Correspondingly, the first UPF receives the session establishment request message.

[0178] For example, the CMF sends the session establishment request message to the SMF, and the SMF then sends the session establishment request message to the first UPF. The session establishment request message may include N3 CN tunnel information allocated by the access network element.

[0179] At this point, the UE's PDU session establishment process ends, and the PDU session is established.

[0180] S315, the UE sends a message corresponding to the first computing task. Correspondingly, the first UPF receives this message. This message is, for example, a data packet.

[0181] The UE can send a message corresponding to the first computing task through this PDU session. After receiving the message, the first UPF can use the first computing resources to process the message. Optionally, the first UPF can also send the processing result of the message to the UE.

[0182] Because the air interface channel quality may change at any time, the air interface latency may also change. In this embodiment, if the air interface latency changes, the CMF can re-determine the computing resources. For example, the access network element can determine the transmission latency of the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the access network element in real time, or it can periodically determine the transmission latency of the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the access network element. If the access network element determines that the transmission latency has changed, for example, from the first latency to the second latency (the second latency is different from the first latency), the access network element can send the second latency to the CMF; or, if the access network element determines that the transmission latency has changed, for example, from the first latency to the second latency, and the difference between the second latency and the first latency is greater than a first threshold, or the second latency is greater than the second threshold, the access network element can send the second latency to the CMF. The first threshold and / or the second threshold can be predefined by the protocol, pre-configured in the access network element, or set by the access network element itself. After receiving the second delay, the CMF can determine the computing power resources based on the delay threshold of the first computing task and the second delay. For example, it can determine the second computing power resources (optionally, the CMF can determine the second computing power resources based on the delay threshold of the first computing task, the second delay, and the third delay). Then, the CMF can send the information of the second computing power resources to trigger the first UPF to use the second computing power resources to process the first computing task. This is equivalent to repeating the steps S306, S307, and S310 described above. Alternatively, for example, if the CMF knows the information of the maximum computing power resources supported by the first UPF, then if the second computing power resources are computing power resources that the first UPF can provide, the CMF can repeat S310 to trigger the first UPF to use the second computing power resources to process the first computing task by sending the information of the second computing power resources; or, if the first UPF cannot provide the second computing power resources, for example, if the second computing power resources are greater than the maximum computing power resources supported by the first UPF, the CMF can trigger a UPF reselection, which will be described in the next embodiment.

[0183] In this embodiment, the CMF can determine the first computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the first latency. This is equivalent to determining the computing power resource (first computing power resource) that the computing node should provide for the first computing task based on the end-to-end latency and transmission latency of the first computing task. When the first UPF processes the first computing task according to the first computing power resource, the sum of the processing latency of the first UPF and the transmission latency of the message (i.e., the actual end-to-end latency) can meet the end-to-end latency requirements of the first computing task, thereby improving the access efficiency of the first computing task and enhancing the user experience.

[0184] As previously mentioned, if the first UPF cannot provide the second computing power resources, the CMF can trigger a reselection of the UPF. Therefore, this application provides a third communication method to illustrate this process. Please refer to Figure 5, which is a flowchart of this method. In this method, the computing node is taken as an example, where the computing node is a UPF.

[0185] Optionally, after executing the embodiment shown in FIG3, the embodiment shown in FIG5 may be executed. The embodiment shown in FIG5 is an optional embodiment in general, so each step therein can be regarded as an optional step, and is represented by solid lines in FIG5.

[0186] S501, CMF sends request D to NRF. Correspondingly, NRF receives request D.

[0187] Request D can be used to request the discovery of a UPF. Additionally, Request D may include information about a second computing resource. After receiving Request D, the NRF can determine the UPF based on the information about the second computing resource. For example, if Request D includes other information besides the second computing resource information, such as the UE's location information, the NRF can determine the UPF based on factors such as the UE's location information and the second computing resource information. For instance, if the NRF determines a second UPF, the second UPF may support the second computing resource, or the second UPF may be able to provide the second computing resource.

[0188] For example, if the CMF determines that the computing node needs to provide second computing resources to process the first computing task, but determines that the first UPF cannot provide the second computing resources, then S501 can be executed. Optionally, the CMF can determine the second computing resources based on the new latency from the access network element. For example, the access network element can determine the transmission latency of the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the access network element in real time, or it can periodically determine the transmission latency of the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the access network element. If the access network element determines that the transmission latency has changed, for example, from the first latency to the second latency, then the access network element can send the second latency to the CMF. After receiving the second latency, the CMF can determine the computing resources based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the second latency, for example, determining the second computing resources (optionally, the CMF can determine the second computing resources based on the latency threshold of the first computing task, the second latency, and the third latency; for the third latency, refer to the embodiment shown in Figure 3). Alternatively, the CMF can also determine the second computing resources in other ways, without limitation.

[0189] Optionally, if the CMF has already obtained information about the maximum computing power resources supported by the first UPF, for example, if the CMF obtains this information through S309 in the embodiment shown in Figure 3, then the CMF can determine whether the first UPF can provide the second computing power resources. For example, if the first UPF cannot provide the second computing power resources, or if the second computing power resources are greater than the maximum computing power resources supported by the first UPF, then the CMF can trigger a UPF reselection, for example, by executing S501.

[0190] S502 and NRF send information about the second UPF to the CMF. Correspondingly, the CMF receives information about the second UPF.

[0191] Information about the second UPF includes, for example, its identifier. The identifier may include, for example, the second UPF's ID, and / or its address information, such as its IP address.

[0192] Optionally, the information of the second UPF may also include information about the maximum computing power resources supported by the second UPF.

[0193] S501 and S502 illustrate the case where the CMF requests the NRF to discover the UPF. For example, if the UPF is registered with the NRF, and the NRF stores the UPF's registration information, the CMF can select the UPF. Alternatively, if the UPF is registered with the CMF, or the NRF has sent the UPF's registration information to the CMF, or the CMF has obtained the UPF's information through other means (e.g., the CMF previously requested the NRF to discover the UPF, thus learning some of the UPF's registration information or information about the maximum computing power resources supported by the UPF), then the CMF can select the UPF itself, and S501 and S502 do not need to be executed. Alternatively, the UPF may already be selected, and further selection is unnecessary; in this case, S501 and S502 also do not need to be executed.

[0194] S503, CMF sends a fourth request to SMF. Correspondingly, SMF receives the fourth request from CMF.

[0195] The fourth request may be, for example, a session modification request message, which can be used to request the migration of the PDU session to the second UPF; alternatively, the fourth request may be other messages. The fourth request may include information about the second computing resource and the second UPF. Optionally, the fourth request may also include the PDU session ID.

[0196] After receiving the fourth request, the SMF can determine the second UPF based on the information of the second UPF, and the SMF can send request E to the second UPF. Request E may be, for example, the fourth request, or it may be a request determined based on the fourth request. Request E may include information about the second computing resource. After receiving the information about the second computing resource, the second UPF can instantiate and perform other processing on the second computing resource, thereby providing the second computing resource for the first computing task. Optionally, the second UPF may also send a response C to the SMF. Accordingly, the SMF receives the response C. The response C may include, for example, the N3 CN tunnel information allocated by the second UPF.

[0197] Alternatively, if the fourth request is a session modification request message, the second UPF may also allocate N3 CN tunnel information, which can be used to transmit user plane data packets through the N3 interface between the access network element and the second UPF.

[0198] Through the above steps, the second UPF can process the first computing task according to the second computing power resources. The sum of the processing delay of the second UPF and the transmission delay of the message (i.e., the actual end-to-end delay) can meet the end-to-end delay requirements of the first computing task, thereby improving the access efficiency of the first computing task and improving the user experience.

[0199] S504, the CMF sends an N2 message to the access network element. Correspondingly, the access network element receives the N2 message from the CMF. For example, this N2 message can be referred to as N2 message C.

[0200] The N2 message C may include N3 CN tunnel information allocated by the second UPF, and may also include a response D, such as a session modification request message to be sent to the UE.

[0201] S505. The access network element sends a session modification request message to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives the session modification request message.

[0202] S506. The access network element sends an N2 message to the CMF. Correspondingly, the CMF receives the N2 message. For example, this N2 message is referred to as N2 message D. This N2 message D, for example, includes N3 CN tunnel information allocated by the access network element. This N3 CN tunnel information can be used to transmit user plane data packets via the N3 interface between the access network element and the second UPF.

[0203] S507, CMF sends a session establishment request message to the second UPF. Correspondingly, the second UPF receives the session establishment request message.

[0204] For example, the CMF sends the session establishment request message to the SMF, and the SMF then sends the session establishment request message to the first UPF. The session establishment request message may include N3 CN tunnel information allocated by the access network element.

[0205] This concludes the UE's PDU session modification process.

[0206] S508, the UE sends a message corresponding to the first computing task. Correspondingly, the second UPF receives this message. This message is, for example, a data packet.

[0207] The UE can send the message corresponding to the first computing task through the modified PDU session. After receiving the message, the second UPF can use the second computing resources to process the message. Optionally, the second UPF can also send the processing result of the message to the UE.

[0208] In this embodiment, if the air interface latency between the UE and the access network element changes, the CMF can determine the second computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the changed air interface latency (second latency). This is equivalent to still determining the computing power resource (second computing power resource) that the computing node should provide for the first computing task based on the end-to-end latency and transmission latency of the first computing task. Furthermore, if the original computing node (first UPF) cannot provide the newly determined computing power resource, a new computing node (second UPF) can be selected. The second UPF can process the first computing task according to the second computing power resource. Therefore, the sum of the processing latency of the second UPF and the transmission latency of the message (i.e., the actual end-to-end latency) can meet the end-to-end latency requirements of the first computing task, thereby improving the access efficiency of the first computing task and enhancing the user experience.

[0209] In the embodiments shown in Figure 3 or Figure 5, the computing node is an UPF as an example. However, the computing node can also be a service server. This application provides a fourth communication method; please refer to Figure 6, which is a flowchart of this method. In this method, the computing node is an example of a service server.

[0210] S601, AF transmits information A. Correspondingly, PCF receives information A.

[0211] For more information on S601, please refer to S301 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0212] S602, PCF determines the second information based on information A.

[0213] For more information on S602, please refer to S302 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0214] S603, PCF sends a second message to CMF. Correspondingly, CMF receives the second message from PCF.

[0215] For more information on S603, please refer to S303 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0216] S604, the UE sends request A to the CMF. Correspondingly, the CMF receives request A from the UE.

[0217] For more information on S604, please refer to S304 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0218] S605 and CMF send the information for the first computing task to the access network element.

[0219] For more information on S605, please refer to S305 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0220] S606. The access network element sends the first information to the CMF. Correspondingly, the CMF receives the first information from the access network element.

[0221] For more information on S606, please refer to S306 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0222] S607 and CMF determine the first computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the first latency.

[0223] Optionally, the latency between the access network element and the service server (e.g., referred to as the fourth latency) can be known to the CMF. In this case, the CMF can determine the first computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task, the fourth latency, and the first latency. For example, the processing latency corresponding to the first computing power resource = latency threshold of the first computing task - fourth latency - first latency.

[0224] For more information on S607, please refer to S307 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0225] S608 and CMF send a second request to NRF. Correspondingly, NRF receives the second request.

[0226] For more information on S608, please refer to S308 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0227] S609 and NRF send information about the first service server to the CMF. Correspondingly, the CMF receives the information from the first service server.

[0228] The information of the first service server includes, for example, its identifier. The identifier of the first service server includes, for example, its ID, and / or its address information, such as its IP address.

[0229] Optionally, the information of the first business server may also include information on the maximum computing power resources supported by the first business server.

[0230] S608 and S609 illustrate the example of a CMF requesting an NRF to discover a service server. For instance, if the service server is registered with the NRF (the service server can send registration information to the AF, and the AF then registers the service server with the NRF through the NEF), and the NRF stores the service server's registration information, the CMF can select the service server. Alternatively, if the service server is registered with the CMF, or the NRF has sent the service server's registration information to the CMF, or the CMF has obtained the service server's information through other means, the CMF can also select the service server itself, in which case S608 and S609 do not need to be executed. Or, the service server may already be selected, and further selection is unnecessary, in which case S608 and S609 also do not need to be executed. Therefore, S608 and S609 are optional steps.

[0231] S610, CMF sends a first request to the first service server. Correspondingly, the first service server receives the first request from CMF.

[0232] For example, the CMF can send a first request to the AF, and the AF can then send a first request to the first business server. Alternatively, the CMF can send a first request to the first business server through the AF.

[0233] The first request may include information about a first computing resource. Upon receiving this information, the first service server can instantiate or perform other processing on the first computing resource, thereby providing the first computing resource for the first computing task. Optionally, the first service server may also send a response message to the CMF via AF.

[0234] S610 and S202 in the embodiment shown in FIG2A can be the same step.

[0235] S611. Establish a user plane transmission path between the access network element and the UPF.

[0236] For example, the SMF can select a UPF based on the IP address of the first service server. The SMF can establish an N4 session with the selected UPF, and the SMF can send the address of the UPF to the access network element, so that the access network element and the UPF can establish a user plane transmission path.

[0237] At this point, the UE's PDU session establishment process ends, and the PDU session is established.

[0238] S612, the UE sends a message corresponding to the first computing task. Correspondingly, the first service server receives this message. This message is, for example, a data packet.

[0239] The UE can send a message corresponding to the first computing task through this PDU session. After receiving the message, the first service server can use the first computing resources to process the message. Optionally, the first service server can also send the processing result of the message to the UE.

[0240] Because the air interface channel quality may change at any time, the air interface delay may also change. In this embodiment, if the air interface delay changes, the CMF can re-determine the computing resources. For example, the access network element can determine the transmission delay of the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the access network element in real time, or it can periodically determine the transmission delay of the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the access network element. If the access network element determines that the transmission delay has changed, for example, from the first delay to the second delay, the access network element can send the second delay to the CMF. After receiving the second delay, the CMF can determine the computing resources according to the delay threshold of the first computing task and the second delay, for example, it can determine the second computing resources (optionally, the CMF can determine the second computing resources according to the delay threshold of the first computing task, the fourth delay, and the second delay). Then the CMF can send the information of the second computing resources to trigger the first service server to use the second computing resources to process the first computing task. This is equivalent to repeating the above steps S606, S607, S610, etc. Alternatively, for example, if the CMF learns the information about the maximum computing power resources supported by the first service server, then if the second computing power resources are computing power resources that the first service server can provide, the CMF can repeatedly execute S610 to trigger the first service server to use the second computing power resources to process the first computing task by sending the information about the second computing power resources; or, if the first service server cannot provide the second computing power resources, for example, if the second computing power resources are greater than the maximum computing power resources supported by the first service server, the CMF can trigger the reselection of a service server, and this process will be described in the next embodiment.

[0241] In this embodiment, the CMF can determine the first computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the first latency. This is equivalent to determining the computing power resource (first computing power resource) that the computing node should provide for the first computing task based on the end-to-end latency and transmission latency of the first computing task. When the first service server processes the first computing task according to the first computing power resource, the sum of the processing latency of the first service server and the transmission latency of the message (i.e., the actual end-to-end latency) can meet the end-to-end latency requirements of the first computing task, thereby improving the access efficiency of the first computing task and also improving the user experience.

[0242] As previously described, if the first service server cannot provide the second computing resources, the CMF can trigger a reselection of the service server. Therefore, this application provides a fifth communication method to illustrate this process. Please refer to Figure 7, which is a flowchart of this method. In this method, the computing node is taken as an example of a service server.

[0243] Optionally, after executing the embodiment shown in FIG6, the embodiment shown in FIG7 can be executed. The embodiment shown in FIG7 is an optional embodiment in general, so each step therein can be regarded as an optional step, and is represented by solid lines in FIG7.

[0244] S701, CMF sends request D to NRF. Correspondingly, NRF receives request D.

[0245] Request D can be used to request the discovery of a service server. Additionally, Request D may include information about a second computing resource. For more details on S701, refer to S501 in the embodiment shown in Figure 5, where "UPF" can be replaced with "service server".

[0246] S702 and NRF send information about the second service server to the CMF. Correspondingly, the CMF receives the information from the second service server.

[0247] Information about the second service server includes, for example, its identifier. The identifier may include, for example, the second service server's ID, and / or its address information, such as its IP address.

[0248] Optionally, the information of the second business server may also include information on the maximum computing power resources supported by the second business server.

[0249] S701 and S702 illustrate the example of a CMF requesting an NRF to discover a service server. For instance, if the service server is registered with the NRF, and the NRF stores the service server's registration information, the CMF can select the service server. Alternatively, if the service server is registered with the CMF, or the NRF sends the service server's registration information to the CMF, or the CMF obtains the service server's information through other means, the CMF can also select the service server itself, in which case S701 and S702 do not need to be executed. Or, the service server may already be selected, and further selection is unnecessary; in this case, S701 and S702 also do not need to be executed.

[0250] S703, CMF sends a fourth request to the second service server. Correspondingly, the second service server receives the fourth request from CMF.

[0251] For example, the CMF can send a fourth request to the AF, and the AF can then send a fourth request to the second business server. Alternatively, the CMF can send a fourth request to the second business server through the AF.

[0252] The fourth request may include, for example, information about the second computing resource. Upon receiving this information, the second service server can instantiate or perform other processing on the second computing resource, thereby providing the second computing resource for the first computing task. Optionally, the first service server can also send a response message to the CMF via AF.

[0253] S704, CMF sends the IP address of the second service server to SMF. Correspondingly, SMF receives the IP address of the second service server.

[0254] S705 and SMF select UPF based on the IP address of the second service server.

[0255] If the Service Provider (SMF) determines that the service server has changed, it can select a new User Plane Provider (UPP) based on the IP address of the second service server. For example, the SMF can send a request to the Network Provider Radio (NRF) to discover the new UPF. The SMF can then update the user plane transmission path between the access network elements and the new UPF based on the information of the new UPF.

[0256] The UE can then send the message corresponding to the first computation task. Correspondingly, the second service server receives the message and can use the second computing resources to process it. Optionally, the second service server can also send the processing result of the message to the UE. This message may be, for example, a data message.

[0257] In this embodiment, if the air interface latency between the UE and the access network element changes, the CMF can determine the second computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the changed air interface latency (second latency). This is equivalent to still determining the computing power resource (second computing power resource) that the computing node should provide for the first computing task based on the end-to-end latency and transmission latency of the first computing task. Furthermore, if the original computing node (first service server) cannot provide the newly determined computing power resource, a new computing node (second service server) can be selected. The second service server can process the first computing task according to the second computing power resource. Therefore, the sum of the processing latency and the transmission latency of the message (i.e., the actual end-to-end latency) of the second service server can meet the end-to-end latency requirements of the first computing task, thereby improving the access efficiency of the first computing task and enhancing the user experience.

[0258] In the foregoing embodiments, the computing node is taken as a UPF or a service server. In addition, the computing node can also be an access network element. This application embodiment provides a sixth communication method; please refer to Figure 8, which is a flowchart of this method. In this method, the computing node is taken as an access network element.

[0259] S801, AF transmits information A. Correspondingly, PCF receives information A.

[0260] For more information on S801, please refer to S301 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0261] S802, PCF determines the second information based on information A.

[0262] For more information on S802, please refer to S302 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0263] S803, PCF sends a second message to CMF. Correspondingly, CMF receives the second message from PCF.

[0264] For more information on S803, please refer to S303 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0265] S804, the UE sends request A to the CMF. Correspondingly, the CMF receives request A from the UE.

[0266] For more information on S804, please refer to S304 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0267] S805 and CMF send the information for the first computing task to the access network element.

[0268] For more information on S805, please refer to S305 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0269] S806. The access network element sends the first information to the CMF. Correspondingly, the CMF receives the first information from the access network element.

[0270] For more information on S806, please refer to S306 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0271] S807 and CMF determine the first computing power resources based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the first latency.

[0272] For example, the processing latency corresponding to the first computing resource = latency threshold of the first computing task - first latency.

[0273] For more information on S807, please refer to S307 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0274] S808 and CMF send a first request to the access network element. Correspondingly, the access network element receives the first request from the CMF.

[0275] The first request may include information about a first computing resource. Upon receiving this information, the access network element can instantiate or perform other processing on the first computing resource, thereby providing the first computing resource for the first computing task. Optionally, the access network element may also send a response message to the CMF.

[0276] The CMF can send the first request to the access network element in different ways. For example, the CMF can send the first request to the SMF, the SMF can send the above information to the AMF, and the AMF can then send the first request to the access network element. Alternatively, the CMF can send the first request to the AMF, and the AMF can then send the first request to the access network element. Or, the CMF can send the first request directly to the access network element without going through other network elements.

[0277] At this point, the UE's PDU session establishment process ends, and the PDU session is established.

[0278] S809, the UE sends the message corresponding to the first computing task. Correspondingly, the access network element receives this message. This message is, for example, a data packet.

[0279] The UE can send a message corresponding to the first computing task through this PDU session. After receiving the message, the access network element can use the first computing resources to process the message. Optionally, the access network element can also send the processing result of the message to the UE.

[0280] Because the air interface channel quality may change at any time, the air interface latency may also change. In this embodiment, if the air interface latency changes, the CMF can re-determine the computing resources. For example, the access network element can determine the transmission latency of the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the access network element in real time, or it can periodically determine the transmission latency of the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the access network element. If the access network element determines that the transmission latency has changed, for example, from the first latency to the second latency, the access network element can send the second latency to the CMF. After receiving the second latency, the CMF can determine the computing resources based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the second latency, for example, determining the second computing resources. Then the CMF can send the information of the second computing resources to trigger the access network element to use the second computing resources to process the first computing task. This is equivalent to repeating the above steps S806, S807, S808, etc.

[0281] In this embodiment, the CMF can determine the first computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the first latency. This is equivalent to determining the computing power resource (first computing power resource) that the computing node should provide for the first computing task based on the end-to-end latency and transmission latency of the first computing task. When the access network element processes the first computing task according to the first computing power resource, the sum of the processing latency of the access network element and the transmission latency of the message (i.e., the actual end-to-end latency) can meet the end-to-end latency requirements of the first computing task, thereby improving the access efficiency of the first computing task and enhancing the user experience. Furthermore, if the air interface latency between the UE and the access network element changes, the CMF can determine the second computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the changed air interface latency (second latency). This is equivalent to still determining the computing power resource (second computing power resource) that the computing node should provide for the first computing task based on the end-to-end latency and transmission latency of the first computing task, ensuring that the processing of the access network element still meets the end-to-end latency requirements.

[0282] This application provides a seventh communication method, as shown in Figure 9, which is a flowchart of the method. In this method, we continue to use the example of a computing node being an access network element.

[0283] S901, AF transmits information A. Correspondingly, PCF receives information A.

[0284] For more information on S901, please refer to S301 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0285] S902, PCF determines the second information based on information A.

[0286] For more information on S902, please refer to S302 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0287] S903, PCF sends a second message to CMF. Correspondingly, CMF receives the second message from PCF.

[0288] For more information on S903, please refer to S303 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0289] S904, the UE sends request A to the CMF. Correspondingly, the CMF receives request A from the UE.

[0290] Request A may be a session establishment request message, which can be used to request the establishment of a PDU session, equivalent to the UE initiating a session establishment procedure; alternatively, Request A may be other messages, without specific restrictions. Request A may include, for example, the DNN and / or S-NSSAI corresponding to the PDU session. Optionally, if Request A is a session establishment request message, Request A may also include the identifier of the PDU session to be established.

[0291] For more information on S904, please refer to S304 of the embodiment shown in FIG3.

[0292] S905, the CMF sends information about the first computing task and its latency threshold to the access network element. Alternatively, the CMF may send information about the first computing task and its end-to-end latency requirement to the access network element, which then determines the latency threshold based on the end-to-end latency requirement.

[0293] For information about the first computing task, the end-to-end latency requirement, and the latency threshold, please refer to the relevant description of the embodiment shown in Figure 3.

[0294] Optionally, the CMF can also send first-time information to the access network element. For more details about S905, such as the CMF transmission method and the information sent, please refer to S305 of the embodiment shown in Figure 3.

[0295] S906. The access network element determines the first computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the first latency.

[0296] After receiving the information described in S905 (e.g., information about the first computing task; or information about the first computing task and first time information), the access network element can predict the latency required for the first computing task to be transmitted over the air interface, that is, predict the transmission latency of the first computing task between the UE and the access network element, for example, this transmission latency is the first latency. If the access network element receives the first time information, it can begin predicting the transmission latency of the first computing task between the UE and the access network element at the time indicated by the first time information.

[0297] In this embodiment, the computing resources can be determined by the access network element, without the need for the CMF (Computing Message Function) to make the decision. After determining the computing resources, the access network element can directly provide those resources, reducing the interaction process between the access network element and the CMF, saving signaling overhead, and improving the efficiency of determining computing resources.

[0298] Optionally, the access network element may send information about the first computing power resource to the CMF to inform the CMF that the access network element provides the first computing power resource for the first computing task.

[0299] S907, the UE sends the message corresponding to the first computing task. Correspondingly, the access network element receives this message. This message is, for example, a data packet.

[0300] Taking request A in S904 as a session establishment request message as an example, the PDU session requested by this session request message will be established before S907. The UE can send the message corresponding to the first computing task through the established PDU session. After receiving the message, the access network element can use the first computing resources to process the message. Optionally, the access network element can also send the processing result of the message to the UE.

[0301] In this embodiment, if the air interface latency changes, the access network element can re-determine the computing resources. For example, the access network element can determine the transmission latency of the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the access network element in real time, or it can periodically determine the transmission latency of the message corresponding to the first computing task between the UE and the access network element. If the access network element determines that the transmission latency has changed, for example, from the first latency to the second latency, the access network element can determine the computing resources based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the second latency. For example, if the second computing resources are determined, the access network element uses the second computing resources to process the first computing task. This is equivalent to repeating the steps S906 described above.

[0302] Alternatively, after determining the second computing resource, it can be determined whether the access network element can provide the second computing resource, for example, whether the second computing resource is greater than the maximum computing resource of the access network element. If the second computing resource is one that the access network element can provide, then the access network element can use the second computing resource to process the first computing task; or, if the access network element cannot provide the second computing resource, for example, if the second computing resource is greater than the maximum computing resource supported by the access network element, then the access network element can send a fifth request to the CMF to request the CMF to reselect the computing node.

[0303] Optionally, the fifth request may include information about the second computing resource. After receiving the fifth request, the CMF can reselect a computing node, for example, selecting a UPF, a service server, or another network element as the computing node. The CMF can request the NRF to assist in selecting the computing node, or it can select the computing node itself, as described in the foregoing method embodiments. After selecting a computing node, the CMF can send a fourth request, which may be sent directly to the new computing node or indirectly. The method of sending the fourth request may also vary depending on the computing node, as described in the foregoing method embodiments. The fourth request may include information about the second computing resource. Upon receiving the information about the second computing resource, the new computing node can instantiate and perform other processing on the second computing resource, thereby providing the second computing resource for the first computing task. Optionally, the new computing node can also send response information to the CMF.

[0304] In this embodiment, the access network element can determine the first computing power resource based on the latency threshold and the first latency of the first computing task. This is equivalent to determining the computing power resource (first computing power resource) that the computing node should provide for the first computing task based on the end-to-end latency and transmission latency of the first computing task. When the access network element processes the first computing task according to the first computing power resource, the sum of the processing latency of the access network element and the transmission latency of the message (i.e., the actual end-to-end latency) can meet the end-to-end latency requirements of the first computing task, thereby improving the access efficiency of the first computing task and enhancing the user experience. Since the access network element determines the computing power resource and is also the provider of the computing power resource, the involvement of the core network is reduced, saving signaling overhead and improving the efficiency of determining the computing power resource. Furthermore, if the air interface latency between the UE and the access network element changes, the access network element can determine the second computing power resource based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the changed air interface latency (second latency). This is equivalent to still determining the computing power resource (second computing power resource) that the computing node should provide for the first computing task based on the end-to-end latency and transmission latency of the first computing task, ensuring that the processing of the new computing node can still meet the end-to-end latency requirements. Additionally, if the second computing power resource exceeds the capacity of the access network element, the CMF can select a new computing node without restrictions on the type of computing node, thus improving selection flexibility.

[0305] Through any of the above embodiments, flexible adjustment of computing resources can be achieved, ensuring that the computing resources meet end-to-end latency requirements. For example, referring to Figure 10, which illustrates one approach to ensuring end-to-end latency, if the transmission latency of the first computing task is T1 between time t0 and t1, the CMF or access network element determines the processing latency of the computing node to be T3 based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and T1. Then, the CMF or access network element can determine the computing resources, such as the first computing resource, based on T3. If the transmission latency of the first computing task changes between time t1 and t2, for example, to T2, the CMF or access network element can re-determine the processing latency of the computing node to T4 based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and T2. Then, the CMF or access network element can determine the computing resources, such as the second computing resource, based on T4. Therefore, even if the transmission latency changes, the CMF or access network element can re-determine the computing resources, ensuring that the transmission and processing of the first computing task meet end-to-end latency requirements.

[0306] Figure 11 shows a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device 1100 can be a CMF or its circuit system as described in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2A, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, used to implement the method corresponding to the CMF in the above method embodiments. Alternatively, the communication device 1100 can be a first computing node or its circuit system as described in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2A, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, used to implement the method corresponding to the first computing node in the above method embodiments. Alternatively, the communication device 1100 can be a second computing node or its circuit system as described in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 5 or 7, used to implement the method corresponding to the second computing node in the above method embodiments. Alternatively, the communication device 1100 can be an access network element or its circuit system as described in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2A, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, used to implement the method corresponding to the access network element in the above method embodiments. Alternatively, the communication device 1100 may be a PCF or a circuit system of the PCF described in the embodiment shown in any of Figures 2A, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, used to implement the method corresponding to the PCF in the above method embodiments. Alternatively, the communication device 1100 may be a NEF or a circuit system of the NEF described in the embodiment shown in any of Figures 2A, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, used to implement the method corresponding to the NEF in the above method embodiments. For example, one type of circuit system is a chip system.

[0307] The communication device 1100 includes at least one processor 1101. The processor 1101 can be used for internal processing within the device to implement certain control processing functions. Optionally, the processor 1101 includes instructions. Optionally, the processor 1101 can store data. Optionally, different processors can be independent devices, located in different physical locations, or located on different integrated circuits. Optionally, different processors can be integrated into one or more processors, for example, integrated onto one or more integrated circuits.

[0308] Optionally, the communication device 1100 includes one or more memories 1103 for storing instructions. Optionally, the memories 1103 may also store data. The processor and the memories may be separate or integrated together.

[0309] Optionally, the communication device 1100 includes a communication line 1102 and at least one communication interface 1104. Since the memory 1103, communication line 1102, and communication interface 1104 are all optional, they are all represented by dashed lines in Figure 11.

[0310] Optionally, the communication device 1100 may further include a transceiver and / or an antenna. The transceiver can be used to send information to or receive information from other devices. The transceiver may be referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver circuit, input / output interface, etc., and is used to realize the transmission and reception functions of the communication device 1100 via the antenna. Optionally, the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver. For example, the transmitter can be used to generate a radio frequency (RF) signal from a baseband signal, and the receiver can be used to convert the RF signal back into a baseband signal.

[0311] Processor 1101 may include a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of programs according to the present application.

[0312] Communication line 1102 may include a path for transmitting information between the aforementioned components.

[0313] Communication interface 1104 uses any transceiver-like device for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, radio access network (RAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wired access network, etc.

[0314] The memory 1103 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device capable of storing static information and instructions, random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device capable of storing information and instructions, or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital universal optical discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer, but not limited thereto. The memory 1103 may exist independently and be connected to the processor 1101 via communication line 1102. Alternatively, the memory 1103 may be integrated with the processor 1101.

[0315] The memory 1103 stores computer execution instructions for implementing the scheme of this application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 1101. The processor 1101 executes the computer execution instructions stored in the memory 1103, thereby implementing the steps performed by the CMF, the first computing node, the second computing node, the access network element, the PCF, or the NEF as described in any of the embodiments shown in Figures 2A, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9.

[0316] Optionally, the computer execution instructions in the embodiments of this application may also be referred to as application code, and the embodiments of this application do not specifically limit this.

[0317] In a specific implementation, as one embodiment, processor 1101 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG11.

[0318] In a specific implementation, as one embodiment, the communication device 1100 may include multiple processors, such as processor 1101 and processor 1105 in FIG. 11. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. Here, a processor may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0319] When the device shown in Figure 11 is a chip, such as a CMF chip, a first computing node chip, a second computing node chip, an access network element chip, a PCF chip, or a NEF chip, then the chip includes a processor 1101 (and may also include a processor 1105), a communication line 1102, and a communication interface 1104. Optionally, it may include a memory 1103. Specifically, the communication interface 1104 may be an input interface, pins, or circuits, etc. The memory 1103 may be a register, cache, etc. The processor 1101 and processor 1105 may be a general-purpose CPU, microprocessor, ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of a program that controls the communication method of any of the above embodiments.

[0320] This application embodiment can divide the device into functional modules according to the above method examples. For example, each function can be divided into a separate functional module, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be implemented in hardware or software. It should be noted that the module division in this application embodiment is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, when dividing each functional module according to each function, Figure 12 shows a schematic diagram of a device. The device 1200 can be the first UE or the second UE involved in the above method embodiments, or a chip in the CMF, the first computing node, the second computing node, the access network element, the PCF, or the NEF. The device 1200 includes a processing unit 1202 and a transceiver unit 1201.

[0321] It should be understood that the device 1200 can be used to implement the steps performed by the CMF, the first computing node, the second computing node, the access network element, the PCF, or the NEF in the communication method of the embodiments of this application. The relevant features can be referred to the embodiments shown in any one of the above figures 2A, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, and will not be described again here.

[0322] Optionally, the functions / implementation processes of the transceiver unit 1201 and processing unit 1202 in Figure 12 can be implemented by the processor 1101 in Figure 11 calling computer execution instructions stored in memory 1103. Alternatively, the functions / implementation processes of the processing unit 1202 in Figure 12 can be implemented by the processor 1101 in Figure 11 calling computer execution instructions stored in memory 1103, and the functions / implementation processes of the transceiver unit 1201 in Figure 12 can be implemented by the communication interface 1104 in Figure 11.

[0323] Optionally, when the device 1200 is a chip or circuit, the function / implementation process of the transceiver unit 1201 can also be implemented through pins or circuits. Optionally, the transceiver unit 1201 may include a transmitting unit and / or a receiving unit, wherein the transmitting unit is used to implement the transmitting function and the receiving unit is used to implement the receiving function; or, the transceiver unit 1201 may be an integral module capable of implementing the transmitting and / or receiving functions. Optionally, the transceiver unit 1201 may be implemented using a transceiver.

[0324] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed, implement the methods performed by the CMF, first computing node, second computing node, access network element, PCF, or NEF in the aforementioned method embodiments. Thus, the functions described in the above embodiments can be implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to it, or a part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0325] This application also provides a computer program product comprising: computer program code, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method executed by the CMF, the first computing node, the second computing node, the access network element, the PCF, or the NEF in any of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0326] This application also provides a processing apparatus, including a processor and an interface; the processor is used to execute the methods performed by the CMF, the first computing node, the second computing node, the access network element, the PCF, or the NEF involved in any of the above method embodiments.

[0327] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., solid-state disk (SSD)).

[0328] The various illustrative logic units and circuits described in the embodiments of this application can be implemented or operate the described functions using a general-purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), ASIC, field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor; alternatively, it can be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor can also be implemented using a combination of computing devices, such as a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.

[0329] The steps of the methods or algorithms described in the embodiments of this application can be directly embedded in hardware, software units executed by a processor, or a combination of both. The software units can be stored in RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium in the art. Exemplarily, the storage medium can be connected to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium can be disposed in an ASIC, which can be disposed in the terminal device. Optionally, the processor and storage medium can also be disposed in different components of the terminal device.

[0330] These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0331] The contents of the various embodiments of this application can be referenced to each other. Unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0332] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, any one or more network elements among CMF, the first computing node, the second computing node, the access network element, PCF, or NEF can execute some or all of the steps in the embodiments of this application. These steps or operations are merely examples, and other operations or variations thereof can also be performed in the embodiments of this application. Furthermore, the steps can be performed in different orders as presented in the embodiments of this application, and it is not necessary to perform all the operations in the embodiments of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Based on the latency threshold of the first computing task and the first latency, a first computing power resource is determined. The first computing power resource is the computing power resource required by the computing node to process the first computing task. The latency threshold is related to the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task. The end-to-end latency requirement is the latency requirement for transmitting and processing the message corresponding to the first computing task between the terminal device and the computing node. The first latency is the transmission latency for transmitting the message corresponding to the first computing task between the terminal device and the access network element. Send a first request, which is used to trigger the first computing node to use the first computing resources to process the first computing task.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The latency threshold is the end-to-end latency requirement.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: The first computing node is determined based on the first computing power resources.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, Determining the first computing node based on the first computing power resource includes: Send a second request to the first core network element. The second request is used to request the discovery of computing nodes. The second request also includes information about the first computing resources. The system receives information from the first computing node of the first core network element, wherein the information of the first computing node includes the identifier of the first computing node.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The information of the first computing node also includes information on the maximum computing power resources supported by the first computing node.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send the information of the first computing task to the access network element; Receive first information from the access network element, the first information including information about the first delay.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send first time information to the access network element, the first time information being used to instruct the access network element to determine the time of the first delay.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, The first information is also used to indicate the effective duration of the first delay.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive second information from the second core network element, the second information including information about the first computing task and the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task; or, A third request is sent to the database network element, the third request being used to request information about the first computing task and the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task, and the information about the first computing task and the end-to-end latency requirement of the first computing task are received from the database network element.

10. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 9, characterized in that, The information of the first computing task includes one or more of the following: the maximum uplink data volume corresponding to the first computing task, the maximum downlink data volume corresponding to the first computing task, or the execution period of the first computing task.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, The method further includes: The terminal device receives information about a second delay from the access network element. The second delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network element for transmitting the message corresponding to the first computing task, and the second delay is different from the first delay. Based on the latency threshold and the second latency, a second computing power resource is determined, wherein the second computing power resource is the computing power resource required by the computing node to process the first computing task; A fourth request is sent, which is used to trigger the second computing node to use the second computing resources to process the first computing task.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the first computing node is unable to provide the second computing power resources, the second computing node is determined based on the second computing power resources.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that, The first computing node is a UPF, an access network element, or a service server.

14. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive a first request, the first request being used to trigger the first computing node to use the first computing resources to process the first computing task; Based on the first request, the first computing resources are used to process the first computing task.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive a fourth request, the fourth request being used to trigger the first computing node to use the second computing resources to process the first computing task; According to the fourth request, the computing resources scheduled for the first computing task will be adjusted to the second computing resources; The first computing task is processed using the second computing resource.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that, The first computing node is a UPF, an access network element, or a service server.

17. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a registration request, which includes the identifier of the first computing node and information on the maximum computing power resources supported by the first computing node.

18. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Receive information from the first computing task from the core network element; A first delay is determined, which is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network element for transmitting the message corresponding to the first computing task; Send first information to the core network element, the first information including information about the first delay.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, The method further includes: receiving first-time information from the core network element; Determining the first delay includes: determining the first delay at a time determined based on the first time information.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that, The first information is also used to indicate the effective duration of the first delay.

21. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 20, characterized in that, The method further includes: A first request is received from the core network element, the first request being used to trigger the access network element to use the first computing resources to process the first computing task.

22. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 21, characterized in that, The method further includes: The transmission delay of the message corresponding to the first computing task between the terminal device and the access network element is changed to a second delay. The second delay information is sent to the core network element.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit, the processing unit being coupled to the transceiver unit to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 13, or the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 17, or the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 22.

24. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor and a memory, the memory for storing a computer program, and the processor for executing the computer program stored in the memory, causing the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 13, or causing the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 17, or causing the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 22.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 13, or causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 17, or causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 22.

26. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 13, or causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 17, or causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 22.

27. A chip system, characterized in that, The chip system includes: A processor and an interface, the processor being configured to call and execute instructions from the interface, wherein when the processor executes the instructions, it implements the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 13, or the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 17, or the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 22.

28. A communication system, characterized in that, The communication system includes a third core network element and a first computing node, wherein, The third core network element is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 13; The first computing node is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 17.

29. The communication system according to claim 28, characterized in that, The communication system also includes access network elements, wherein... The access network element is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 22.

Images