Communication method, apparatus and system

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications. Disclosed are a communication method, apparatus and system. The method comprises: a first terminal device sending first information to an application server, wherein the first information is used for creating a first communication connection for the first terminal device, and the first communication connection is used for command and control (C2) communication; receiving second information from the application server, wherein the second information is used for indicating that a two-way communication connection is used for the C2 communication, and the two-way communication connection comprises the first communication connection; and on the basis of the second information, sending third information, wherein the third information is used for creating a second communication connection for the first terminal device, and the second communication connection is used for the C2 communication. Thus, in the process of establishing for a first terminal device a first communication connection for C2 communication, an application server can send to the first terminal device second information, indicating that a two-way communication connection is used for the C2 communication, thereby ensuring the stability of the C2 communication by means of establishing the two-way communication connection for the C2 communication.

Description

Communication method, device and system

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on March 29, 2024, with application number 202410386045.0 and application name "A Communication Method, Device and System", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, device, and system. Background Art

[0004] Uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), a new type of aircraft, are becoming increasingly popular due to their flexibility and convenience. In discussions about fifth-generation (5G) communication systems enabling UAV systems, uncrewed aerial systems (UASs) include drones and UAV controllers (UAVCs). The UAVCs are used to command and control UAVs' takeoff, flight posture, and application deployment.

[0005] Currently, a communication connection can be established between a UAV (UAV) and a UAVC, which then communicates command and control (C2) to control the flight of the UAV. However, due to the dynamic changes in the channel state of the communication connection, if the transmission quality of the communication connection between the UAVC and the UAV deteriorates, the UAV may not be able to receive the C2 information sent by the UAVC, resulting in an inability to stably control the UAV's flight. Therefore, further research is needed to ensure the stability of C2 communication. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a communication method, device, and system for ensuring the stability of C2 communication by establishing a two-way communication connection for C2 communication.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a first terminal device, a processor or chip or chip system (such as a system-on-a-chip (SoC)) or a functional module in the first terminal device. Taking the application of this method to the first terminal device as an example, the first terminal device sends first information to an application server, where the first information is used to create a first communication connection for the first terminal device, and the first communication connection is used for command and control C2 communication; receives second information from the application server, where the second information is used to indicate that the C2 communication adopts a two-way communication connection, and the two-way communication connection includes the first communication connection; and sends third information based on the second information, where the third information is used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device, and the second communication connection is used for the C2 communication.

[0008] Using the above method, in the process of establishing a first communication connection for C2 communication for the first terminal device, the application server can send second information to the first terminal device, instructing C2 communication to adopt a two-way communication connection, thereby ensuring the stability of C2 communication by establishing a two-way communication connection for C2 communication.

[0009] In one possible design, a first terminal device sends first information to an application server, where the first information is used to create a first C2 communication for the first terminal device; receives second information from the application server, where the second information is used to indicate that the C2 communication adopts two-way communication, and the two-way communication includes the first C2 communication; and sends third information based on the second information, where the third information is used to create a second C2 communication for the first terminal device.

[0010] Using the above method, in the process of establishing the first C2 communication for C2 communication for the first terminal device, the application server can send second information to the first terminal device to instruct the C2 communication to adopt two-way communication, thereby ensuring the stability of C2 communication by establishing two-way communication for C2 communication.

[0011] In the present invention, the first information sent by the first terminal device to the application server can be used to create a first communication connection or a first C2 communication for the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the third information, like the first information, can be used to create a second communication connection or a second C2 communication for the first terminal device. Whether it is used to create a communication connection or to create a C2 communication depends on the actual name and usage of the information, and the present invention does not limit this. The following text will be expanded on the basis that the first information is used to create a first communication connection for the first terminal device and the third information is used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device. It can be understood that when the first information is used to create a first C2 communication for the first terminal device and when the third information is used to create a second C2 communication for the first terminal device, the corresponding description is also modified accordingly.

[0012] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving fourth information from the application server, the fourth information being used to indicate whether the first communication connection is a primary communication connection or a secondary communication connection; and based on the fourth information, using the primary communication connection of the two-way communication connection for the C2 communication. In one possible implementation, the first device operates the drone using the command and control information transmitted via the received primary communication connection.

[0013] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving fifth information from the application server, where the fifth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server.

[0014] In one possible design, the fifth information includes address information of the application server, such as the address information of the application server carried in the C2 pairing information from the application server. That is, the fifth information includes the address information of the application server carried in the C2 pairing information.

[0015] In one possible design, the method also includes: receiving sixth information from the application server, the sixth information being used to indicate that the two-way communication connection includes a direct C2 communication connection; and sending third information based on the second information, including: sending the third information to the second terminal device based on the second information and the sixth information, the second communication connection being a direct C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0016] In this way, the two-way communication connection is respectively a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server, and a direct C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. That is, the two-way communication connection is a different type of communication connection. For example, when the first terminal device (i.e., the UAV) is flying within visual range, the second terminal device can control the flight of the first terminal device via the second communication connection; when the first terminal device is flying beyond visual range, the application server can control the flight of the first terminal device via the first communication connection.

[0017] In one possible design, the sixth information includes at least one of the following: identification information of the PC5 connection; and identification information of the second terminal device. For example, the identification of the second terminal device is an application layer identification and / or layer 2 identification of the second terminal device. In one implementation, the application layer identification is an identifier that identifies an entity (such as a UAV or UAVC) in the context of an A2X (aircraft to everything) application.

[0018] In one possible design, sending the third information based on the second information includes: sending the third information to the application server based on the second information; the method also includes: receiving seventh information from the application server, the seventh information being used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0019] In one possible design, the seventh information includes the first address information of the second terminal device, such as the first address information carried in the C2 pairing information from the application server. That is, the seventh information includes the first address information carried in the C2 pairing information.

[0020] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving eighth information from the application server, where the eighth address information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0021] In one possible design, the eighth information includes the first address information of the second terminal device, such as the first address information carried in the C2 pairing information from the application server. That is, the eighth information includes the first address information carried in the C2 pairing information.

[0022] In one possible design, sending the third information based on the second information includes: sending the third information to the application server based on the second information; the method also includes: receiving ninth information from the application server, the ninth information being used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; wherein the address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

[0023] In one possible design, the ninth information includes second address information of the second terminal device, such as the second address information carried in C2 pairing information from the application server. That is, the ninth information includes the second address information carried in the C2 pairing information. The second address information is different from the first address information.

[0024] In this way, the first communication connection and the second communication connection are both network-assisted C2 communication connections between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, that is, the first communication connection and the second communication connection can be redundant communication connections to each other, thereby improving the reliability of C2 communication and ensuring the stability of C2 communication.

[0025] In one possible design, sending the third information based on the second information includes: sending the third information to the application server based on the second information; the method also includes: receiving the eighth information from the application server, the eighth information being used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; wherein the address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is the same as the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

[0026] In one possible design, sending third information based on the second information includes: sending the third information to the application server based on the second information; the method also includes: receiving fifth information from the application server, the fifth information being used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server.

[0027] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to an application server, a processor, chip, or chip system (such as an SoC), or a functional module in an application server. Taking the application of this method to an application server as an example, the application server receives first information from a first terminal device, where the first information is used to establish a first communication connection for the first terminal device, where the first communication connection is used for C2 communication; and in response to the first information, sends second information to the first terminal device, where the second information is used to indicate that the C2 communication uses a two-way communication connection, where the two-way communication connection includes the first communication connection.

[0028] In one possible design, the application server receives first information from a first terminal device, where the first information is used to create a first C2 communication for the first terminal device; in response to the first information, the application server sends second information to the first terminal device, where the second information is used to indicate that the C2 communication adopts two-way communication, and the two-way communication includes the first C2 communication.

[0029] Using the above method, in the process of establishing the first C2 communication for C2 communication for the first terminal device, the application server can send second information to the first terminal device to instruct the C2 communication to adopt two-way communication, thereby ensuring the stability of C2 communication by establishing two-way communication for C2 communication.

[0030] In the present invention, the first information received by the application server can be used to create a first communication connection or a first C2 communication for the first terminal device. Accordingly, the third information described below can also be used to create a second communication connection or a second C2 communication for the first terminal device, just like the first information. Whether it is used to create a communication connection or to create a C2 communication depends on the actual name and usage of the information, and the present invention does not limit this. The following text will be expanded on the basis that the first information is used to create a first communication connection for the first terminal device and the third information is used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device. It can be understood that when the first information is used to create a first C2 communication for the first terminal device and when the third information is used to create a second C2 communication for the first terminal device, the corresponding description is also modified accordingly.

[0031] In one possible design, the method further includes: sending fourth information to the first terminal device, where the fourth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a primary communication connection or a secondary communication connection.

[0032] In a possible design, the application server may also monitor the network status and dynamically switch the first communication connection or the second communication connection as the main communication connection to ensure the stability of the C2 communication.

[0033] In one possible design, the method further includes: in response to the first information, sending fifth information to the first terminal device, wherein the fifth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server.

[0034] In one possible design, the fifth information includes address information of the application server, such as the address information of the application server carried in the C2 pairing information from the application server. That is, the fifth information includes the address information of the application server carried in the C2 pairing information.

[0035] In one possible design, the method further includes: sending sixth information to the first terminal device, where the sixth information is used to indicate that the two-way communication connection includes a direct C2 communication connection.

[0036] In one possible design, the sixth information includes at least one of the following: identification information of the PC5 connection; identification information of the second terminal device. For example, the identification of the second terminal device is the application layer identification and / or layer 2 identification of the second terminal device.

[0037] In one possible design, the method also includes: receiving third information from the first terminal device, the third information being used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device, the second communication connection being used for the C2 communication; and in response to the third information, sending seventh information to the first terminal device, the seventh information being used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0038] In one possible design, the seventh information includes the first address information of the second terminal device, such as the first address information carried in the C2 pairing information from the application server. That is, the seventh information includes the first address information carried in the C2 pairing information.

[0039] In one possible design, the method further includes: in response to the first information, sending eighth information to the first terminal device, wherein the eighth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0040] In one possible design, the eighth information includes the first address information of the second terminal device, such as the first address information carried in the C2 pairing information from the application server. That is, the eighth information includes the first address information carried in the C2 pairing information.

[0041] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving third information from the first terminal device, the third information being used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device, the second communication connection being used for the C2 communication; in response to the third information, sending ninth information to the first terminal device, the ninth information being used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the third address information is different from the second address information; wherein the address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

[0042] In one possible design, the ninth information includes second address information of the second terminal device, such as the second address information carried in C2 pairing information from the application server. That is, the ninth information includes the second address information carried in the C2 pairing information. The second address information is different from the first address information.

[0043] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving third information from the first terminal device, the third information being used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device, the second communication connection being used for the C2 communication; and in response to the third information, sending the eighth information to the first terminal device, the eighth information being used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; wherein the address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is the same as the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

[0044] In one possible design, the method also includes: receiving third information from the first terminal device, the third information being used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device, the second communication connection being used for the C2 communication; and in response to the third information, sending fifth information to the first terminal device, the fifth information being used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server.

[0045] It can be understood that the communication method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect corresponds to the communication method provided in the first aspect, and the beneficial effects of the relevant technical features in the second aspect can refer to the description of the first aspect.

[0046] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which has the ability to implement the functions involved in the first or second aspect above. For example, the communication device includes modules or units or means corresponding to the operations involved in the first or second aspect above. The functions or units or means can be implemented through software, or through hardware, or the corresponding software can be implemented through hardware.

[0047] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit. The communication unit can be used to send and receive signals to enable communication between the communication device and other devices; the processing unit can be used to perform certain internal operations of the communication device. The functions performed by the processing unit and the communication unit can correspond to the operations described in the first or second aspect above.

[0048] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor, which can be coupled to a memory. The memory can store the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions of the first or second aspect. The processor can execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory. When the computer programs or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method of any possible design or implementation of the first or second aspect.

[0049] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and a memory, and the memory may store the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the first or second aspect. The processor may execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method of any possible design or implementation of the first or second aspect.

[0050] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect above.

[0051] It can be understood that in the third aspect above, the processor can be implemented by hardware or by software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc.; when implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, which is implemented by reading the software code stored in the memory. In addition, the above processors can be one or more, and the memories can be one or more. The memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory and the processor can be set separately. In the specific implementation process, the memory can be integrated with the processor on the same chip, or can be set on different chips respectively. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of memory and the setting method of the memory and the processor.

[0052] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which may include a first communication device and a second communication device; wherein the first communication device is used to execute the method described in the first aspect above, and the second communication device is used to execute the method described in the second aspect above.

[0053] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program (or computer-readable instructions) is stored. When a computer reads and executes part or all of the computer-readable instructions, the method in any possible design of the first or second aspect above is executed.

[0054] Exemplarily, a computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, a computer-readable medium can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0055] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which, when read and executed by a computer, enables the method in any possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect to be executed.

[0056] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a chip (or chip system), which includes a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and the memory stores a computer program; the processor is used to call part or all of the computer program in the memory, so that the method in any possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect above is executed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0057] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication system;

[0058] FIG2 is a more specific schematic diagram of a network architecture;

[0059] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a 5G communication system-enabled UAV system;

[0060] FIG4 is a flow chart of the communication method according to the first embodiment of the present application;

[0061] Figures 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, and 5E are schematic diagrams of two-way communication connections provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG6 is a flow chart of the communication method according to the second embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG7 is a flow chart of the communication method according to the third embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG8 is an exemplary block diagram of a device involved in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0066] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. This application will present various aspects, embodiments, or features around a system that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that each system may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or may not include all of the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In addition, combinations of these solutions may also be used.

[0067] In the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplarily" and "such as" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as an "example" in the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of the word "example" is intended to present concepts in a concrete way. In the embodiments of the present application, "of", "corresponding, relevant" and "corresponding" can sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings to be expressed are consistent.

[0068] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system, 4th generation (4G) communication system, such as long term evolution (LTE) system, 5G communication system, such as new radio (NR) system, and future evolved communication systems, such as sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system.

[0069] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the network architecture of a communication system applicable to this application. The network architecture includes four components: terminal equipment, access network (AN), core network (CN), and data network (DN). The access network can be a radio access network (RAN).

[0070] Terminal devices, (wireless) access networks, and core networks are the main components of the aforementioned network architecture. Logically, they can be divided into two parts: the user plane and the control plane. The control plane is responsible for managing the mobile network, while the user plane is responsible for transmitting service data. For example, as shown in Figure 1, in a 5G communication system, the next generation (NG) 2 reference point is located between the (wireless) access network control plane and the core network control plane, the NG3 reference point is located between the (wireless) access network user plane and the core network user plane, and the NG6 reference point is located between the core network user plane and the data network.

[0071] (1) Terminal equipment

[0072] Terminal equipment is a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to users. Terminal equipment can also be called user equipment (UE), terminal, access terminal, terminal unit, terminal station, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile terminal (MT), wireless communication device, terminal agent, or terminal device.

[0073] For example, the terminal device may be a handheld device with a wireless connection function, or a vehicle with a communication function, a vehicle-mounted device (such as a vehicle-mounted communication device, a vehicle-mounted communication chip), etc. Currently, some examples of terminal devices include: mobile phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, tablet computers, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, laptop computers, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving cars, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, etc.

[0074] The terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable, or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on the water (such as a ship); it can also be deployed in the air (such as an airplane, balloon, or satellite). The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology, device form, application scenario, or name used by the terminal device.

[0075] (2) Access network

[0076] The (wireless) access network is deployed close to terminal devices, providing network access for authorized users in a specific area. It can also determine transmission tunnels of varying quality to transmit user data based on user level and service requirements. The (wireless) access network manages and rationally utilizes its own resources, providing access services to terminal devices on demand and forwarding control signals and service data between terminal devices and the core network.

[0077] Wireless access network equipment is deployed in the wireless access network to connect terminal devices to the wireless network. Wireless access network equipment is typically connected to the core network via wired links (e.g., fiber optic cables). Wireless access network equipment is also called RAN equipment / nodes or base stations.

[0078] Exemplarily, (wireless) access network equipment may include a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB) in an LTE system or an evolved LTE system (LTE-Advanced, LTE-A), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G communication system, a transmission reception point (TRP), a baseband unit (BBU), an access point (AP) in a wireless local area network (WLAN), an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. The wireless access network equipment may also be a module or unit that performs some of the functions of a base station, such as a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU may be separately configured or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0079] (Wireless) access network equipment can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on the water (such as ships, etc.); it can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites, etc.). The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology, device form, application scenario and name adopted by the (wireless) access network equipment. In the embodiments of this application, the (wireless) access network equipment can be referred to as the access network (AN) equipment for short. Unless otherwise specified, the access network equipment mentioned below can all be (wireless) access network equipment.

[0080] (3) Core Network

[0081] The core network is responsible for maintaining mobile network subscription data, managing mobile network elements, and providing terminal devices with session management, mobility management, policy management, security authentication and other functions.

[0082] Specifically, it may include: providing network access authentication for the terminal device when the terminal device is attached; allocating network resources for the terminal device when the terminal device has a service request; updating network resources for the terminal device when the terminal device moves; providing a fast recovery mechanism for the terminal device when the terminal device is idle; releasing network resources for the terminal device when the terminal device detaches; providing data routing functions for the terminal device when the terminal device has service data, such as forwarding uplink data to the data network, or receiving downlink data from the data network and forwarding it to the (wireless) access network, and then sending it to the terminal device.

[0083] (4) Data Network

[0084] A data network, also known as a packet data network (PDN), is a network located outside of a carrier's network. The carrier's network can access multiple DNs, which can host application servers corresponding to various services, providing a wide range of possible services to terminal devices. In actual communication, the client is typically located on the terminal device, while the server is typically located on the data network. The data network can be a private network, such as a local area network (LAN), an external network not controlled by the carrier, such as the Internet, or a proprietary network jointly deployed by carriers. The specifics are not limited.

[0085] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a more specific network architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application, which is the network architecture of a 5G communication system. As shown in Figure 2, the network architecture includes terminal devices, access network devices, various types of core network elements / functional entities, and data networks.

[0086] The core network user plane includes the user plane function (UPF) network element. The core network control plane includes but is not limited to: access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, session management function (SMF) network element, authentication server function (AUSF) network element, network exposure function (NEF) network element, network function repository function (NRF) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, unified data management (UDM) network element, and application function (AF) network element.

[0087] The UPF network element is mainly responsible for connecting to the external network and forwarding user data packets according to the routing rules of the SMF network element, such as sending uplink data to the data network or other UPF network elements, and sending downlink data to other UPF network elements or access network devices.

[0088] The AMF network element is mainly responsible for the access management and mobility management of terminal devices, such as the status maintenance of terminal devices, the reachability management of terminal devices, the forwarding of non-mobility management access layer (mobility management non-access-stratum, MM NAS) messages, and the forwarding of session management (session management, SM) N2 messages.

[0089] The SMF network element is primarily responsible for session management in mobile networks, including establishing sessions for terminal devices and allocating and releasing resources for sessions, including session quality of service (QoS), session paths, and forwarding rules. For example, it allocates Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to terminal devices and selects the UPF network element that provides packet forwarding functions.

[0090] The AUSF network element is mainly responsible for performing security authentication of terminal devices.

[0091] The NEF network element is used to connect the interactions between other network elements within the core network and the core network's external application servers, to provide network capability information to the external application servers, or to provide information from the external application servers to the core network elements.

[0092] The NRF network element is mainly responsible for providing storage and selection functions for network function entity information for other network elements.

[0093] The PCF network element is mainly responsible for user policy management, including the generation of policy authorization, service quality and billing rules, and sends the corresponding rules to the UPF network element through the SMF network element to complete the installation of the corresponding policies and rules.

[0094] The UDM network element is primarily responsible for data management and control. For example, it manages user subscription information, including obtaining and providing it to other network elements (such as the AMF network element); generates 3GPP authentication credentials for terminal devices; and registers and maintains the network element currently serving the terminal device (for example, the AMF represented by AMF ID1 is the terminal device's current serving AMF, i.e., the serving AMF).

[0095] The AF network element is mainly responsible for providing service data of various applications to the control plane network elements of the operator's communication network, or obtaining network data information and control information from the control plane network elements of the communication network.

[0096] Although not shown, the above network architecture may also include other possible network elements, which are not specifically limited.

[0097] It is understandable that Figure 2 illustrates an example of a service-oriented architecture for the core network control plane. In the service-oriented architecture, each control plane network element is connected to a service bus, and the interaction between the control plane network elements adopts a service call method, that is, the control plane network element will open services to other control plane network elements for other control plane network elements to call. In other possible implementations, the core network control plane can also adopt a point-to-point communication method. In point-to-point communication, there will be a set of specific messages on the communication interface between the control plane network elements. Among them, the interface between the terminal device and the AMF network element is called the N1 interface, the interface between the access network device and the AMF network element is called the N2 interface, the interface between the access network device and the UPF network element is called the N3 interface, the interface between the UPF network element and the SMF network element can be called the N4 interface, and the interface between the UPF network element and the data network is called the N6 interface. Of course, in future communication systems, the names of these interfaces may remain unchanged, or may be replaced by other names, and this application is not limited to this. In future communication systems such as 6G communication systems, the above-mentioned network elements or devices may still use their names in 4G or 5G communication systems, or have other names; the functions of the above-mentioned network elements or devices may be completed by an independent network element or by several network elements together, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0098] The network elements / functional entities in the above-mentioned various possible network architectures can be network elements in hardware devices, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform). Optionally, the above-mentioned network elements or functional entities can be implemented by one device, or by multiple devices together, or they can be different functional modules within a device. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this. In actual deployment, the above-mentioned network elements can be combined. For example, the access and mobility management function network element can be combined with the session management function network element; the session management function network element can be combined with the user plane function network element. When two network elements are combined, the interaction between the two network elements provided by the embodiments of the present application becomes the internal operation of the combined network element or can be omitted.

[0099] The network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of communication system architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0100] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a 5G communication system-enabled UAS. As shown in Figure 3, a UAS includes a UAV and a UAVC. In a 5G communication system, the UAV is designed to communicate with a peer device via the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network. For example, the peer device may be a UAVC; or, the peer device may be a UAS service provider (USS) / uncrewed aerial system traffic management (UTM); or, the peer device may be other possible devices.

[0101] Among them, UAV and UAVC can both be regarded as terminal equipment or UE by the 3GPP network.

[0102] UTM / USS is a system that securely and efficiently integrates UAVs in flight with other airspace users. It is used for drone registration and authentication, authorization of drone services, drone policy management, and control of drone traffic in the airspace. UTM / USS services include authenticating and authorizing UAVs / UAVCs to use drone services and authorizing pairing between UAVs and UAVCs.

[0103] The UTM / USS can be located outside the 3GPP network, for example, the UTM / USS is located in the data network or as a third-party application function network element. The UTM / USS interacts with other network elements in the 3GPP network (such as the SMF network element and AMF network element shown in Figure 2) through the UAS network function (NF) / network exposure function (NEF) network element, wherein the UAS NF / NEF can be deployed on the NEF network element, or the NEF network element implements the function of the UAS NF / NEF network element, which is not specifically limited. Alternatively, the UTM / USS can also be located inside the 3GPP network and interact directly with other network elements within the 3GPP network, or the functions can be dispersed in existing or other new network elements. Specifically, in the embodiment of the present application, the specific existence form of the UTM / USS will not be limited. It can be understood that the embodiment of the present application is described as an example of the UTM / USS being located outside the 3GPP network. The application server in the embodiment of the present application below can be a UTM, or a USS, or can include a UTM and a USS.

[0104] For example, there are three ways for a UAV to communicate with a peer device through a 3GPP network:

[0105] (1) The UAVC performs C2 communication with the UAV to control the flight of the UAV or to control the UAV to send measurement and control data to the UAVC. It should be noted that when the UAV and UAVC perform C2 communication, they can be in the same public land mobile network (PLMN) or in different PLMNs, without limitation.

[0106] (2) UTM / USS remotely identifies UAVs, and the UAVs in flight provide their own identification information to UTM / USS to assist regulatory agencies (such as UTM or the Civil Aviation Administration) to identify the status of drones in a timely manner to fill safety risks.

[0107] (3) The UAV performs other UAS services with the UTM / USS, such as obtaining UAS service parameters from the UTM / USS, or obtaining authentication and authorization to use UAS services.

[0108] Currently, a communication connection can be established between a UAVC and a UAV, which then conducts C2 communication over this connection to achieve flight control of the UAV. However, due to the dynamic changes in the channel state of the communication connection, when the transmission quality of the communication connection between the UAVC and the UAV deteriorates, the UAV may not be able to accurately receive the C2 information sent by the UAVC, resulting in an inability to stably control the UAV's flight.

[0109] Based on this, the embodiments of the present application will study how to ensure the stability of C2 communication.

[0110] Exemplarily, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, device, and system that ensures the stability of C2 communication by establishing a dual-channel communication connection for C2 communication. In one possible implementation, the dual-channel communication connections can be redundant connections to each other (for example, the dual-channel communication connections are both communication connections between the UAV and the UAVC), that is, the dual-channel communication connections are used to transmit the same C2 information, thereby improving the reliability of the C2 communication and facilitating the stability of the C2 communication. In another possible implementation, one of the dual-channel communication connections is the primary communication connection, and the other communication connection is the secondary communication connection (for example, the dual-channel communication connections are both communication connections between the UAV and the UAVC; or, one of the dual-channel communication connections is the communication connection between the UAV and the UAVC, and the other communication connection is the communication connection between the UAV and the application server), thereby dynamically switching the primary and secondary communication connections by monitoring the network status, thereby facilitating the stability of the C2 communication.

[0111] The following first explains the relevant terms involved in the embodiments of this application. When not specifically explained, these explanations are intended to support the meaning of the relevant terms and make the embodiments of this application easier to understand, and should not be regarded as strict limitations on the relevant terms in the scope of protection claimed by this application.

[0112] (1) Communication connection

[0113] The communication connection involved in the embodiments of the present application can be used to provide connectivity services between the first device and the second device, or to implement data transmission between the first device and the second device. For example, the first device and the second device can be a terminal device and an application server, respectively, or the first device and the second device can be different terminal devices (such as a first terminal device and a second terminal device), or the first device and the second device can be other possible devices, without specific limitation.

[0114] The communication connection in the embodiment of the present application is used for C2 communication, for example, the communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection, or the communication connection is a direct C2 communication connection.

[0115] Taking C2 communication between UAV and UAVC as an example, when the communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection, UAV and UAVC use the wireless communication link of the 3GPP network to perform C2 communication. For example, the network-assisted C2 communication connection can be a connection for data or signaling transmission through a protocol data unit (PDU) session, or a PDN connection, without specific limitation.

[0116] Alternatively, when the communication connection is a direct C2 communication connection, the UAV and the UAVC use a direct communication link (e.g., without forwarding through an intermediate node (e.g., a base station)) for C2 communication. For example, the direct C2 communication connection can be a device-to-device (D2D) connection or a PC5 connection, without specific limitation. PC5 is the name of the interface between PROSE devices. The PC5 interface is used to transmit control plane and user plane data for PROSE communications.

[0117] In one possible approach, network-assisted C2 communication connections facilitate control of UAV beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) flight compared to direct C2 communication connections.

[0118] (2) UAV identification information

[0119] As mentioned above, the UAV is regarded as a terminal device by the 3GPP network. Therefore, the UAV can obtain the 3GPP device ID (hereinafter referred to as 3GPP UAV ID) assigned to the UAV by the 3GPP network during the registration process of the 3GPP network. The 3GPP UAV ID is used to uniquely identify the UAV in the 3GPP network where the UAV is registered. Exemplarily, the 3GPP UAV ID can be, for example, a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI), a subscription concealed identifier (SUCI), or a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI).

[0120] In addition to the 3GPP UAV ID, a UAV can also be pre-configured with an external UAV ID. This external UAV ID is assigned by a non-3GPP network, such as a UAV or UAVC assigned by the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA), which is called a CAA-Level UAV ID. The CAA-Level UAV ID uniquely identifies the UAV within a flight domain (e.g., USS).

[0121] It can be understood that the above description takes UAV as an example, and the identification information of UAVC can refer to the description of UAV.

[0122] (3) UAV address information

[0123] In the embodiment of the present application, the address information of the UAV may refer to the IP address of the UAV, and further may refer to the IP address of the PDU session of the UAV. Different PDU sessions of the UAV may correspond to different IP addresses, for example, the IP address of the PDU session 1 of the UAV is IP address 1, and the IP address of the PDU session 2 of the UAV is IP address 2. For example, after the UAV initiates the PDU session establishment process, the SMF network element or the UPF network element may allocate an IP address for the PDU session to the UAV and send the IP address to the UAV.

[0124] The application server (such as UTM / USS) can obtain the IP address of the UAV's PDU session. For example, when the UAV initiates the PDU session establishment process, the SMF network element can send the UAV's GPSI to the application server through the UAS NF / NEF network element, and then the application server can subscribe to the UAS NF / NEF network element for the status information of the UAV's PDU session for C2 communication. After the IP address of the subsequent PDU session is updated, the UAS NF / NEF network element can send the IP address of the PDU session to the application server. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation of the application server obtaining the IP address of the UAV's PDU session.

[0125] It is understandable that the above description takes UAV as an example, and the address information of UAVC can refer to the description of UAV.

[0126] (4) UAV authentication and certification

[0127] Application servers (such as USS / UTM) can control UAVs. There are many processes that require UAV authentication and authorization, such as registration, PDU session establishment, or PDU session modification.

[0128] Optionally, USS UAV authorization / authentication (UUAA) can be performed during the UAV registration with the 5G communication system. The authentication and authorization performed during the UAV registration can be referred to as UUAA-mobility management (MM). UUAA can be performed during the UAV's PDU session establishment. The UUAA performed during the UAV's PDU session establishment can be referred to as UUAA-session management (SM).

[0129] Based on the introduction of the above-mentioned related terms, the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below in combination with Examples 1 to 3.

[0130] It is understandable that the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to wireless communication between multiple communication devices, such as multiple communication devices including a first terminal device, a second terminal device and an application server, and optionally, other possible devices (such as SMF network elements in the core network), etc. Among them, when not specifically stated, "terminal device" can refer to the terminal device itself, or to a component in the terminal device, such as a chip or a chip system; "application server" can refer to the application server itself, or to a component in the application server, such as a chip or a chip system. The following embodiments are described by taking the first terminal device as a UAV and the second terminal device as a UAVC as an example.

[0131] In the embodiments of the present application, "A sends information a to B" may mean that A is the sender of information a and B is the receiver of information a. Information a may be forwarded or processed by other intermediate nodes. For example, A sends information a to C, and C forwards information a to B. The specific details are not limited. "B receives information from A" may mean that A is the sender of information a and B is the receiver of information a. The information may be forwarded or processed by other intermediate nodes. The specific details are not limited.

[0132] Example 1

[0133] FIG4 is a flow chart of the communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG4 , the flow may include:

[0134] S401: A first terminal device sends first information to an application server.

[0135] The first information is used to create a first communication connection for the first terminal device, and the first communication connection is used for C2 communication; accordingly, the application server receives the first information from the first terminal device.

[0136] Exemplarily, the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection, such as a connection for data or signaling transmission via a PDU session. Alternatively, the first communication connection is a direct C2 communication connection, such as a PC5 connection.

[0137] The first information may include one or more of the following: CAA-Level UAV ID of the first terminal device, and C2 aviation payload (C2aviation payload).

[0138] Among them, the C2 aviation payload may include C2 pairing information and / or flight authorization information, and may also include other possible information, which is not specifically limited. The C2 pairing information may include the CAA-Level UAV ID of the first terminal device, and optionally, also includes the identification information of the peer device paired with the first terminal device (or the peer device of the first communication connection). In an embodiment of the present application, the application server can use its locally configured pairing information to determine the peer device paired with the first terminal device, that is, even if the C2 aviation payload carries the identification information of the peer device paired with the first terminal device, but the pairing information is different from the pairing information locally configured by the application server, the application server can update the peer device paired with the first terminal device.

[0139] Specifically, the first terminal device can add part or all of the first information to the UAS container. The network element in the 3GPP network does not parse the UAS container, but the application server can parse the UAS container, thereby improving transmission efficiency.

[0140] S402: In response to the first information, the application server sends second information to the first terminal device.

[0141] The second information may be used to indicate that the C2 communication adopts a two-way communication connection, where the two-way communication connection includes the first communication connection; accordingly, the first terminal device receives the second information from the application server.

[0142] Specifically, the second information may include C2 pairing information from the application server. For example, in implementation method 1 or implementation method 5 below, the second information includes the address information of the application server and the identification information of the second terminal device in the C2 pairing information. In implementation method 2 below, the second information includes the address information of the application server and the address information b1 of the second terminal device in the C2 pairing information. In implementation method 4 below, the second information includes the address information b1 and the address information b2 of the second terminal device in the C2 pairing information. That is, because the C2 pairing information carries two pieces of address information / identification information, these two pieces of address information / identification information can implicitly indicate that the C2 communication adopts a two-way communication connection. Alternatively, the second information can also be explicit information, explicitly indicating that the C2 communication adopts a two-way communication connection, for example, the second information is a newly added information element, which is not specifically limited.

[0143] The application server may send the second information to the first terminal device in a variety of ways. For example, the application server may invoke the UAV re-authentication process, and then send the second information to the SMF network element through the re-authentication process, and then the SMF network element sends the second information to the first terminal device. For another example, the application server may send the second information to the UAS NF / NEF network element, and then the UAS NF / NEF network element sends the second information to the PCF network element. The PCF network element generates a user routing selection policy (URSP) (or PC5 policy) based on the second information and sends the generated policy to the first terminal device. The policy generated by the PCF network element includes information indicating that C2 communication adopts a two-way communication connection.

[0144] It can be understood that the specific implementation of the application server sending other information (such as the sixth information below) to the first terminal device can refer to the description of "the application server sends the second information to the first terminal device", and this application will not go into details.

[0145] S403: The first terminal device sends third information based on the second information.

[0146] The third information is used to establish a second communication connection for the first terminal device, where the second communication connection is used for C2 communication. Exemplarily, the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection, such as a connection for data or signaling transmission via a PDU session. Alternatively, the second communication connection is a direct C2 communication connection, such as a PC5 connection.

[0147] Specifically, the first terminal device determines that C2 communication adopts a two-way communication connection based on the second information, that is, in addition to the first communication connection, another communication connection (that is, the second communication connection) needs to be created for C2 communication. Therefore, the first terminal device can send the third information to create the second communication connection.

[0148] The first communication connection and the second communication connection are described below in conjunction with implementation manners 1 to 5.

[0149] (1) Implementation method 1

[0150] In implementation manner 1, the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection, and the second communication connection is a direct C2 communication connection.

[0151] Specifically, in S401, the first terminal device may send the first information to the application server in a variety of ways. For example, when the first terminal device determines that C2 communication is required, it may initiate a PDU session establishment process, and then send the first information to the application server through the PDU session establishment process; wherein, the PDU session establishment process is used to establish a PDU session 1 for C2 communication. Alternatively, when the first terminal device has already established a PDU session (for example, for communication with the USS), the first terminal device may also initiate a PDU session modification process, and send the first information to the application server through the PDU session modification process; wherein, the PDU session modification process is used to modify the existing PDU session to a PDU session 1 for C2 communication. Optionally, the first information also includes the IP address of the PDU session 1 of the first terminal device and / or the ID of the PDU session 1.

[0152] In S402, in response to the first information, the application server may further send fifth information to the first terminal device, where the fifth information indicates that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server. Furthermore, the first terminal device determines, based on the fifth information, that the other end device of the first communication connection is the application server. The fifth information may include address information of the application server.

[0153] In this case, the first communication connection associates the address information a1 of the first terminal device with the address information of the application server. The address information a1 of the first terminal device may be the IP address of the PDU session 1.

[0154] In addition, the application server may also send sixth information to the first terminal device, where the sixth information is used to indicate that the two-way communication connection includes a direct C2 communication connection, or in other words, the sixth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a direct C2 communication connection. For example, the sixth information includes at least one of the following: identification information of the direct C2 communication connection (i.e., the application server assigns identification information of the direct C2 communication connection and sends it to the first terminal device); identification information of the second terminal device (i.e., the application server determines the second terminal device paired with the first terminal device and sends the identification information of the second terminal device to the first terminal device). The identification information of the second terminal device may be an application layer identifier (application layer ID) and / or a layer 2 ID (layer-2 ID) of the second terminal device, where layer 2 may refer to a link layer, and the layer 2 ID is used to identify a terminal device performing PROSE communication, such as a PROSE UE ID. The identification information of the direct C2 communication connection and the identification information of the second terminal device may be the same information, i.e., the identification information of the second terminal device may also serve as the identification information of the direct C2 communication connection. In addition, if the sixth information does not include identification information of the second terminal device, the identification information of the second terminal device used for C2 communication with the first terminal device may be pre-configured or provided by the network. For details, refer to the prior art.

[0155] As a possible implementation, the fifth information (such as the address information of the application server) and / or the identification information of the second terminal device can be carried in the C2 pairing information from the application server, and the C2 pairing information can be carried in the C2 authorization payload (C2 authorization payload) or the C2 authorization result (C2 authorization result). For example, in response to the first information, the application server sends a C2 authorization payload or a C2 authorization result to the first terminal device, and the C2 authorization payload or the C2 authorization result includes C2 pairing information, and the C2 pairing information includes the address information of the application server paired with the first terminal device and / or the identification information of the second terminal device. The specific implementation of "the application server sends the fifth information, the seventh information, the eighth information or the ninth information to the first terminal device" below can refer to the description here.

[0156] Then, in S403, the first terminal device sends third information to the second terminal device based on the second information and the sixth information. Exemplarily, the third information includes indication information, which is used to indicate that the C2 communication of the first terminal device utilizes a two-way communication connection, thereby informing the second terminal device that the C2 communication of the first terminal device utilizes a two-way communication connection. Optionally, the third information may also include other possible information, such as identification information of the second terminal device, which is not specifically limited.

[0157] Figure 5A is a schematic diagram of the first communication connection and the second communication connection in Implementation Method 1. As shown in Figure 5A, with respect to the first communication connection: when the first terminal device needs to conduct C2 communication through the first communication connection, the first terminal device can set the source IP address of the data packet to the address information a1 of the first terminal device, and the destination IP address of the data packet to the address information of the application server, and then send the data packet to the application server through the 3GPP network; similarly, when the application server needs to conduct C2 communication through the first communication connection, it can set the source IP address of the data packet to the address information of the application server, and the destination IP address of the data packet to the address information a1 of the first terminal device, and then send the data packet to the first terminal device through the 3GPP network. With respect to the second communication connection: the first terminal device and the second terminal device conduct C2 communication through a direct C2 communication link.

[0158] In addition, after creating the first communication connection and the second communication connection, the first terminal device and the application server can record the identification information of the first communication connection in the two-way communication connection (such as the ID of PDU session 1, or the IP address of PDU session 1, or {IP address of PDU session 1 + address information of the application server}) and the identification information of the second communication connection (such as the ID of the PC5 connection, or the application layer identification and / or layer 2 identification of the second terminal device associated with the PC5 connection).

[0159] (2) Implementation method 2

[0160] In implementation manner 2, the first communication connection and the second communication connection are both network-assisted C2 communication connections.

[0161] Specifically, the implementation of S401 may refer to the description of S401 in implementation method 1.

[0162] In S402, in response to the first information, the application server may also send fifth information to the first terminal device. The fifth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server. Furthermore, based on the fifth information, the first terminal device determines that the other end device of the first communication connection is the application server. The fifth information may include the address information of the application server. In this case, the first communication connection associates the address information a1 of the first terminal device with the address information of the application server. The address information a1 of the first terminal device may be the IP address of PDU session 1.

[0163] In S403, the first terminal device sends the third information to the application server based on the second information. Exemplarily, the third information includes at least one of the following: the CAA-Level UAV ID of the first terminal device, the C2 aviation payload, and optionally, the third information also includes the IP address of the PDU session 2 of the first terminal device and the ID of the PDU session 2. For details, see the description of the first information. In response to the third information, the application server sends the seventh information to the first terminal device. For example, the seventh information includes the address information b1 of the second terminal device. The seventh information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. In this case, the second communication connection is associated with the address information a2 of the first terminal device and the address information b1 of the second terminal device. The address information a2 of the first terminal device is the IP address of the PDU session 2 of the first terminal device, and the address information b1 of the second terminal device is the IP address of the PDU session 3 of the second terminal device.

[0164] 5B is a schematic diagram of the first communication connection and the second communication connection in implementation method 2. After the first communication connection and the second communication connection are created, the first terminal device and the application server may record the identification information of the first communication connection in the two-way communication connection (such as the ID of PDU session 1, or the IP address of PDU session 1, or {the IP address of PDU session 1 + the address information of the application server}) and the identification information of the second communication connection (such as the ID of PDU session 2, or the IP address of PDU session 2, or {the IP address of PDU session 2 + the address information of the application server}).

[0165] It will be appreciated that the above description uses the example of "in response to the first information, the application server sends the application server's address information to the first terminal device." In other examples, in response to the first information, the application server may also send the second terminal device's address information b1 to the first terminal device. For example, the application server sends C2 pairing information to the first terminal device. The C2 pairing information includes the address information of the application server paired with the first terminal device and the address information b1 of the second terminal device. Furthermore, the first terminal device determines that the counterpart device of the first communication connection is the application server based on the application server's address information; and sends third information to the application server based on the second terminal device's address information b1. Furthermore, the above description uses the example of "in response to the third information, the application server sends the second terminal device's address information b1 to the first terminal device." In other examples, in response to the third information, the application server sends C2 pairing information to the first terminal device. The C2 pairing information includes {IP address of PDU session 1 + IP address of PDU session 3; IP address of PDU session 2 + IP address of PDU session 4}. Implementations 3 and 4 described below may also refer to the description herein.

[0166] The above-mentioned implementation method 2 is based on "the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server, and the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device". In other examples, the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server. For details, please refer to the description in implementation method 2.

[0167] (3) Implementation method 3

[0168] In implementation manner 3, the first communication connection and the second communication connection are both network-assisted C2 communication connections.

[0169] Specifically, the implementation of S401 may refer to the description of S401 in implementation method 1.

[0170] In S402, in response to the first information, the application server may further send eighth information to the first terminal device. For example, the eighth information includes the address information b1 of the second terminal device. The eighth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. In this case, the first communication connection is associated with the address information a1 of the first terminal device and the address information b1 of the second terminal device.

[0171] In S403, the first terminal device sends third information to the application server based on the second information. Exemplarily, the third information includes the CAA-Level UAV ID of the first terminal device, the ID of PDU session 2, the C2 aviation payload, and optionally, the IP address of PDU session 2. For details, see the description of the first information. In response to the third information, the application server sends eighth information to the first terminal device, and the eighth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. In this case, the second communication connection is associated with the address information a2 of the first terminal device and the address information b1 of the second terminal device, that is, the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is the same as the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

[0172] 5C is a schematic diagram of the first communication connection and the second communication connection in implementation manner 3. After the first communication connection and the second communication connection are created, the first terminal device and the application server may record the identification information of the first communication connection in the two-way communication connection (such as the ID of PDU session 1, or the IP address of PDU session 1, or {the IP address of PDU session 1 + the IP address of PDU session 3}) and the identification information of the second communication connection (such as the ID of PDU session 2, or the IP address of PDU session 2, or {the IP address of PDU session 2 + the IP address of PDU session 3}).

[0173] (4) Implementation method 4

[0174] In implementation manner 4, the first communication connection and the second communication connection are both network-assisted C2 communication connections.

[0175] Specifically, the implementation of S401 may refer to the description of S401 in implementation method 1.

[0176] In S402, in response to the first information, the application server sends eighth information to the first terminal device. For example, the eighth information includes the address information b1 of the second terminal device. The eighth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. In this case, the first communication connection is associated with the address information a1 of the first terminal device and the address information b1 of the second terminal device.

[0177] In S403, the first terminal device sends third information to the application server based on the second information. Exemplarily, the third information includes at least one of the following: the CAA-Level UAV ID of the first terminal device, the C2 aviation payload, and optionally, the IP address of PDU session 2 and / or the ID of PDU session 2, for details, see the description of the first information. In response to the third information, the application server sends ninth information to the first terminal device, for example, the ninth information includes the address information b2 of the second terminal device, and the ninth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. In this case, the second communication connection is associated with the address information a2 of the first terminal device and the address information b2 of the second terminal device, and the address information b2 of the second terminal device is the IP address of the PDU session 4 of the second terminal device; that is, the address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

[0178] 5D is a schematic diagram of the first communication connection and the second communication connection in implementation manner 4. After the first communication connection and the second communication connection are created, the first terminal device and the application server may record the identification information of the first communication connection in the two-way communication connection (such as the ID of PDU session 1, or the IP address of PDU session 1, or {the IP address of PDU session 1 + the IP address of PDU session 3}) and the identification information of the second communication connection (such as the ID of PDU session 2, or the IP address of PDU session 2, or {the IP address of PDU session 2 + the IP address of PDU session 4}).

[0179] For implementations 3 and 4 above, the application server may further notify the UAVC of the two-way communication connection established by the UAV. For example, in implementation 3, the application server sends {IP address of PDU session 1 + IP address of PDU session 3; IP address of PDU session 2 + IP address of PDU session 3} to the UAVC. For another example, in implementation 3, the application server sends {IP address of PDU session 1 + IP address of PDU session 3; IP address of PDU session 2 + IP address of PDU session 4} to the UAVC. This embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation of the application server notifying the UAVC.

[0180] (5) Implementation method 5

[0181] In implementation manner 5, the first communication connection is a direct C2 communication connection, and the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection.

[0182] Specifically, in S401, the first terminal device can send the first information to the application server through UUAA-MM or UUAA-SM. In this case, the first information also includes indication information, such as the indication information is carried in the C2 aviation payload, and the indication information is used to indicate that the information is used for authentication of direct C2 communication (C2aviation payload with an indication that the authorization is for direct C2communication).

[0183] In S402, in response to the first information, the application server may further send identification information of the second terminal device (such as the application layer identifier and / or layer 2 ID of the second terminal device) to the first terminal device. It is understood that if the first terminal device does not receive the identification information of the second terminal device, the identification information of the second terminal device used for C2 communication with the first terminal device may be pre-configured or provided by the network, without specific limitation.

[0184] In S403, the first terminal device sends tenth information to the second terminal device based on the identification information of the second terminal device to establish a direct C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. Furthermore, the first terminal device sends third information to the application server based on the second information to establish a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server. For specific implementation, refer to Implementation 1 above.

[0185] 5E is a schematic diagram of the first communication connection and the second communication connection in implementation manner 5. After establishing the first communication connection and the second communication connection, the first terminal device and the application server may record identification information of the first communication connection in the two-way communication connection (such as the ID of the PC5 connection, or the application layer identification and / or layer 2 identification of the second terminal device associated with the PC5 connection) and identification information of the second communication connection (such as the ID of PDU session 1, or the IP address of PDU session 1, or {IP address of PDU session 1 + address information of the application server}).

[0186] In addition, optionally, for the network-assisted C2 communication connection, the application server can also initiate a QoS flow configuration process, that is, provide the source IP address and destination IP address of the data flow forwarding to the network elements in the core network. For details, please refer to the existing technology and will not be repeated here.

[0187] Optionally, the above method further includes S404.

[0188] S404: The application server sends fourth information to the first terminal device.

[0189] The fourth information indicates whether the first communication connection is a primary communication connection or a secondary communication connection. Accordingly, the first terminal device uses the primary communication connection in the two-way communication connection for C2 communication based on the fourth information. For example, the first terminal device processes C2 information received on the primary communication connection and ignores C2 information received on the secondary communication connection.

[0190] The fourth information may include identification information of the primary communication connection or identification information of the secondary communication connection.

[0191] There are various specific implementations of the application server sending the fourth information to the first terminal device. For example, the application server can send the fourth information simultaneously with the second information, i.e., S402 and S404 can be executed simultaneously. For another example, the application server can monitor the network status and, when the transmission quality of the first communication connection is higher than the transmission quality of the second communication connection, instruct the first terminal device to use the first communication connection as the primary communication connection and the second communication connection as the secondary communication connection. Subsequently, if the transmission quality of the second communication connection is higher than the transmission quality of the first communication connection, the application server instructs the first terminal device to switch the primary communication connection to the second communication connection and the secondary communication connection to the first communication connection.

[0192] Using the above method, during the process of establishing a first communication connection for C2 communication for a first terminal device, the application server may send second information to the first terminal device, instructing the first terminal device to utilize a dual-path communication connection for C2 communication. The first terminal device may then send third information based on the second information to establish a second communication connection for C2 communication. In this manner, establishing a dual-path communication connection facilitates ensuring the stability of C2 communication. For example, one of the first and second communication connections may serve as the primary communication connection, while the other may serve as the secondary communication connection. The application server may monitor network status and dynamically switch the first or second communication connection to serve as the primary communication connection, thereby ensuring the stability of C2 communication. For another example, with respect to implementation 3 or implementation 4 above, the first and second communication connections may be redundant connections, meaning that the first and second communication connections may be used to transmit the same C2 information. This improves the reliability of C2 communication and facilitates ensuring the stability of C2 communication.

[0193] Based on the description of the first embodiment, a possible implementation process is described below in combination with the second embodiment.

[0194] Example 2

[0195] In the second embodiment, a possible implementation process of the implementation method 1 in the first embodiment will be described.

[0196] FIG6 is a flow chart of the communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG6 , the flow may include:

[0197] S601, the first terminal device (such as UAV) sends a PDU session resource setup request message to the SMF network element.

[0198] Among them, the PDU session establishment request message is used to request the establishment of PDU session 1, and accordingly, the SMF network element receives the PDU session establishment request message.

[0199] Exemplarily, the PDU session establishment request message includes DNN / single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) and first information. For the content of the first information, please refer to the description of Example 1.

[0200] Optionally, the PDU session establishment request message also includes the address information of the application server. If the PDU session establishment request message does not carry the address information of the application server, the network element in the core network can find the corresponding application server through the CAA-Level UAV ID of the first terminal device.

[0201] S602, the SMF network element determines that UUAA-SM needs to be initiated.

[0202] For example, if the SMF network element determines that the DNN / S-NSSAI in the PDU session establishment request message is a DNN / S-NSSAI dedicated to air services, it determines that UUAA-SM needs to be initiated.

[0203] S603, the SMF network element sends an authentication message a1 to the UAS NF / NEF network element; accordingly, the UAS NF / NEF network element receives the authentication message a1.

[0204] Exemplarily, the SMF network element calls the Nnef_Authentication_AuthenticateAuthorize service operation to send an authentication message a1 to the UAS NF / NEF network element, wherein the authentication message a1 includes the first information and other possible information, such as GPSI, which is not specifically limited.

[0205] S604, the UAS NF / NEF network element sends an authentication message a2 to the application server; correspondingly, the application server receives the authentication request message 2.

[0206] Exemplarily, the UAS NF / NEF network element invokes the Naf_Authentication_AuthenticateAuthorize service operation to send an authentication message a2 to the application server, wherein the authentication message a2 includes the first information and other possible information, which is not specifically limited.

[0207] S605: The application server returns an authentication notification message a2 to the UAS NF / NEF network element; accordingly, the UAS NF / NEF network element receives the authentication notification message a2.

[0208] Exemplarily, the application server calls the Naf_Authentication_AuthenticateAuthorize response service operation and returns an authentication notification message a2 to the UAS NF / NEF network element.

[0209] The authentication notification message a2 includes the result of UUAA (such as UUAA success), the second information and the sixth information.

[0210] Optionally, the authentication notification message a2 also includes C2 pairing information, which is the address information of the application server paired with the first terminal device; optionally, the C2 pairing information also includes identification information of the second terminal device (such as application layer identification and / or layer 2 identification).

[0211] Optionally, the authentication notification message a2 further includes fourth information.

[0212] The "authentication notification message" in the embodiment of the present application can also be replaced by "authentication response message". The embodiment of the present application does not limit the message name.

[0213] S606, the UAS NF / NEF network element sends an authentication notification message a1 to the SMF network element; accordingly, the SMF network element receives the authentication notification message a1.

[0214] Exemplarily, the UAS NF / NEF network element invokes the Nnef_Authentication_AuthenticateAuthorize response service operation to send an authentication notification message a1 to the SMF network element, wherein the content of the authentication notification message a1 may be the same as the content of the authentication notification message a2.

[0215] S607, the SMF network element sends a PDU session establishment response message to the first terminal device.

[0216] Exemplarily, the PDU session establishment response message includes the UUAA result, the second information and the sixth information.

[0217] Optionally, the PDU session establishment response message also includes C2 pairing information.

[0218] Optionally, the PDU session establishment response message also includes fourth information.

[0219] S608: The first terminal device sends third information to the second terminal device according to the second information and the sixth information to establish a first communication connection (direct C2 communication connection).

[0220] The third information is used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device; accordingly, the second terminal device receives the third information and establishes a second communication connection with the first terminal device based on the third information.

[0221] Furthermore, the first terminal device may determine the primary communication connection according to the fourth information, and use the primary communication connection to perform C2 communication.

[0222] It is understandable that the above description is based on the session establishment process as an example. The first communication connection can also be established through the session modification process. For example, the above PDU session establishment request message can also be replaced by a PDU session modification request message. The above description is based on implementation method 1 in embodiment 1 as an example. Implementation methods 2 to 4 in embodiment 1 can be implemented with reference to them. The difference is that: in implementation method 1, the first terminal device sends the third information to the second terminal device; in implementation methods 2 to 4, the first terminal device sends the third information to the application server.

[0223] Example 3

[0224] In the third embodiment, a possible implementation process of the implementation method 5 in the first embodiment will be described.

[0225] FIG7 is a flow chart of the communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG7 , the flow may include:

[0226] S701, the first terminal device (i.e., UAV) sends a registration request message to the AMF network element; accordingly, the AMF network element receives the registration request message.

[0227] Here, the registration request message is a non-access stratum (NAS) message, and the registration request message may include a registration type, such as initial registration. Optionally, the registration request message also includes a subscription concealed identifier (SUCI), such as a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) type, a home network identifier, a routing identifier, and a SUPI protection algorithm identifier. SUCI is an encrypted version of SUPI, used to ensure that SUPI is not leaked over the air interface and to ensure normal authentication between the terminal device and the network.

[0228] Furthermore, the registration request message also includes first information, such as the first information including the CAA-Level UAV ID of the first terminal device, the C2 aviation payload, and optionally, the address information of the application server. The C2 aviation payload carries indication information, which is used to indicate that UUAA-MM is used for direct C2 communication; the address information of the application server is used by the core network to find the application server corresponding to the UAV for UUAA. If the registration request message does not carry the address information of the application server, the core network can find the corresponding application server through the CAA-Level UAV ID.

[0229] It is understood that the terminal device and the AMF network element can communicate through the access network device. For example, the terminal device can send an RRC message to the access network device, and the RRC message includes a registration request message. In response, after receiving the RRC message, the access network device can forward the registration request message to the AMF network element.

[0230] S702, the AMF network element determines that the terminal device needs to perform UUAA-MM.

[0231] Exemplarily, after the AMF network element determines that the terminal device is a UAV, it can determine that the terminal device needs to perform UUAA-MM. For example, the AMF network element obtains the contract data of the terminal device. If the contract data includes aerial UE subscription information, it determines that the terminal device needs to perform UUAA-MM; or, the AMF network element determines that the terminal device needs to perform UUAA-MM based on the CAA-Level UAV ID carried in the registration request message.

[0232] S703, the AMF network element sends an authentication message b1 to the UAS NF / NEF network element; accordingly, the UAS NF / NEF network element receives the authentication message b1.

[0233] Exemplarily, the AMF network element calls the Nnef_Authentication_AuthenticateAuthorize service operation and sends an authentication message b1 to the UAS NF / NEF network element. The authentication message b1 includes the first information and other possible information, such as GPSI, which is not specifically limited.

[0234] S704, the UAS NF / NEF network element sends an authentication message b2 to the application server; correspondingly, the application server receives the authentication message b2.

[0235] Exemplarily, the UAS NF / NEF network element calls the Naf_Authentication_AuthenticateAuthorize operation to send an authentication message b2 to the application server. The authentication message a2 includes the first information and other possible information, which is not specifically limited.

[0236] S705: The application server returns an authentication notification message b2 to the UAS NF / NEF network element; accordingly, the UAS NF / NEF network element receives the authentication notification message b2.

[0237] Exemplarily, the application server calls the Naf_Authentication_AuthenticateAuthorize response service operation and returns an authentication notification message a2 to the UAS NF / NEF network element.

[0238] Among them, the authentication notification message b2 includes the result of UUAA (such as UUAA success), the second information, and optionally, also includes C2 pairing information, and the C2 pairing information includes the identification information of the second terminal device paired with the first terminal device (such as application layer identification and / or layer 2 identification).

[0239] Optionally, the authentication notification message b2 further includes fourth information.

[0240] S706, the UAS NF / NEF network element returns the authentication notification message b1 to the AMF network element; accordingly, the AMF network element receives the authentication notification message b1.

[0241] Exemplarily, the UAS NF / NEF network element invokes the Nnef_Authentication_AuthenticateAuthorize response service operation to send an authentication notification message b1 to the SMF network element, wherein the content of the authentication notification message b1 may be the same as the content of the authentication notification message b2.

[0242] S707, the AMF network element sends a registration accept message to the first terminal device.

[0243] Exemplarily, the registration accept message includes the result of the UUAA and the second information.

[0244] Optionally, the registration acceptance message further includes C2 pairing information.

[0245] Optionally, the registration acceptance message further includes fourth information.

[0246] S708: The first terminal device establishes a direct C2 communication connection with the second terminal device according to the identification information of the second terminal device in the C2 pairing information.

[0247] S709, the first terminal device sends the second information, and sends the third information to the application server, where the third information is used to request to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device.

[0248] S710: The application server sends fifth information to the first terminal device, where the fifth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server.

[0249] Furthermore, the first terminal device may determine the primary communication connection according to the fourth information, and use the primary communication connection to perform C2 communication.

[0250] In addition, the above is an example of using UUAA-MM for direct C2 communication. The specific implementation of using UUAA-SM for direct C2 communication can be referred to and will not be repeated here.

[0251] With respect to the above embodiments, it can be understood that:

[0252] (1) In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or logically conflicting, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and may be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logical relationships. In addition, within the same embodiment, different implementations or different examples may also reference or refer to each other.

[0253] (2) The various numerical numbers involved in this application are only for the convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. The step numbers in the above flowcharts are only examples of the execution process and do not constitute a restriction on the order of execution of the steps. That is, the size of the step numbers does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each step should be determined by its function and internal logic. In addition, not all the steps shown in the flowcharts are required to be executed. Some steps can be added or deleted based on actual needs.

[0254] The above mainly introduces the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of the interaction between the first terminal device and the application server. It is understandable that in order to achieve the above functions, the first terminal device and the application server may include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily appreciate that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in a hardware or computer software driven hardware manner depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0255] In the embodiment of the present application, the first terminal device and the application server can be divided into functional units according to the above method example. For example, different functional units can be divided according to different functions, or two or more functions can be integrated into one unit. The above integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0256] In the case of adopting an integrated unit, Figure 8 shows a possible exemplary block diagram of the device involved in the embodiments of the present application. As shown in Figure 8, the device 800 may include: a processing unit 802 and a communication unit 803. The processing unit 802 is used to control and manage the actions of the device 800. The communication unit 803 is used to support the communication between the device 800 and other devices. Optionally, the communication unit 803 is also called a transceiver unit, and may include a receiving unit and / or a sending unit, which are used to perform receiving and sending operations respectively. The device 800 may also include a storage unit 801 for storing program code and / or data of the device 800.

[0257] (1) The apparatus 800 may be the first terminal device in the above-mentioned embodiments (e.g., Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2). The processing unit 802 may support the apparatus 800 in executing the actions of the first terminal device in each of the above-mentioned method embodiments. Alternatively, the processing unit 802 may primarily execute the internal actions of the first terminal device in the method embodiments, and the communication unit 803 may support communication between the apparatus 800 and other devices.

[0258] For example, in one embodiment, the communication unit 803 is used to: send first information to an application server, wherein the first information is used to create a first communication connection for a first terminal device, and the first communication connection is used to command and control C2 communication; receive second information from the application server, wherein the second information is used to indicate that the C2 communication adopts a two-way communication connection, and the two-way communication connection includes the first communication connection; and send third information based on the second information, wherein the third information is used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device, and the second communication connection is used for the C2 communication.

[0259] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is also used to: receive fourth information from the application server, the fourth information being used to indicate whether the first communication connection is a primary communication connection or a secondary communication connection; and according to the fourth information, use the primary communication connection in the dual-way communication connection to perform the C2 communication.

[0260] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is further used to: receive fifth information from the application server, where the fifth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server.

[0261] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is also used to: receive sixth information from the application server, the sixth information being used to indicate that the two-way communication connection includes a direct C2 communication connection; and sending third information based on the second information, including: sending the third information to the second terminal device based on the second information and the sixth information, the second communication connection being a direct C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0262] In one possible design, the sixth information includes at least one of the following: identification information of the PC5 connection; identification information of the second terminal device.

[0263] In one possible design, sending the third information based on the second information includes: sending the third information to the application server based on the second information; the communication unit 803 is also used to: receive the seventh information from the application server, and the seventh information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0264] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is further used to: receive eighth information from the application server, and the eighth address information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0265] In one possible design, sending the third information based on the second information includes: sending the third information to the application server based on the second information; the communication unit 803 is also used to: receive ninth information from the application server, and the ninth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; wherein the address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

[0266] In one possible design, sending the third information based on the second information includes: sending the third information to the application server based on the second information; the communication unit 803 is also used to: receive the eighth information from the application server, and the eighth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; wherein the address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is the same as the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

[0267] In one possible design, sending the third information based on the second information includes: sending the third information to the application server based on the second information; the communication unit 803 is also used to: receive fifth information from the application server, and the fifth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server.

[0268] (2) The apparatus 800 may be the application server described in the aforementioned embodiments (e.g., Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2). The processing unit 802 may support the apparatus 800 in executing the actions of the application server described in the aforementioned method embodiments. Alternatively, the processing unit 802 may primarily execute the internal actions of the application server described in the method embodiments, and the communication unit 803 may support communication between the apparatus 800 and other devices.

[0269] For example, in one embodiment, the communication unit 803 is used to: receive first information from a first terminal device, the first information is used to create a first communication connection for the first terminal device, and the first communication connection is used for C2 communication; in response to the first information, send second information to the first terminal device, and the second information is used to indicate that the C2 communication adopts a two-way communication connection, and the two-way communication connection includes the first communication connection.

[0270] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is further used to: send fourth information to the first terminal device, where the fourth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a primary communication connection or a secondary communication connection.

[0271] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is further used to: in response to the first information, send fifth information to the first terminal device, and the fifth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server.

[0272] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is further used to: send sixth information to the first terminal device, where the sixth information is used to indicate that the two-way communication connection includes a direct C2 communication connection.

[0273] In one possible design, the sixth information includes at least one of the following: identification information of the PC5 connection; identification information of the second terminal device.

[0274] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is also used to: receive third information from the first terminal device, the third information being used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device, the second communication connection being used for the C2 communication; and in response to the third information, send seventh information to the first terminal device, the seventh information being used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0275] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is further used to: in response to the first information, send eighth information to the first terminal device, and the eighth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0276] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is also used to: receive third information from the first terminal device, the third information is used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device, and the second communication connection is used for the C2 communication; in response to the third information, send ninth information to the first terminal device, the ninth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the third address information is different from the second address information; wherein the address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

[0277] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is also used to: receive third information from the first terminal device, the third information is used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device, and the second communication connection is used for the C2 communication; in response to the third information, send the eighth information to the first terminal device, and the eighth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; wherein the address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is the same as the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

[0278] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is also used to: receive third information from the first terminal device, the third information is used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device, and the second communication connection is used for the C2 communication; in response to the third information, send fifth information to the first terminal device, and the fifth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server.

[0279] It should be understood that the division of units in the above device is merely a division of logical functions. In actual implementation, they can be fully or partially integrated into one physical entity, or they can be physically separated. Moreover, the units in the device can all be implemented in the form of software calling through processing elements; or they can all be implemented in the form of hardware; or some units can be implemented in the form of software calling through processing elements, and some units can be implemented in the form of hardware. For example, each unit can be a separately established processing element, or it can be integrated into a certain chip of the device. In addition, it can also be stored in the memory in the form of a program, called by a certain processing element of the device and execute the function of the unit. In addition, all or part of these units can be integrated together, or they can be implemented independently. The processing element described here can also be a processor, which can be an integrated circuit with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each operation of the above method or each unit above can be implemented by the integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor element or in the form of software calling through the processing element.

[0280] In one example, the unit in any of the above devices can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method, such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more digital singnal processors (DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms. For another example, when the unit in the device can be implemented in the form of a processing element scheduler, the processing element can be a processor, such as a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), or other processor that can call a program. For another example, these units can be integrated together and implemented in the form of a SoC.

[0281] The above-mentioned receiving unit is an interface circuit of the device, which is used to receive signals from other devices. For example, when the device is implemented as a chip, the receiving unit is the interface circuit of the chip used to receive signals from other chips or devices. The above-mentioned sending unit is an interface circuit of the device, which is used to send signals to other devices. For example, when the device is implemented as a chip, the sending unit is the interface circuit of the chip used to send signals to other chips or devices.

[0282] Based on the above embodiments, embodiments of the present application further provide a communication device. Referring to FIG9 , the communication device 900 may include a processor 901. Optionally, the communication device 900 may further include a memory 902. The memory 902 may be disposed inside the communication device 900 or outside the communication device 900. Optionally, the communication device 900 may further include a transceiver (not shown in the figure).

[0283] Specifically, the processor 901 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP. The processor 901 may further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

[0284] The processor 901 and the memory 902 are interconnected. Optionally, the processor 901 and the memory 902 are interconnected via a bus 903; the bus 903 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, FIG9 shows only one thick line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0285] In an optional embodiment, the memory 902 is used to store programs, etc. Specifically, the programs may include program code, which includes computer operating instructions. The memory 902 may include RAM, or may also include non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as one or more disk storage devices. The processor 901 executes the application stored in the memory 902 to implement the above functions, thereby realizing the functions of the communication device 900.

[0286] Exemplarily, the communication device 900 may be the terminal device in the above embodiment; or may be the network device in the above embodiment.

[0287] In one embodiment, when the communication device 900 implements the functions of the first terminal device in the above method embodiment, the transceiver may implement the transceiver operations performed by the first terminal device in the above method embodiment; and the processor 901 may implement other operations performed by the first terminal device in the above method embodiment in addition to the transceiver operations. For specific details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the above embodiments and will not be described in detail here.

[0288] In another embodiment, when the communication device 900 implements the functions of the application server in the above method embodiment, the transceiver may implement the transceiver operations performed by the application server in the above method embodiment; and the processor 901 may implement other operations performed by the application server in the above method embodiment in addition to the transceiver operations. For specific details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the above embodiment and will not be described in detail here.

[0289] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes the first terminal device and application server involved in the above embodiment, and optionally, also includes the second terminal device involved in the above embodiment.

[0290] The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" refers to one or more, and "plurality" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, "at least one of A, B and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. And, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects.

[0291] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application can adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application can adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

[0292] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the flow chart and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more flow charts and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0293] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0294] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0295] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of this application fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application is intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a first terminal device or a chip in the first terminal device, and the method includes: Sending first information to the application server, where the first information is used to establish a first communication connection for the first terminal device, where the first communication connection is used for command and control C2 communication; receiving second information from the application server, where the second information is used to indicate that the C2 communication adopts a two-way communication connection, where the two-way communication connection includes the first communication connection; According to the second information, third information is sent, where the third information is used to create a second communication connection for the first terminal device, and the second communication connection is used for the C2 communication.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving fourth information from the application server, where the fourth information is used to indicate whether the first communication connection is a primary communication connection or a secondary communication connection; According to the fourth information, the C2 communication is performed using the primary communication connection in the two-way communication connection.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: Fifth information is received from the application server, where the fifth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving sixth information from the application server, the sixth information being used to indicate that the two-way communication connection includes a direct C2 communication connection; The sending of third information according to the second information includes: The third information is sent to the second terminal device according to the second information and the sixth information, where the second communication connection is a direct C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The sixth information includes at least one of the following: Identification information of the PC5 connection; Identification information of the second terminal device.

6. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The sending of third information according to the second information includes: sending the third information to the application server according to the second information; The method further comprises: Seventh information is received from the application server, where the seventh information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

7. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: Eighth information is received from the application server, where the eighth address information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The sending of third information according to the second information includes: sending the third information to the application server according to the second information; The method further comprises: receiving ninth information from the application server, where the ninth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; The address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

9. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The sending of third information according to the second information includes: sending the third information to the application server according to the second information; The method further comprises: receiving the eighth information from the application server, where the eighth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; The address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is the same as the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

10. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The sending of third information according to the second information includes: sending the third information to the application server according to the second information; The method further comprises: Fifth information is received from the application server, where the fifth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server.

11. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to an application server or a chip in the application server, and the method includes: receiving first information from a first terminal device, where the first information is used to establish a first communication connection for the first terminal device, where the first communication connection is used for C2 communication; In response to the first information, second information is sent to the first terminal device, where the second information is used to indicate that the C2 communication adopts a two-way communication connection, and the two-way communication connection includes the first communication connection.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send fourth information to the first terminal device, where the fourth information is used to indicate whether the first communication connection is a primary communication connection or a secondary communication connection.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: In response to the first information, fifth information is sent to the first terminal device, where the fifth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sixth information is sent to the first terminal device, where the sixth information is used to indicate that the two-way communication connection includes a direct C2 communication connection.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The sixth information includes at least one of the following: Identification information of the PC5 connection; Identification information of the second terminal device.

16. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving third information from the first terminal device, where the third information is used to establish a second communication connection for the first terminal device, where the second communication connection is used for the C2 communication; In response to the third information, seventh information is sent to the first terminal device, where the seventh information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

17. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: In response to the first information, eighth information is sent to the first terminal device, where the eighth information is used to indicate that the first communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and a second terminal device.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving third information from the first terminal device, where the third information is used to establish a second communication connection for the first terminal device, where the second communication connection is used for the C2 communication; In response to the third information, sending ninth information to the first terminal device, the ninth information being used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the third address information is different from the second address information; The address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein The method further comprises: receiving third information from the first terminal device, where the third information is used to establish a second communication connection for the first terminal device, where the second communication connection is used for the C2 communication; In response to the third information, sending the eighth information to the first terminal device, where the eighth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; The address information of the first terminal device associated with the first communication connection is different from the address information of the first terminal device associated with the second communication connection, and the address information of the second terminal device associated with the first communication connection is the same as the address information of the second terminal device associated with the second communication connection.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein The method further comprises: receiving third information from the first terminal device, where the third information is used to establish a second communication connection for the first terminal device, where the second communication connection is used for the C2 communication; In response to the third information, fifth information is sent to the first terminal device, where the fifth information is used to indicate that the second communication connection is a network-assisted C2 communication connection between the first terminal device and the application server.

21. A communication system, characterized in that: The system includes a first terminal device and an application server; The first terminal device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, and the application server is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising means for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20.

23. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor coupled to a memory, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory; the processor is used to call part or all of the computer program in the memory so that the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20 is executed.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The storage medium stores a computer program, and when part or all of the computer program is executed by a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20 is executed.

25. A computer program product, characterized in that When a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20 is performed.

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