Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus. In the method, a protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment request received by a core network device carries first slice information and / or first indication information, and both the first slice information and the first indication information can reflect requesting the establishment of a PDU session of a mobile terminal (MT) of a relay device; and then the core network device allocates a common quality of service (QoS) suitable for the MT to the PDU session of the MT, thus avoiding the allocation of excessive high or excessive low QoS to MTs, which affects service transmission of terminal devices accessing the network by means of relay devices, thereby helping to improve the resource utilization rate.

Description

Communication method and communication apparatus

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202410404573.4, filed on April 3, 2024, and entitled "A communication method and a communication apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication, in particular to a communication method and a communication apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0003] Relay devices are generally deployed in areas with poor signal coverage, to expand or improve network coverage. The 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) is discussing a new type of relay device: wireless access backhaul (WAB) device. The WAB device includes next generation node B (gNB) function (referred to as WAB-gNB) and mobile terminal (MT) function (referred to as WAB-MT). Among them, the UE part of the WAB device (i.e., WAB-MT) has an air interface connection (e.g., Un interface connection) with the donor node (donor-gNB); the gNB part of the relay device (i.e., WAB-gNB) has a communication interface (e.g., Xn interface and NG interface) with the donor node (i.e., donor-gNB). The WAB-MT can be authorized by the core network according to the protocol stack of the ordinary terminal device, establish a protocol data unit (PDU) session with the core network, and obtain the quality of service (QoS) allocated by the core network, etc.

[0004] When allocating QoS to a terminal device, the core network device will refer to the service requirement of the terminal device, so as to allocate QoS (e.g., QoS flow of PDU session and QoS parameter, etc.) to the terminal device on demand. However, the WAB-MT does not have a spontaneous service requirement, and the core network device is not easy to allocate appropriate QoS to the WAB-MT. Therefore, how the core network device configures appropriate QoS for the WAB-MT becomes a problem to be solved. SUMMARY

[0005] The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are used for realizing that a core network device configures a suitable QoS for a WAB-MT and configures a suitable QoS for a terminal device.

[0006] In a first aspect, the application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a core network device (for example, a core network device of a relay device) or a component (for example, a processor, a chip or a chip system, or the like) of the core network device. Taking the core network device as an example, the core network device receives a PDU session establishment request, and the PDU session establishment request includes first slice information and / or first indication information. The first slice information is used to indicate that the PDU session establishment request is used to request to establish a PDU session of a mobile terminal MT of a relay device, and the first indication information is used to indicate that a communication device initiating the PDU session establishment request is the MT of the relay device. Then, the core network device sends a PDU session resource establishment request to a host node of the relay device, and the PDU session resource establishment request includes a common quality of service (QoS) of the PDU session of the MT determined by the core network device.

[0007] In the aspect, the first slice information and / or the first indication information carried in the PDU session establishment request received by the core network device can reflect that the PDU session of the MT of the relay device is requested to be established, and then the core network device allocates a common QoS suitable for the MT to the PDU session of the MT, so that the QoS of the MT allocated can be prevented from being too high or too low to affect the service transmission of a terminal device accessing the network through the relay device, and the resource utilization rate is improved.

[0008] In a possible implementation, the first slice information includes a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate a common type of slice; or a default type of slice; or a general type of slice. The common type of slice (or the default type of slice, or the general type of slice) indicates that the QoS of the PDU session established this time is not customized for a specific slice type, and a plurality of different types of services can be carried in the PDU session.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the first slice information includes a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate a dummy slice (also referred to as a meaningless slice or a false slice). It can be understood that the first slice identifier carried in the PDU session request is a formal slice identifier without actual slice meaning. For example, the first slice identifier can be a value that does not represent any valid slice type; or the first slice identifier is a random value.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the first slice information includes a second slice identifier, and the second slice identifier is used to indicate a slice of the MT of the relay device. It can also be understood that a slice identifier that is special for the WAB-MT is added, which is different from the slice identifier of the conventional terminal device. Since it is defined that only the MT uses the second slice identifier, the conventional terminal device does not use the second slice identifier, and the core network device can determine, based on the received second slice identifier, that the PDU session established this time is the PDU session of the MT.

[0011] In this embodiment, the accuracy and efficiency of the core network device in determining the initiator of the PDU session are improved by adding a slice identifier that is special for the WAB-MT, so as to enable the core network device to determine a suitable QoS for the MT.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the first slice information is information that does not include a slice identifier. The PDU session establishment request in the conventional technology has a bit for carrying a slice identifier, and the bit for carrying the slice identifier in the PDU session establishment request sent by the MT in this embodiment is empty and does not carry a slice identifier, that is, the first slice information is implicitly indicated by emptying the bit for carrying the slice identifier in the PDU session establishment request, so as to indicate the core network device that the PDU session established this time is the PDU session of the MT.

[0013] In this embodiment, the core network device can determine whether the PDU session established this time is the PDU session of the MT by reading the result of the bit for carrying the slice identifier without modifying the behavior of the relay device, and therefore, the processing complexity of the relay device is reduced.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the PDU session establishment request further includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the first slice information. It can also be understood that the second indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the slice information in the PDU session establishment request. After receiving the PDU session establishment request, the core network device does not view or use the slice information in the PDU session establishment request, or the core network device can obtain the first slice information in the PDU session establishment request, but the core network device does not query the subscription information of the MT based on the first slice information. Therefore, the second indication information can also be understood as being used to instruct the core network device to not query the subscription information of the MT based on the first slice information, or the second indication information is used to instruct the core network device to not query the subscription information of the MT based on the slice information in the PDU session establishment request.

[0015] In this embodiment, the core network device determines that the current PDU session is not related to a certain specific slice based on the second indication information, and configures a common QoS for the PDU session in order to guarantee the service requirement of the initiator of the PDU session as much as possible, which is beneficial to reasonably allocate QoS resources and improve resource utilization.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the PDU session is a PDU session established after authorization of the MT, and the PDU session is used for control plane transmission of the relay device. Optionally, the PDU session is also used for user plane transmission of the relay device.

[0017] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a relay device or a component (for example, a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.) of the relay device. Taking the relay device as an example, the relay device sends a PDU session establishment request, and the PDU session establishment request includes first slice information and / or first indication information. The first slice information is used to indicate that the PDU session establishment request is to establish a PDU session of an MT of the relay device, and the first indication information is used to indicate that a communication apparatus initiating the PDU session establishment request is the MT of the relay device.

[0018] In this aspect, the first slice information and / or the first indication information carried in the PDU session establishment request sent by the relay device can reflect that the PDU session of the MT of the relay device is to be established, so that the core network device allocates a common QoS suitable for the MT for the PDU session of the MT, thereby avoiding that the QoS of the MT is too high or too low to affect the service transmission of a terminal device accessing the network through the relay device, and improving resource utilization.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving, by the relay device, bearer configuration information of the MT sent by the host node, the bearer configuration information being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS of the PDU session of the MT and a bearer of the MT, and the QoS of the PDU session of the MT being a common QoS of the PDU session determined by the core network device.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the first slice information includes a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate any one of the following types of slices: a common type of slice; or a default type of slice; or a non-active slice.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the first slice information includes a second slice identifier, and the second slice identifier is used to indicate a slice of the MT of the relay device.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the first slice information is information not including a slice identifier.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the PDU session establishment request further includes second indication information, the second indication information being used to instruct the core network device to ignore the first slice information.

[0024] In a possible implementation, the PDU session is a PDU session established after authorization for the MT, and the PDU session is used for control plane transmission of the relay device. Optionally, the PDU session is also used for user plane transmission of the relay device.

[0025] It should be noted that the specific implementation and advantages of the present aspect are similar to those of some of the implementations of the first aspect, and details can be referred to the specific implementation and advantages of the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0026] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a core network device (for example, a core network device of a terminal device) or a component (for example, a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.) of the core network device. Taking the core network device as an example, the core network device receives a PDU session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request including third indication information and / or second slice information. The third indication information is used to indicate that a terminal device initiating the PDU session establishment request accesses a network through a relay device, and the second slice information is used to indicate a PDU session requested to be established by a terminal device accessing the relay device. Then, the core network device sends a PDU session resource establishment request to the relay device, the PDU session resource establishment request including a common quality of service (QoS) of the PDU session of the terminal device determined by the core network device.

[0027] In the present aspect, a terminal device accessing a network through a relay device carries second slice information and / or third indication information in a PDU session establishment request, so as to make the core network device determine the fact that the terminal device accesses the network through the relay device, and configure common slice transmission resources for the terminal device. Since the relay device needs to pass through one-hop wireless backhaul, the actual QoS requirement of the terminal device can be difficult to guarantee, and therefore, configuring a common QoS for the terminal device is beneficial to guarantee the basic quality of service provided for the terminal device, avoid configuring a too high QoS for the terminal device while being limited by the QoS of the relay device, and improve the utilization rate of resources.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the second slice information includes a first slice identifier, the first slice identifier being used to indicate any one of the following types of slices: a common type of slice; or a default type of slice; or a non-active slice.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the second slice information is information that does not include a slice identifier. The PDU session establishment request in the prior art has a bit for carrying a slice identifier, and the bit in the PDU session establishment request sent by the terminal device in the embodiment is empty and does not carry a slice identifier, that is, the bit for carrying a slice identifier in the PDU session establishment request is empty to implicitly indicate the second slice information, thereby indicating that the PDU session established by the core network device this time is the PDU session of the terminal device. This is advantageous to the core network device to accurately determine the type of the terminal device (that is, the terminal device is a terminal device that accesses the network through a relay device).

[0030] In a possible implementation, the PDU session establishment request further includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the second slice information.

[0031] In the embodiment, the core network device determines, based on the fourth indication information, that the current PDU session is not related to a certain specific slice, and configures a common QoS for the PDU session in order to guarantee the service requirement of the initiator of the PDU session as much as possible, which is advantageous to rationally allocate QoS resources and improve resource utilization.

[0032] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or a component (for example, a processor, a chip or a chip system, or the like) of the terminal device. Taking the terminal device as an example, the terminal device sends a PDU session establishment request, and the PDU session establishment request includes third indication information and / or second slice information. The third indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device that sends the PDU session establishment request accesses a network through a relay device, and the second slice information is used to indicate a PDU session requested to be established by the terminal device that accesses the relay device.

[0033] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving, by the terminal device, bearer configuration information of the terminal device sent by the relay device, and the bearer configuration information is used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS of a PDU session of the terminal device and a bearer of the terminal device.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the second slice information includes a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate any one of the following types of slices:

[0035] a common type of slice; or a default type of slice; or a non-functional slice.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the second slice information is information that does not include a slice identifier.

[0037] In a possible implementation, the PDU session establishment request further includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the second slice information.

[0038] It should be noted that the specific embodiments and advantages of the present aspect are similar to some of the embodiments of the third aspect described above, and specific embodiments and advantages can be referred to the specific embodiments and advantages of the third aspect, which will not be described here.

[0039] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a relay device or a component (for example, a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.) of the relay device. Taking the relay device as an example, the relay device receives a first mapping relationship, the first mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a quality of service flow identifier (QFI) of a master terminal (MT) of the relay device and a quality of service (QoS) parameter of the MT; then, the relay device receives bearer configuration information of the MT sent by a host node of the relay device, the bearer configuration information of the MT including a second mapping relationship, the second mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QFI of the MT and a bearer of the MT; then, the relay device determines a third mapping relationship based on the first mapping relationship, the second mapping relationship and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter, the mapping rule of the QoS parameter being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QoS parameter of a terminal device, the third mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, and the terminal device accesses a network through the relay device.

[0040] In the present aspect, the relay device can obtain the first mapping relationship (i.e., the QFI of the MT ~ the QoS parameter of the MT) and the second mapping relationship (i.e., the QFI of the MT and the bearer of the MT), and perform reasonable bearer mapping based on the correlation of the QoS (i.e., the mapping rule of the QoS parameter). This is conducive to ensuring that the uplink data of the terminal device can be accurately mapped to the bearer of the MT, and ensuring that the downlink data of the terminal device can be accurately mapped to the bearer of the terminal device. This is conducive to improving the efficiency of data transmission of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the first mapping relationship is carried in a PDU session establishment accept message.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the PDU session establishment accept message includes an authorized QoS flow description information element, and the authorized QoS flow description information element carries the first mapping relationship.

[0043] In a possible implementation, the mapping rule of the QoS parameter includes: the QoS parameter of the MT is not worse than the QoS parameter of the terminal device. In the embodiment, since the terminal device accesses the network through the relay device, when the QoS parameter of the MT is not worse than the QoS parameter of the terminal device, the service quality of the service of the terminal device is guaranteed, and resource waste caused by configuring the MT with too high QoS parameter is avoided.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0045] The relay device obtains the QoS parameter of the terminal device; then, the relay device determines the QoS parameter of the MT based on the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter; then, the relay device determines the QFI of the MT based on the QoS parameter of the MT and the first mapping relationship; then, the relay device determines the bearer of the MT based on the QFI of the MT and the second mapping relationship; and then, the relay device sends the uplink data through the bearer of the MT.

[0046] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0047] The relay device determines the QFI of the MT based on the bearer of the MT and the second mapping relationship; then, the relay device determines the QoS parameter of the MT based on the QFI of the MT and the first mapping relationship; then, the relay device determines the QoS parameter of the terminal device based on the QoS parameter of the MT and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter; then, the relay device determines the bearer of the terminal device based on the QoS parameter of the terminal device; and then, the relay device receives the downlink data through the bearer of the terminal device.

[0048] In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication method can be performed by a core network device (for example, a core network device of a relay device) or a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the core network device. For example, the core network device receives a PDU session establishment request. In a case where it is determined that the PDU session request is a request for establishing a PDU session of a MT of the relay device, the core network device sends a first mapping relationship. The first mapping relationship is a mapping relationship between a QFI of the MT and a QoS parameter of the MT. The first mapping relationship is used to determine a third mapping relationship in combination with a second mapping relationship and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter. The second mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QFI of the MT and a bearer of the MT. The mapping rule of the QoS parameter is used to indicate an association relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QoS parameter of a terminal device. The third mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT.

[0049] In a possible implementation, the PDU session establishment request comprises first slice information and / or first indication information, the first slice information is used to indicate that the PDU session establishment request is used to request to establish a PDU session of the MT of the relay device, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the communication apparatus initiating the PDU session establishment request is the MT of the relay device.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the first slice information comprises a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate any one of the following types of slices: a common type of slice; or a default type of slice; or a non-working slice.

[0051] In a possible implementation, the first slice information comprises a second slice identifier, and the second slice identifier is used to indicate a slice of the MT of the relay device.

[0052] In a possible implementation, the first slice information is information that does not comprise a slice identifier.

[0053] In a possible implementation, the PDU session establishment request further comprises second indication information, and the second indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the first slice information.

[0054] It should be noted that the specific implementation and advantages of the present aspect are similar to some of the implementation modes of the fifth aspect, and specific implementation and advantages of the fifth aspect can be referred to for details, which will not be described here.

[0055] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a host node (for example, a host node of a relay device) or a component (for example, a processor, a chip or a chip system, or the like) of the host node. Taking the host node as an example, the host node receives a fourth mapping relationship from a relay device, the fourth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of a terminal device and a bearer of the terminal device, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and a QFI of the terminal device, the terminal device accessing a network through the relay device; the host node determines a sixth mapping relationship based on the fourth mapping relationship, a fifth mapping relationship and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter; wherein the fifth mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of an MT of the relay device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QFI of the MT; the mapping rule of the QoS parameter is used to indicate an association relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QoS parameter of the terminal device; the sixth mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT; and the host node sends the sixth mapping relationship to the relay device.

[0056] In the present aspect, the relay device notifies the host node of the fourth mapping relationship, the host node determines the sixth mapping relationship based on the fourth mapping relationship, the fifth mapping relationship and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter, and sends the sixth mapping relationship to the relay device, so that the relay device determines the MT bearer corresponding to the uplink data packet and the bearer of the terminal device corresponding to the downlink data packet. Therefore, it is beneficial to ensure that the uplink data of the terminal device can be accurately mapped to the bearer of the MT, and to ensure that the downlink data of the terminal device can be accurately mapped to the bearer of the terminal device. It is beneficial to improve the efficiency of data transmission of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device.

[0057] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a relay device (for example, a relay device of the relay device) or a component (for example, a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.) of the relay device. Taking the relay device as an example, the relay device sends a fourth mapping relationship to a host node of the relay device, the fourth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of a terminal device and a bearer of the terminal device, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and a QFI of the terminal device, the terminal device accessing a network through the relay device; then, the relay device receives a sixth mapping relationship from the host node, the sixth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a bearer of the terminal device and a bearer of an MT, or a mapping relationship between a QFI of the terminal device and a QFI of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT; the sixth mapping relationship is determined by the host node based on the fourth mapping relationship, a fifth mapping relationship and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter; the fifth mapping relationship is a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of an MT of the relay device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QFI of the MT; the mapping rule of the QoS parameter is used to indicate an association relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QoS parameter of the terminal device.

[0058] The present aspect is similar to the seventh aspect, and specific reference can be made to the beneficial effects of the seventh aspect.

[0059] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a relay device (for example, a relay device of the relay device) or a component (for example, a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.) of the relay device. Taking the relay device as an example, the relay device receives a fifth mapping relationship from a host node of the relay device, the fifth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of an MT of the relay device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QFI of the MT; then, the relay device determines a sixth mapping relationship based on a fourth mapping relationship, the fifth mapping relationship and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter, the fourth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of a terminal device and a bearer of the terminal device, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and a QFI of the terminal device, the terminal device accessing a network through the relay device; the mapping rule of the QoS parameter being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QoS parameter of the terminal device; the sixth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a bearer of the terminal device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between a QFI of the terminal device and a QFI of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT.

[0060] In the aspect, the host node sends the fifth mapping relationship to the relay device, and the relay device generates the sixth mapping relationship. This is beneficial to ensure that the uplink data of the terminal device can be accurately mapped to the bearer of the MT, and to ensure that the downlink data of the terminal device can be accurately mapped to the bearer of the terminal device. This is beneficial to improve the efficiency of data transmission of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device.

[0061] In a tenth aspect, the application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a host node (for example, a host node of a relay device) or a component (for example, a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.) of the host node. Taking the host node as an example, the host node sends a fifth mapping relationship to a relay device, the fifth mapping relationship being a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of an MT of the relay device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QFI of the MT; wherein the fifth mapping relationship is used by the relay device to determine a sixth mapping relationship in combination with a fourth mapping relationship and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter, the fourth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of a terminal device and a bearer of the terminal device, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and a QFI of the terminal device, the terminal device accessing a network through the relay device; the mapping rule of the QoS parameter being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QoS parameter of the terminal device; and the sixth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT.

[0062] The aspect is similar to the ninth aspect, and specific reference can be made to the beneficial effects of the ninth aspect.

[0063] In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which can be the core network device in the foregoing embodiments, or a chip in the core network device. The communication apparatus can include a module, unit or means for performing the method in any of the embodiments of the first aspect, the third aspect, the sixth aspect or the ninth aspect. The communication apparatus can include a processing module and a transceiver module. When the communication apparatus is the core network device, the processing module can be a processor, and the transceiver module can be a transceiver. The core network device can further include a storage module, which can be a memory. The storage module is configured to store instructions, and the processing module executes the instructions stored in the storage module to enable the core network device to perform the method in any of the embodiments of the first aspect, the third aspect, the sixth aspect or the ninth aspect. When the communication apparatus is a chip in the core network device, the processing module can be a processor, and the transceiver module can be an input / output interface, a pin or a circuit, etc. The processing module executes the instructions stored in the storage module to enable the core network device to perform the method in any of the embodiments of the first aspect, the third aspect, the sixth aspect or the ninth aspect. The storage module can be a storage module (e.g., a register, a cache, etc.) in the chip, or a storage module (e.g., a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.) outside the chip in the core network device.

[0064] In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which can be the relay device in the foregoing embodiments, or a chip in the relay device. The communication apparatus can include a module, unit or means for performing the method in any of the embodiments of the second aspect, the fifth aspect or the eighth aspect. The communication apparatus can include a processing module and a transceiver module. When the communication apparatus is the relay device, the processing module can be a processor, and the transceiver module can be a transceiver. The relay device can further include a storage module, which can be a memory. The storage module is configured to store instructions, and the processing module executes the instructions stored in the storage module to enable the relay device to perform the method in any of the embodiments of the second aspect, the fifth aspect or the eighth aspect. When the communication apparatus is a chip in the relay device, the processing module can be a processor, and the transceiver module can be an input / output interface, a pin or a circuit, etc. The processing module executes the instructions stored in the storage module to enable the relay device to perform the method in any of the embodiments of the second aspect, the fifth aspect or the eighth aspect. The storage module can be a storage module (e.g., a register, a cache, etc.) in the chip, or a storage module (e.g., a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.) outside the chip in the relay device.

[0065] In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which can be the host node in the foregoing embodiments, or a chip in the host node. The communication apparatus can include a module, unit or means for performing the method in any of the embodiments of the seventh aspect or the tenth aspect. The communication apparatus can include a processing module and a transceiver module. When the communication apparatus is the host node, the processing module can be a processor, and the transceiver module can be a transceiver; the host node can further include a storage module, which can be a memory; the storage module is configured to store instructions, and the processing module executes the instructions stored in the storage module, so that the host node performs the method in any of the embodiments of the seventh aspect or the tenth aspect. When the communication apparatus is a chip in the host node, the processing module can be a processor, and the transceiver module can be an input / output interface, a pin or a circuit, etc.; the processing module executes the instructions stored in the storage module, so that the host node performs the method in any of the embodiments of the seventh aspect or the tenth aspect. The storage module can be a storage module (for example, a register, a cache, etc.) in the chip, or a storage module (for example, a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.) outside the chip in the host node.

[0066] In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which can be the terminal device in the foregoing embodiments, or a chip in the terminal device. The communication apparatus can include a module, unit or means for performing the method in any of the embodiments of the fourth aspect. The communication apparatus can include a processing module and a transceiver module. When the communication apparatus is the terminal device, the processing module can be a processor, and the transceiver module can be a transceiver; the terminal device can further include a storage module, which can be a memory; the storage module is configured to store instructions, and the processing module executes the instructions stored in the storage module, so that the terminal device performs the method in any of the embodiments of the fourth aspect. When the communication apparatus is a chip in the terminal device, the processing module can be a processor, and the transceiver module can be an input / output interface, a pin or a circuit, etc.; the processing module executes the instructions stored in the storage module, so that the terminal device performs the method in any of the embodiments of the fourth aspect. The storage module can be a storage module (for example, a register, a cache, etc.) in the chip, or a storage module (for example, a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.) outside the chip in the terminal device.

[0067] In a fifteenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which can be a chip. The chip can include a module, unit, or means for performing the method introduced in any of the embodiments of the preceding aspects. The chip includes a processor. The processor is coupled with a memory for storing a program or instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the communication apparatus to perform the method introduced in any of the embodiments of the preceding aspects.

[0068] In a sixteenth aspect, a computer program product containing instructions, which when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method introduced in any of the embodiments of the preceding aspects.

[0069] In a seventeenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which includes instructions, which when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method introduced in any of the embodiments of the preceding aspects.

[0070] In an eighteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the core network device performing any of the embodiments of the first aspect, and the relay device performing any of the embodiments of the second aspect.

[0071] In a nineteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the core network device performing any of the embodiments of the third aspect, and the terminal device performing any of the embodiments of the fourth aspect.

[0072] In a twentieth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the relay device performing any of the embodiments of the fifth aspect, and the core network device performing any of the embodiments of the sixth aspect.

[0073] In a twenty-first aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the host node performing any of the embodiments of the seventh aspect, and the relay device performing any of the embodiments of the eighth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0074] FIG. 1A is an example diagram of a system architecture of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0075] FIG. 1B is another example diagram of a system architecture of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0076] FIG. 1C is another example diagram of a system architecture of a communication method provided in the present application;

[0077] FIG. 1D is an example diagram of a QoS architecture of a 5G network;

[0078] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a communication method provided in the present application;

[0079] FIG. 3 is another flowchart of a communication method provided in the present application;

[0080] FIG. 4 is another flowchart of a communication method provided in the present application;

[0081] FIG. 5 is another flowchart of a communication method provided in the present application;

[0082] FIG. 6 is another flowchart of a communication method provided in the present application;

[0083] FIG. 7 is another flowchart of a communication method provided in the present application;

[0084] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided in the present application;

[0085] FIG. 9 is another schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided in the present application;

[0086] FIG. 10 is another schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided in the present application;

[0087] FIG. 11 is another schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided in the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0088] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described in connection with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, but not all of the embodiments of the present application.

[0089] The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth" and the like (if any) in the specification and claims of the present application and the above drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and do not necessarily indicate a specific order or a chronological sequence. It should be understood that the terms thus used can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, for example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units does not necessarily have to be limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but can include other steps or units not clearly listed or inherent to the process, method, product or device.

[0090] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this document merely describes an associated relationship between associated objects, and indicates that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, where A and B can be single or multiple. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects. In addition, "at least one of the following" or similar expressions in this document are used to represent any combination of the listed items; for example, at least one of A, B, and (or) C can represent the following six cases: A exists alone, B exists alone, C exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, B and C exist simultaneously, and A and C exist simultaneously, where A, B, and C can be single or multiple.

[0091] It should be understood that "selection" in this application can be understood as "determination", and "selection" in this application can be replaced with "determination".

[0092] For ease of understanding, the system architecture and application scenarios of the communication method proposed in this application are introduced as follows:

[0093] The communication method proposed in this application can be applied to 5G NR (5G New Radio) system, the 6th generation mobile information technology (6G) system and subsequent evolution systems, and the application is not limited to this.

[0094] As shown in FIG. 1A, the communication system at least includes a terminal device 01, a relay device 02, a host node 03, and a core network device 04.

[0095] The terminal device 01 refers to a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity for a user. For example, the terminal device 01 includes a handheld device having wireless connection capabilities or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. The terminal device 01 can communicate with a core network (e.g., a 5th generation core (5GC)) via a radio access network (RAN), and can exchange voice and / or data with the RAN. The terminal device 01 can also be referred to as a terminal, a user equipment (UE), a wireless terminal device, a mobile terminal (MT) device, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station (MS), a mobile, a remote station, an access point (AP), a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a user agent, or a user device, etc. In addition, the terminal device 01 can be a mobile phone, a tablet, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, etc. It should be understood that the terminal device 01 in the present application can be any of the above devices or chips, and in the present and subsequent embodiments, the terminal device is taken as an example for introduction.

[0096] The relay device 02, also referred to as a relay node (RN), is generally deployed in areas with poor signal coverage, for the purpose of expanding or improving network coverage. The relay device 02 in the present application mainly comprises an MT module 021 and a gNB module 022. The MT module 021 has the functions of a normal terminal device, i.e., the MT module 021 has the protocol stack of a normal terminal device, so that the relay device with the MT module 021 can access the donor node as a terminal device, obtain authorization from the core network, and establish a PDU session. The gNB module 022 can implement at least one layer three function (e.g., a radio resource control (RRC) layer function), and one or more layer two functions (e.g., a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer function, a radio link control (RLC) layer function, a media access control (MAC) layer function, a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer function, etc.). Exemplarily, the gNB module 022 is a gNB, or a combination of a centralized unit (CU) (also referred to as a control unit) and a distributed unit (DU). In addition, the relay device 02 further comprises an RU module 023. The RU module 023 is used for processing intermediate frequency signals or radio frequency signals, and can perform an amplification and forwarding operation on the received radio frequency signals. The RU module 023 can be configured independently of an antenna device (e.g., an antenna line device (ALD) (also referred to as an antenna linear device)), or can be integrated with the antenna device. For example, in a 5G NR system, the aforementioned RU module 023 can be an active antenna unit (AAU), i.e., a processing unit integrated with a remote radio unit (RRU) (or a remote radio head (RRH)) and an antenna device. It should be understood that each functional module in the relay device 02 (e.g., the MT module 021, the gNB module 022, and the RU module 023 shown in FIG. 1A, etc.) can be a module implemented by hardware or a logical module implemented by software, and the present application is not limited. In the present application, the relay device 02 capable of implementing at least one layer three function is referred to as a layer three relay device. Exemplarily, the layer three relay device can be a wireless access backhaul (WAB) device.The communication method provided in the application can be applied to WAB and other relay devices containing gNB functions and UE functions. In subsequent embodiments, WAB is mainly taken as an example for introduction.

[0097] A donor node 03 is connected with the relay device 02, and is connected to a core network (for example, 5GC) network element serving the relay device 02 and providing a wireless backhaul function for the relay device 02. The donor node 03 can be any device with wireless transceiver function, and can be used to be responsible for air interface related functions, for example, wireless link maintenance function, wireless resource management function, and part of mobility management function. In addition, the donor node 03 is also configured with a baseband unit (BBU) with baseband signal processing function. The donor node 03 can be an access network device. At present, some common examples of the access network device are: Node B (NB), evolved Node B (eNB), next generation Node B (gNB) in 5G new radio (NR) system, node (for example, xNodeB) in 6G system, etc. In addition, the donor node can also be a device including a centralized unit (CU) (also referred to as a control unit) and / or a distributed unit (DU). The CU of the donor node is referred to as donor-CU, and the DU of the donor node is referred to as donor-DU. The RAN device including the CU and the DU splits the protocol layers of the gNB in the NR system, and part of the protocol layer functions are placed in the CU for centralized control, and the remaining part or all of the protocol layer functions are distributed in the DU and controlled by the CU. A plurality of DUs can share one CU. The CU and the DU can be split according to the protocol stack. For example, as shown in FIG. 1A, one possible way is to deploy the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers in the CU, and the remaining radio link control (RLC) layer, media access control (MAC) layer, and physical layer (PHY) are deployed in the DU. The CU and the DU are connected through the F1 interface. The CU is connected with the core network through the NG interface, and is connected with other gNBs through the Xn interface, and can also be connected with other donor nodes (for example, other gNBs or eNBs) through the X2 interface to perform a dual connection operation. It should be understood that the donor node 03 in the present application can be any of the above devices or chips, and in the present embodiment and subsequent embodiments, the donor node is taken as an example for introduction.

[0098] The core network device 04 refers to a device in a core network (CN) that provides service support for the relay device 02. Currently, some common examples of the core network device 04 are: an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity, a session management function (SMF) entity, a user plane function (UPF) entity, and the like, which are not listed one by one here. Among them, the AMF entity can be responsible for access management and mobility management of the relay device 02; the SMF entity can be responsible for session management, such as session establishment of a user; and the UPF entity can be a functional entity of a user plane, mainly responsible for connecting external networks. It should be noted that the entity in the present application can also be referred to as a network element or a functional entity. For example, the AMF entity can also be referred to as an AMF network element or an AMF functional entity; for another example, the UPF entity can also be referred to as a UPF network element or a UPF functional entity, and the like. It should be noted that the core network device in the present application at least includes an AMF entity.

[0099] It should be understood that the communication method provided by the present application can also be applied to the architecture of an open RAN (O-RAN) as shown in FIG. 1B. As shown in FIG. 1B, the architecture of the O-RAN mainly includes a RAN intelligent controller (RIC), a gNB-CU supporting O-RAN functions, and a gNB-DU supporting O-RAN functions. Among them, the RIC is used to collect network information and perform necessary optimization tasks, the RIC communicates with the gNB-CU through an E2 interface, and the RIC communicates with the gNB-DU through an E2 interface. The RIC can directly control the gNB-DU, or control the gNB-DU through the gNB-CU. Among them, the gNB-CU supporting O-RAN functions includes a donor-CU and a WAB-CU, and the gNB-DU supporting O-RAN functions includes a donor-DU and a WAB-DU. The donor-CU and the donor-DU constitute a host node, and the WAB-MT, the WAB-CU and the WAB-DU constitute a relay device.

[0100] As shown in FIG. 1C, taking the relay device in layer three as an example, the WAB device, there is an air interface connection (for example, Un interface connection) between the UE part of the WAB device (that is, WAB-MT) and the donor node (donor-gNB); there is an air interface (for example, Un interface connection) between the gNB part of the relay device (that is, WAB-gNB) and the terminal device (that is, UE); and there is a communication interface (for example, Xn interface and NG interface) between the gNB part of the relay device (that is, WAB-gNB) and other donor nodes (that is, other-gNB). The WAB-MT communicates with the core network device of the MT (for example, UPF of the MT, AMF of the MT, etc.) through the donor-gNB, the donor-gNB is connected with the UPF of the MT through the N3 interface, and the donor-gNB is connected with the AMF of the MT through the N2 interface. The UE communicates with the core network device of the UE (for example, UPF of the UE, AMF of the UE / WAB, etc.) through the WAB-gNB, the WAB-gNB is connected with the UPF of the UE through the N3 interface, and the WAB-gNB is connected with the AMF of the UE / WAB through the N2 interface.

[0101] FIG. 1D is a QoS architecture of a 5G network. As shown in FIG. 1D, when a UE has traffic arriving, the UE initiates a PDU session establishment request to a core network, which carries a slice identity (e.g., single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI)), and the core network determines, according to subscription information of the UE (containing the slice identity and corresponding QoS requirements (requirements of QoS parameters)), how many QoS Flows the UE needs to establish this time, and determines the QoS parameters (e.g., 5G QoS Identifier (5QI)) of each QoS Flow. Then, the core network sends a PDU session resource setup request message to the gNB, which carries the QoS Flow Identifier (QFI) related to the UE's traffic this time and the QoS parameter requirement (i.e., 5QI) of each QoS Flow. After receiving the PDU SESSION RESOURCE SETUP REQUEST, the gNB allocates a DRB for each QoS Flow according to air interface resource conditions (one QoS Flow can only be allocated one DRB, but one DRB can carry multiple QoS Flows), for air interface transmission, and establishes an NG-U Tunnel for this PDU Session, determines the endpoint number of the NG-U Tunnel, for transmission between the gNB and the core network. The gNB sends the identifier of the DRB to the UE through the DRB-ToAddMod information element in the RRC message, and indicates which QoS Flow (QFI) the DRB is used to transmit. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 1D, the gNB maintains three QoS Flows (i.e., QFI0, QFI1 and QFI2), the QoS parameter (5QI) corresponding to QFI0 is 1, the QoS parameter (5QI) corresponding to QFI1 is 1, and the QoS parameter (5QI) corresponding to QFI2 is 2, the QoS Flow indicated by QFI0 and the QoS Flow indicated by QFI1 are carried on DRB1, and the QoS Flow indicated by QFI2 is carried on DRB2. In the subsequent uplink transmission, the UE first maps the traffic data packet to the QoS Flow based on the URSP criteria, determines the QFI, and then determines the corresponding DRB for transmission according to the configuration in the DRB-ToAddMod. After receiving the data packet from the DRB, the gNB obtains the QFI of the data packet, and then transmits it to the core network through the corresponding NG-U Tunnel.In downlink transmission, after the gNB receives the data packet from the NG-U Tunnel, the QFI is obtained, and then the corresponding DRB is used for transmission.

[0102] As can be known from the corresponding example of FIG. 1D, the core network device in the prior art can refer to the slice identifier of the UE when allocating the QoS for the UE, and allocate the QoS (for example, the QoS flow of the PDU session and the QoS parameter, etc.) for the UE based on the slice identifier in the subscription information of the UE. Since the terminal part (for example, the WAB-MT) of the relay device can implement the protocol stack of the ordinary terminal device, theoretically, the WAB-MT can refer to the process of establishing the PDU session and obtaining the QoS of the ordinary terminal device, establish the PDU session between the WAB-MT and the core network, and obtain the QoS allocated by the core network to the WAB-MT, etc. However, the WAB-MT does not have spontaneous service demand, and the WAB-MT does not have slice information. Therefore, the core network device is not easy to allocate appropriate QoS for the WAB-MT.

[0103] To this end, the present application provides a communication method and a communication device for realizing that the core network device configures appropriate QoS for the WAB-MT.

[0104] The communication method provided by the present application will be described below in combination with FIG. 2:

[0105] As shown in FIG. 2, a flowchart of a communication method provided by the present application. The communication method is illustrated by taking the interaction between the relay device, the host node and the core network device as an example. Of course, the subject performing the action of the host node in the method can also be a device or a module in the host node; the subject performing the action of the core network device in the method can also be a device or a module in the core network device; the subject performing the action of the relay device in the method can also be a device or a module in the relay device, which is not limited in the embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the communication method includes the following steps:

[0106] Step 201, the relay device sends a PDU session establishment request; correspondingly, the core network device receives the PDU session establishment request.

[0107] When the terminal device part (e.g., WAB-MT) of the relay device has a demand to establish a PDU session, the MT of the relay device sends a PDU session establishment request to the core network device (e.g., AMF of the MT) of the MT through the host node; correspondingly, the core network device of the MT receives the PDU session establishment request through the host node. It should be noted that when the core network device just receives the PDU session establishment request, the core network device cannot determine whether the PDU session establishment request is requested by the MT of the relay device to establish a PDU session or by a normal terminal device (e.g., UE) to establish a PDU session, and the core network device needs to determine whether it is requested to establish the PDU session of the MT or the PDU session of the UE based on the content carried by the PDU session establishment request.

[0108] In this embodiment, the PDU session establishment request includes first slice information and / or first indication information. In one implementation, the PDU session establishment request only includes the first indication information; in another implementation, the PDU session establishment request only includes the first slice information; in another implementation, the PDU session establishment request includes the first slice information and the first indication information.

[0109] The first indication information is used to indicate that the communication device initiating the PDU session establishment request is the MT of the relay device. It can also be understood that the first indication information is used to indicate the type of the communication device, i.e., the communication device is of the relay device type. After the core network device obtains the first indication information in the PDU session establishment request, the core network device can determine that the communication device initiating this PDU session establishment request is the MT of the relay device, rather than a conventional terminal device, and then the core network device determines the resources (e.g., QoS resources, etc.) suitable for the PDU session of the MT for this special communication device.

[0110] For example, the first indication information can be information indicating the MT type of the relay device, such as the type identifier of the WAB-MT; or the first indication information is an authorized MT identifier, such as the identifier of the MT provided to the core network when the MT is authorized by the core network; or other information that can enable the core network device to determine that the communication device is an MT, which will not be listed here.

[0111] It should be understood that the first indication information is a newly defined field in the PDU session establishment request, and at least one bit can be added in the conventional PDU session establishment request to indicate the MT type. In an example, one bit is added in the PDU session establishment request, where "0" represents a conventional terminal device, and "1" represents a WAB-MT. In another example, two bits are added in the PDU session establishment request, where "00" represents a conventional terminal device, "01" represents a WAB-MT, "10" represents an integrated access and backhaul (IAB), and "11" represents a network controlled repeater (NCR). In actual applications, other ways can also be used to indicate the MT type, which will not be described here.

[0112] The first slice information is used to indicate that the PDU session establishment request is to establish a PDU session of an MT of a relay device. It can be understood that the first slice information can directly or indirectly reflect that the PDU session to be established is of the MT. After the core network device obtains the first slice information in the PDU session establishment request, the core network device can determine to initiate the PDU session currently established as the PDU session of the MT of the relay device, rather than the PDU session of the conventional terminal device, and then the core network device determines the resources (for example, QoS resources) suitable for the PDU session of the MT.

[0113] In this embodiment, various implementation manners of the first slice information are provided, which will be introduced as follows:

[0114] In a possible implementation manner, the first slice information includes a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate a common type slice; or a default type slice; or a general type slice. The common type slice (or the default type slice, or the general type slice) indicates that the QoS of the PDU session to be established is not customized for a specific slice type, and various types of services can be carried in the PDU session. In this case, the PDU session establishment request can carry the first slice identifier to indicate the common type slice (or the default type slice, or the general type slice).

[0115] In an implementation, a new slice type (or a "default" type, or a "common" type) is defined compared with the existing slice types in the conventional technology, and the first slice identifier is represented by a value of the newly defined slice type. Since the first slice identifier is the identifier of the newly defined slice type, the core network device can determine that the PDU session is the MT's PDU session based on the difference between the first slice identifier and the slice identifier of the conventional terminal device. It should be noted that the "common", "default", and "common" descriptions of the slice type in this application can be replaced with each other, and the following description will mainly take the "common" description as an example.

[0116] In another implementation, the common type of slice or the default type of slice multiplexes the slice type capable of covering a larger range of QoS requirements in the conventional technology, and the first slice identifier multiplexes the conventional slice identifier capable of covering a larger range of QoS requirements. For example, the first slice identifier multiplexes the enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) type slice identifier. In this implementation, the PDU session establishment request needs to carry the first slice identifier and the first indication information at the same time, so that the core network device determines that the PDU session established this time is the MT's PDU session based on the first slice identifier and the first indication information.

[0117] In another possible implementation, the first slice information includes a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate a dummy slice (also referred to as a meaningless slice or a false slice). It can be understood that the first slice identifier carried by the PDU session request is a formal slice identifier without actual slice meaning. For example, the first slice identifier can be a value that does not represent any valid slice type; or the first slice identifier is a random value. After receiving the PDU session establishment request, the core network device finds that the first slice identifier carried in the PDU session establishment request does not represent any valid slice type, and then the core network device determines that the PDU session established this time is the MT's PDU session.

[0118] In another possible implementation, the first slice information includes a second slice identifier, and the second slice identifier is used to indicate the MT's slice of the relay device. It can also be understood that a new slice identifier dedicated to the WAB-MT is added, which is different from the slice identifier of the conventional terminal device. Since the second slice identifier is defined to be used only by the MT, the conventional terminal device does not use the second slice identifier, and the core network device can determine that the PDU session established this time is the MT's PDU session based on the received second slice identifier.

[0119] In another possible implementation, the first slice information is information that does not include a slice identifier. The PDU session establishment request in the conventional technology has a bit for carrying a slice identifier, and the bit in the PDU session establishment request sent by the MT in the present implementation is empty and does not carry a slice identifier, that is, the first slice information is implicitly indicated by emptying the bit for carrying a slice identifier in the PDU session establishment request, so as to indicate that the PDU session established this time by the core network device is the PDU session of the MT. After receiving the PDU session establishment request, the core network device can determine that the PDU session established this time is the PDU session of the MT, instead of the PDU session of a general terminal device, when reading that the bit originally carrying a slice identifier is empty.

[0120] It should be understood that in actual applications, the relay device can implement the first slice information in any of the foregoing implementation manners. It should also be noted that the slice indicated by the first slice information in the present embodiment does not follow the UE route selection policy (URSP) principle, which is the selection basis for the terminal device in the conventional technology to select a slice identifier. It can be understood that the MT in the present embodiment does not determine a slice identifier according to the conventional URSP principle.

[0121] Optionally, the PDU session establishment request further includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the first slice information. It can also be understood that the second indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the slice information in the PDU session establishment request. After receiving the PDU session establishment request, the core network device does not view or use the slice information in the PDU session establishment request, or the core network device can obtain the first slice information in the PDU session establishment request, but the core network device does not query the subscription information of the MT based on the first slice information. Therefore, the second indication information can also be understood as being used to instruct the core network device not to query the subscription information of the MT based on the first slice information, or the second indication information is used to instruct the core network device not to query the subscription information of the MT based on the slice information in the PDU session establishment request.

[0122] It should be understood that the subscription information of the MT in the embodiment refers to the subscription information of the MT stored at the core network side when the MT is subscribed to access the network. For example, the subscription information of the MT stored in a unified data management function (UDM), or the subscription information of the MT obtained by the AMF from the UDM and stored locally in the AMF. The subscription information contains the services promised by the operator to the MT. For example, the subscription information of the MT includes the identity of the MT, the subscription data of the MT, and the authentication data of the MT, and the like. In the conventional technology, the subscription information of the MT includes slice information such as the slice identifier of the MT. In the embodiment, it is not limited whether the subscription information of the MT contains the slice identifier of the MT, and the main point is that the core network device does not query the subscription information of the MT in the process of determining the QoS of the PDU session of the MT.

[0123] In step 202, the core network device sends a PDU session resource setup request; correspondingly, the host node receives the PDU session resource setup request.

[0124] The PDU session resource setup request includes the common QoS of the PDU session of the MT determined by the core network device. Optionally, the common QoS can be a QoS that can meet the service requirements of multiple types, or a QoS that can meet the service requirements of multiple slice types. Optionally, the common QoS includes at least one common QoS flow and the common QoS parameter corresponding to the common QoS flow. It should be noted that in this application, the description of "common QoS" can be replaced by "default QoS" or "general QoS", and hereinafter the description will mainly be taken as an example.

[0125] After receiving the PDU session setup request, the core network device will determine the QoS of the PDU session established this time. Specifically, the core network device can determine the QoS of the PDU session by any of the following implementation manners:

[0126] In one possible implementation manner, the core network device does not determine the common QoS of the PDU session of the MT based on the slice information (for example, the first slice information), but directly based on the initiator of the PDU session for the MT.

[0127] In one implementation of the embodiment, the core network device determines that the PDU session initiator is the MT rather than the common terminal device based on the first indication information in the PDU session establishment request, and then determines that the PDU session of the MT uses the common QoS. In this implementation, the core network device can determine that the PDU session initiator is the MT rather than the common terminal device based on the first indication information without obtaining the first slice information, thereby determining the appropriate common QoS for the PDU session of the MT. The MT can not need to carry the slice information (e.g., the first slice information) in the PDU session establishment request, and only needs to carry the first indication information in the PDU session establishment request, which is conducive to reducing the processing complexity of the MT.

[0128] In another implementation of the embodiment, the MT requesting to establish the PDU session is an MT that has been authorized at the core network side. If the core network device establishing the PDU session and the core network device authorizing the MT are the same core network device, the core network device establishing the PDU session can determine that the PDU session initiator is the authorized MT, and then determines that the PDU session of the MT uses the common QoS based on the PDU session initiator being the authorized MT. Optionally, the PDU session establishment request includes the identification information of the MT, and the core network device determines that the communication device sending the PDU session is the authorized MT based on the identification information of the MT used in the authorization process of the MT and the identification information of the MT in the PDU session establishment request. For example, the MT obtains authorization from AMF1, and sends a PDU session establishment request to AMF1. AMF1 determines that the MT is the authorized MT based on the identification information of the MT in the PDU session establishment request, and then determines that the PDU session of the MT uses the common QoS. In this implementation, the core network device can determine that the PDU session initiator is the MT rather than the common terminal device based on the first slice information and the first indication information, thereby triggering the core network device to determine that the PDU session of the MT uses the common QoS. Since the MT side does not need to be improved, it is conducive to reducing the processing complexity of the MT.

[0129] In another implementation of the embodiment, the PDU session establishment request includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the first slice information. The second indication information is described in the foregoing, and will not be described here. The core network device ignores the slice information (e.g., the first slice information) in the PDU session establishment request based on the second indication information, and directly determines that the PDU session uses the common QoS. In this implementation, the core network device determines that the current PDU session is not related to a certain specific slice based on the second indication information, and configures the common QoS for the PDU session in order to guarantee the service requirements of the PDU session initiator as much as possible, which is conducive to reasonably allocating QoS resources and improving resource utilization.

[0130] In another possible implementation, the core network device determines that the PDU session established this time is the PDU session of the MT based on the first slice information in the PDU session establishment request, and then determines that the PDU session uses the common QoS. Since the core network device does not query the subscription information of the MT in the process of determining the QoS of the PDU session of the MT, the common QoS of the PDU session of the MT finally determined by the core network device is irrelevant to the subscription information of the MT.

[0131] In another possible implementation, the core network device determines the QoS used by the PDU session of the MT based on the slice information (for example, the first slice information). Specifically, the core network device queries the subscription information of the MT to obtain the QoS used by the PDU session. Optionally, the QoS corresponding to the slice information is the common QoS.

[0132] In this embodiment, the core network device can determine to configure the common QoS for the PDU session of the MT based on the first slice information in the PDU session establishment request. This is conducive to the core network device to allocate the common QoS suitable for the PDU session of the MT, so as to avoid the impact of the service transmission of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device due to the excessively high or low allocated QoS of the MT, and is conducive to improving the resource utilization. In addition, the core network device that establishes the PDU session and the core network device that authorizes the MT can be different core network devices (for example, the MT is authorized at AMF1, but the PDU session establishment request is sent to AMF2), in this case, the core network device that establishes the PDU session can determine that the PDU session established this time is the PDU session of the MT based on the first slice information, so as to determine the common QoS of the PDU session of the MT, thereby avoiding the core network device that establishes the PDU session to mistakenly regard the MT as a general terminal device. This is conducive to improving the rationality of the core network device to determine the QoS of the PDU session of the MT.

[0133] In this embodiment, the core network device can determine the QoS of the PDU session of the MT based on any of the preceding implementation manners, which is not limited in the present application. Then, the core network device sends the QoS of the PDU session of the MT (for example, at least one common QoS flow and the common QoS parameter corresponding to the common QoS flow) to the host node of the MT of the relay device through the PDU session resource establishment request, so that the host node determines the bearer of the MT based on the QoS of the PDU session of the MT. Wherein, the bearer of the MT can be a data radio bearer (DRB), a signaling radio bearer (SRB) and the like of the MT. It should be noted that in some scenarios, the bearer of the MT is also called a logical channel of the MT, and in the present application, “the bearer of the MT” or “the DRB of the MT” or “the SRB of the MT” can be replaced by “the logical channel of the MT”. Hereinafter, “the bearer of the MT” or “the DRB of the MT” will be mainly introduced.

[0134] In step 203, the host node sends the bearer configuration information of the MT; correspondingly, the relay device receives the bearer configuration information of the MT.

[0135] In this embodiment, step 203 is an optional step.

[0136] Specifically, after receiving the PDU session resource establishment request from the core network device, the host node obtains the QoS of the PDU session of the MT (for example, at least one common QoS flow and the common QoS parameter corresponding to the common QoS flow) from the PDU session resource establishment request, and then the host node allocates a DRB for each common QoS flow in the common QoS of the MT according to the air interface resource condition for air interface transmission, and generates the correspondence between the identification information (i.e. QFI) of the common QoS flow and the corresponding DRB, to obtain the bearer configuration information of the MT. Wherein, the bearer configuration information is used to indicate the mapping relationship between the QoS of the PDU session of the MT and the bearer of the MT. Wherein, the QoS of the PDU session of the MT is the common QoS of the PDU session determined by the core network device. For example, the QoS of the MT is the common QoS of the PDU session determined by the core network device based on the first slice information and / or the first indication information.

[0137] Exemplarily, the host node sends the bearer configuration information of the MT to the relay device through an RRC message. For example, the host node sends the bearer configuration information of the MT to the relay device (i.e., the MT of the relay device) in a DRB-ToAddMod information element; accordingly, the relay device (i.e., the MT of the relay device) obtains the bearer configuration information from the received DRB-ToAddMod information element, and stores the mapping relationship between the QoS of the PDU session of the MT and the bearer of the MT.

[0138] It should be understood that the mapping relationship is used for data transmission of the MT. For example, in uplink transmission, the MT maps the uplink data packet to a common QoS Flow and determines the QFI of the common QoS Flow, and then the MT determines the DRB corresponding to the common QoS Flow based on the mapping relationship, and transmits the uplink data packet through the DRB corresponding to the common QoS Flow. In downlink transmission, after the host node receives the downlink data packet from the DRB, the host node determines the QFI of the downlink data packet based on the mapping relationship, thereby determining the common QoS Flow corresponding to the data packet, and then transmitting the downlink data packet through the common QoS Flow.

[0139] It should be noted that the PDU session in this embodiment is a PDU session established by the MT after authorization. For example, the PDU session is the first PDU session of the MT after authorization. The PDU session is used for control plane transmission of the relay device. Optionally, the PDU session is also used for user plane transmission of the relay device.

[0140] In this embodiment, the PDU session establishment request received by the core network device carries first slice information and / or first indication information, both of which can reflect that the PDU session of the MT of the relay device is requested to be established, and then the core network device allocates a common QoS suitable for the MT for the PDU session of the MT, thereby avoiding that the QoS of the MT is too high or too low to affect the service transmission of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device, and facilitating to improve the resource utilization.

[0141] As shown in FIG. 3, another flowchart of a communication method provided by the present application is shown. The communication method is exemplarily illustrated by the interaction among a terminal device, a relay device, a host node and a core network device. Of course, the subject performing the action of the host node in the method can also be a device or module in the host node; the subject performing the action of the core network device in the method can also be a device or module in the core network device; the subject performing the action of the relay device in the method can also be a device or module in the relay device; and the subject performing the action of the terminal device in the method can also be a device or module in the terminal device, which is not limited in the embodiment. Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 3, the communication method comprises the following steps:

[0142] At step 301, the terminal device sends a PDU session establishment request; correspondingly, the core network device receives the PDU session establishment request.

[0143] In this embodiment, the terminal device is a terminal device accessing the network through a relay device. The relay device can be a layer three relay device (for example, WAB) or a layer two relay device (for example, IAB), which is not limited in this embodiment.

[0144] When the terminal device has a demand to establish a PDU session, the terminal device sends a PDU session establishment request to the core network device (for example, AMF of UE) of the terminal device through the base station part of the relay device (for example, gNB (for example, WAB-gNB) of the relay device); correspondingly, the core network device of the terminal device receives the PDU session establishment request through the gNB of the relay device. It should be noted that when the core network device just receives the PDU session establishment request, the core network device cannot determine whether the PDU session establishment request is a request of the MT of the relay device to establish a PDU session or a request of a normal terminal device (for example, UE) to establish a PDU session, and the core network device needs to determine whether it is a request to establish a PDU session of the MT or a PDU session of the UE based on the content carried by the PDU session establishment request.

[0145] In this embodiment, the PDU session establishment request includes third indication information and / or second slice information. In one implementation, the PDU session establishment request only includes the third indication information; in another implementation, the PDU session establishment request only includes the second slice information; in another implementation, the PDU session establishment request includes the second slice information and the third indication information.

[0146] The third indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device initiating the PDU session establishment request accesses the network through the relay device. It can also be understood that the third indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device initiating the PDU session establishment request is a terminal device accessing the network through the relay device, rather than a terminal device directly accessing the base station. After the core network device obtains the third indication information in the PDU session establishment request, the core network device can determine that the terminal device initiating this PDU session establishment request is a terminal device accessing the network through the relay device, rather than a terminal device directly accessing the base station, and then the core network device determines the resources (for example, QoS resources) of the PDU session suitable for this special terminal device accessing the network through the relay device. The third indication information can be directly carried by the terminal device in the NAS message, or added to the NG message by the gNB of the relay device, which is not limited here.

[0147] For example, the third indication information can be information indicating a type of terminal device, for example, the third indication information indicates a type of terminal device accessing the network through the relay device. For example, the third indication information is a newly defined field in the PDU session establishment request, and at least one bit can be added in the conventional PDU session establishment request to indicate the type of terminal device. In an example, one bit is added in the PDU session establishment request, where "0" represents a terminal device directly accessing the base station, and "1" represents a terminal device accessing the network through the relay device. In actual application, other manners can also be used to indicate the type of terminal device, which will not be described herein.

[0148] The second slice information is used to indicate that the PDU session establishment request is a PDU session established by a terminal device accessing the relay device. It can be understood that the second slice information can directly or indirectly reflect that the PDU session established this time is a PDU session of a terminal device accessing the network through the relay device. After the core network device obtains the second slice information in the PDU session establishment request, the core network device can determine that the PDU session established this time is a PDU session of a terminal device accessing the network through the relay device, rather than a PDU session of a terminal device directly accessing the network, and then the core network device determines resources (for example, QoS resources) suitable for the PDU session of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device.

[0149] In this embodiment, various implementation manners of the second slice information are provided, which will be introduced as follows:

[0150] In a possible implementation manner, the second slice information includes a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate a common type slice; or a default type slice; or a general type slice. The common type slice (or the default type slice, or the general type slice) indicates that the QoS of the PDU session established this time is not customized for a specific slice type, and various types of services can be carried in the PDU session. In this case, the PDU session establishment request can carry the first slice identifier to indicate the common type slice (or the default type slice, or the general type slice).

[0151] In one implementation, a new slice type (or a "default" type, or a "common" type) is defined compared to the slice types in the prior art, and the first slice identifier is represented by a value of the newly defined slice type. Since the first slice identifier is the identifier of the newly defined slice type, the core network device can determine that the PDU session is the PDU session of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device based on the difference between the first slice identifier and the slice identifier of the terminal device in the prior art.

[0152] In another implementation, the common slice or the default slice multiplexes the slice type capable of covering a large range of QoS requirements in the prior art, and the first slice identifier multiplexes the slice identifier capable of covering a large range of QoS requirements in the prior art. For example, the first slice identifier multiplexes the enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) type slice identifier in the prior art. In this implementation, the PDU session establishment request needs to carry the first slice identifier and the third indication information at the same time, so that the core network device determines that the PDU session established this time is the PDU session of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device based on the first slice identifier and the third indication information.

[0153] In another possible implementation, the second slice information includes the first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate a dummy slice (also referred to as a meaningless slice or a false slice). It can be understood that the first slice identifier carried in the PDU session request is a formal slice identifier without actual slice meaning. For example, the first slice identifier can be a value that does not represent any valid slice type; or the first slice identifier is a random value. After receiving the PDU session establishment request, the core network device finds that the first slice identifier carried in the PDU session establishment request does not represent any valid slice type, and then determines that the PDU session established this time is the PDU session of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device.

[0154] In another possible implementation, the second slice information is information that does not include a slice identifier. The PDU session establishment request in the prior art has a bit for carrying a slice identifier, and the bit is empty in the PDU session establishment request sent by the terminal device in this implementation and does not carry a slice identifier, that is, the second slice information is implicitly represented by emptying the bit for carrying the slice identifier in the PDU session establishment request, so as to indicate the core network device that the PDU session established this time is the PDU session of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device. After receiving the PDU session establishment request, when the core network device reads that the bit originally carrying the slice identifier is empty, the core network device can determine that the PDU session established this time is the PDU session of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device, rather than the PDU session of the terminal device directly accessing the network.

[0155] It should be understood that in actual application, the relay device can implement the second slice information according to any one of the foregoing embodiments. It should also be noted that the slice indicated by the second slice information in the embodiment does not follow the UE route selection policy (URSP) principle, which is the basis for the terminal device to select the slice identifier in the conventional technology. It can be understood that the terminal device in the embodiment does not determine the slice identifier according to the conventional URSP principle.

[0156] Optionally, the PDU session establishment request further includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the second slice information. It can also be understood that the fourth indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the slice information in the PDU session establishment request. After receiving the PDU session establishment request, the core network device does not view or use the slice information in the PDU session establishment request, or the core network device can obtain the second slice information in the PDU session establishment request, but the core network device does not query the subscription information of the terminal device based on the second slice information. Therefore, the fourth indication information can also be understood as being used to instruct the core network device not to query the subscription information of the terminal device based on the second slice information, or the fourth indication information is used to instruct the core network device not to query the subscription information of the terminal device based on the slice information in the PDU session establishment request.

[0157] It should be understood that the subscription information of the terminal device in the embodiment refers to the subscription information of the terminal device stored at the core network side when the terminal device is subscribed to the network. For example, the subscription information of the terminal device stored in the unified data management function (UDM), or the subscription information of the terminal device stored locally in the AMF obtained by the AMF from the UDM. The subscription information includes the services promised by the operator to the terminal device. For example, the subscription information of the terminal device includes the identifier of the terminal device, the slice identifier of the terminal device, the subscription data of the terminal device, and the authentication data of the terminal device, and the like.

[0158] In step 302, the core network device sends a PDU session resource establishment request; correspondingly, the relay device receives the PDU session resource establishment request.

[0159] The PDU session resource setup request includes a common QoS of the PDU session of the terminal device determined by the core network device, i.e., the common QoS of the PDU session of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device. Optionally, the common QoS can be a QoS that can meet the service requirements of multiple types, or a QoS that can meet the service requirements of multiple slice types. Optionally, the common QoS includes at least one common QoS flow and a common QoS parameter corresponding to the common QoS flow.

[0160] After receiving the PDU session establishment request, the core network device determines the QoS of the PDU session established this time. Specifically, the core network device can determine the QoS of the PDU session by any of the following implementation manners:

[0161] In one possible implementation, the core network device determines, based on the third indication information in the PDU session establishment request, that the initiator of the PDU session is the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device rather than a normal terminal device, and then determines that the PDU session of the terminal device uses the common QoS. In this implementation, the core network device does not need to obtain the second slice information to determine, based on the third indication information, that the initiator of the PDU session is the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device rather than a normal terminal device, thereby determining a suitable common QoS for the PDU session of the terminal device. The terminal device can not need to carry slice information (for example, the second slice information) in the PDU session establishment request, but only need to carry the third indication information in the PDU session establishment request, which is beneficial to reducing the processing complexity of the MT.

[0162] Optionally, the PDU session establishment request further includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the second slice information. For details of the fourth indication information, refer to the related description in the foregoing description, which will not be described herein. The core network device ignores the slice information (for example, the second slice information) in the PDU session establishment request based on the fourth indication information, and directly determines that the PDU session uses the common QoS. In this implementation, the core network device determines, based on the fourth indication information, that the current PDU session is not related to a specific slice, and configures a common QoS for the PDU session in order to guarantee the service requirements of the initiator of the PDU session as much as possible, which is beneficial to reasonably allocating QoS resources and improving resource utilization.

[0163] In another possible implementation, the core network device determines, based on the second slice information in the PDU session establishment request, that the PDU session of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device is established, and then determines that the PDU session uses a common QoS. Since the core network device does not query the subscription information of the terminal device in the process of determining the QoS of the PDU session of the terminal device, the common QoS of the PDU session of the terminal device finally determined by the core network device is irrelevant to the subscription information of the terminal device.

[0164] In this embodiment, the core network device can determine, based on the second slice information in the PDU session establishment request, to configure a common QoS for the PDU session of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device. This is conducive to the core network device assigning a suitable common QoS for the PDU session of the terminal device, thereby avoiding the assigned QoS being too high to affect the service transmission of the terminal device, and is conducive to improving the resource utilization.

[0165] In this embodiment, the core network device can determine the QoS of the PDU session of the terminal device based on any of the preceding implementation manners, which is not limited in the present application. Then, the core network device sends the QoS of the PDU session of the terminal device (for example, at least one common QoS flow and the common QoS parameter corresponding to the common QoS flow) to the gNB of the relay device of the terminal device through the PDU session resource establishment request, so that the gNB of the relay device determines the bearer of the terminal device based on the QoS of the PDU session of the terminal device. The bearer of the terminal device can be a data radio bearer (DRB) of the terminal device, and the like. It should be noted that in some scenarios, the bearer of the terminal device is also referred to as a logical channel of the terminal device, and in the present application, the "bearer of the terminal device" or "DRB of the terminal device" can be replaced by the term "logical channel of the terminal device". Hereinafter, the term "bearer of the terminal device" or "DRB of the terminal device" will be mainly introduced.

[0166] In step 303, the relay device sends the bearer configuration information of the terminal device; correspondingly, the terminal device receives the bearer configuration information of the terminal device.

[0167] In this embodiment, step 303 is an optional step.

[0168] Specifically, after receiving the PDU session resource setup request from the core network device, the gNB of the relay device obtains the QoS (e.g., at least one common QoS flow and common QoS parameters corresponding to the common QoS flow) of the PDU session of the terminal device from the PDU session resource setup request, and then allocates a DRB for each common QoS flow in the common QoS of the terminal device according to the air interface resource situation for air interface transmission, and generates a correspondence between the identification information (i.e., QFI) of the common QoS flow and the corresponding DRB, to obtain the bearer configuration information of the terminal device. The bearer configuration information is used to indicate the mapping relationship between the QoS of the PDU session of the terminal device and the bearer of the terminal device. The QoS of the PDU session of the terminal device is the common QoS of the PDU session determined by the core network device. For example, the QoS of the terminal device is the common QoS of the PDU session determined by the core network device based on the second slice information and / or the third indication information.

[0169] For example, the gNB of the relay device sends the bearer configuration information of the terminal device to the terminal device through an RRC message. For example, the gNB of the relay device carries the bearer configuration information of the terminal device in a DRB-ToAddMod information element and sends it to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device obtains the bearer configuration information from the received DRB-ToAddMod information element, and stores the mapping relationship between the QoS of the PDU session of the terminal device and the bearer of the terminal device.

[0170] It should be understood that the mapping relationship is used for data transmission of the terminal device. For example, in uplink transmission, the terminal device maps the uplink data packet to a common QoS flow and determines the QFI of the common QoS flow, and then the terminal device determines the DRB corresponding to the common QoS flow based on the mapping relationship, and transmits the uplink data packet through the DRB corresponding to the common QoS flow. In downlink transmission, after receiving the downlink data packet from the DRB, the gNB of the relay device determines the QFI of the downlink data packet based on the mapping relationship, thereby determining the common QoS flow corresponding to the data packet, and then transmitting the downlink data packet through the common QoS flow.

[0171] It should be noted that the PDU session in the embodiment is a PDU session established by the terminal device after authorization. For example, the PDU session is the first PDU session of the terminal device after authorization. The PDU session is used for control plane transmission of the terminal device. Optionally, the PDU session is also used for user plane transmission of the terminal device.

[0172] In this embodiment, the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device carries the second slice information and / or the third indication information in the PDU session establishment request, so that the core network device determines that the terminal device accesses the network through the relay device, and configures common slice transmission resources for the terminal device. Since the relay device (for example, WAB) needs to pass through one-hop wireless backhaul, the actual QoS requirement of the terminal device may be difficult to guarantee, and therefore, configuring common QoS for the terminal device is beneficial to guarantee the basic service quality provided for the terminal device. This is beneficial to avoid configuring too high QoS for the terminal device while being limited by the QoS of the relay device, and is beneficial to improve the utilization rate of resources.

[0173] It should be understood that in the scenario in which the terminal device accesses the network through the relay device, the relay device can establish the PDU session of the MT of the relay device, the terminal device can establish the PDU session of the terminal device, the host node determines the bearer of the MT, and the gNB of the relay device can determine the bearer of the terminal device. In order to guarantee that the data packet of the terminal device reaches the host node through the relay device and then reaches the core network, it is necessary to establish the mapping relationship between the bearer of the MT and the bearer of the terminal device. For this purpose, the present application provides the communication process shown in FIG. 4 to solve the foregoing problem.

[0174] As shown in FIG. 4, a flowchart of another embodiment of a communication method provided by the present application is shown. The communication method is illustrated by taking the interaction among the relay device, the host node and the core network device as an example. Of course, the subject performing the action of the host node in the method can also be a device or a module in the host node; the subject performing the action of the core network device in the method can also be a device or a module in the core network device; the subject performing the action of the relay device in the method can also be a device or a module in the relay device, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the communication method includes the following steps:

[0175] In step 401, the core network device sends a first mapping relationship; correspondingly, the relay device receives the first mapping relationship.

[0176] In a case where the core network device determines that the MT of the relay device needs to establish a PDU session or the MT has established a PDU session, the core network device sends the first mapping relationship to the MT of the relay device through a host node of the MT of the relay device, that is, when the core network device determines that the terminal device for which the PDU session is established is the MT of the relay device, the core network device determines to send the first mapping relationship to the MT of the relay device; correspondingly, the MT of the relay device receives the first mapping relationship from the core network device through the host node of the MT of the relay device. For example, the core network device (for example, a core network device of the MT) receives a PDU session establishment request, and in a case where it is determined that the PDU session request is a request for establishing a PDU session of the MT of the relay device, the core network device determines a QoS of the PDU of the MT, and sends the first mapping relationship to the MT through the host node of the MT; correspondingly, the MT receives the first mapping relationship from the core network device through the host node.

[0177] The first mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QFI of the MT of the relay device and the QoS parameter of the MT, and can be represented as “QFI of the MT ~ QoS parameter of the MT”. The QFI of the MT is used to uniquely identify a QoS flow of the MT, and the QoS parameter of the MT is used to indicate a demand of service data transmitted by the MT through the QoS flow for a quality of service. For example, the QoS parameter can be a 5G QoS indicator (5G QoS Identifier, 5QI) or the like. In some scenarios, the QoS parameter is also referred to as a QoS profile, and the present application takes the term “QoS parameter” as an example for introduction.

[0178] Optionally, the first mapping relationship is carried in a PDU session establishment acceptance (PDU Session Establishment Accept) message.

[0179] Optionally, the PDU session establishment acceptance message includes an authorized QoS flow description (Authorized QoS flow descriptions) information element, and the first mapping relationship is carried in the authorized QoS flow description information element. It should be noted that in the prior art, the Authorized QoS flow descriptions information element is optionally carried in the PDU Session Establishment Accept message; and in the embodiment, the PDU Session Establishment Accept message configured by the core network device and sent to the MT must carry the Authorized QoS flow descriptions information element, so as to ensure that the MT of the relay device obtains the first mapping relationship.

[0180] It should be noted that the embodiment can be combined with the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 2, in which case, the core network device determines that the PDU session is established for the MT based on the first slice information and / or the first indication information in the PDU session establishment request, so as to trigger the core network device to determine the QoS of the MT as the common QoS and send the first mapping relationship related to the common QoS. In this case, the first mapping relationship is used to indicate the mapping relationship between the common QFI of the MT and the common QoS parameter of the MT. For the explanation of the first slice information, the first indication information, and the common QoS, please refer to the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 2, which will not be described here.

[0181] At step 402, the host node of the relay device sends the second mapping relationship; correspondingly, the relay device receives the second mapping relationship.

[0182] After the core network device determines the QoS of the PDU of the MT, the core network device sends the QoS of the MT to the host node of the MT. After the host node of the MT receives the QoS of the MT determined by the core network device, the host node determines the bearer (for example, the DRB of the MT) of the MT based on the QoS of the MT, and generates the second mapping relationship. The second mapping relationship is used to indicate the mapping relationship between the QFI of the MT and the bearer of the MT, and can be expressed as “QFI of the MT bearer of the MT”.

[0183] For example, after the host node receives the PDU session resource establishment request from the core network device, the host node obtains the QoS (for example, at least one QoS flow and the QoS parameter corresponding to each QoS flow) of the PDU session of the MT from the PDU session resource establishment request. Then, the host node allocates a bearer (for example, a DRB) for each QoS flow in the QoS of the MT according to the air interface resource condition for air interface transmission, and generates the corresponding relationship between the identification information (that is, the QFI) of the QoS flow and the corresponding bearer (for example, the DRB), to obtain the second mapping relationship. Optionally, when the embodiment is combined with the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 2, the QoS of the PDU session of the MT in the example is the common QoS of the PDU session determined by the core network device. For example, the QoS of the MT is the common QoS of the PDU session determined by the core network device based on the first slice information and / or the first indication information.

[0184] Optionally, the second mapping relationship is carried in the bearer configuration information of the MT.

[0185] At step 403, the relay device determines the third mapping relationship based on the first mapping relationship, the second mapping relationship, and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter.

[0186] The mapping rule of the QoS parameter is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QoS parameter of the terminal device, which can be represented as "QoS parameter of MT ~ QoS parameter of UE". The terminal device is a terminal device that accesses the network through the relay device. The mapping rule of the QoS parameter can be preconfigured or generated by the relay device, which is not limited in the present application.

[0187] The mapping rule of the QoS parameter can be understood as that the QoS parameter of the MT is associated with the QoS parameter of the terminal device. The "association" can be understood as "QoS parameter approximation", or "the QoS of the terminal device and the QoS of the MT jointly satisfy an overall QoS", etc.

[0188] Optionally, the mapping rule of the QoS parameter includes that the QoS parameter of the MT is not worse than the QoS parameter of the terminal device. For example, if the QoS parameter includes data rate, the data rate of the MT is generally not lower than the data rate of the terminal device. For another example, if the QoS parameter includes latency, the latency requirement of the MT is not higher than the latency requirement of the terminal device, for example, the sum of the latency of the MT and the air interface latency of the terminal device is less than or equal to the latency of the terminal device. In actual application, the QoS parameter can also include other performance indicators, which are not listed here.

[0189] Since the relay device can obtain the first mapping relationship (i.e., MT's QFI ~ MT's QoS parameter), the second mapping relationship (i.e., MT's QFI ~ MT's bearer), and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter (i.e., MT's QoS parameter ~ UE's QoS parameter), the relay device can determine the third mapping relationship based on the foregoing mapping relationships. The third mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, which can be represented as "UE's QoS parameter ~ MT's bearer". Since the gNB of the relay device is the access network device of the terminal device, the gNB of the relay device can determine the QFI of the terminal device in the process of determining the bearer configuration of the terminal device, and thus the relay device can ultimately determine the mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT.

[0190] In uplink transmission, the relay device can determine the bearer of the MT based on the bearer of the terminal device. For example, the relay device obtains the QoS parameter of the terminal device by using the SDAP layer analysis; then, the relay device determines the QoS parameter of the MT based on the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter; then, the relay device determines the QFI of the MT based on the QoS parameter of the MT and the first mapping relationship; then, the relay device determines the bearer of the MT based on the QFI of the MT and the second mapping relationship. Then, the relay device sends uplink data through the bearer of the MT.

[0191] In the downlink transmission, the relay device can determine the bearer of the terminal device based on the bearer of the MT. For example, the relay device determines the QFI of the MT based on the bearer of the MT and the second mapping relationship; then, the relay device determines the QoS parameter of the MT based on the QFI of the MT and the first mapping relationship; then, the relay device determines the QoS parameter of the terminal device based on the QoS parameter of the MT and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter; then, the relay device determines the bearer of the terminal device based on the QoS parameter of the terminal device. For example, the relay device first determines the QFI of the terminal device based on the QoS parameter of the terminal device, and then determines the bearer of the terminal device based on the QFI of the terminal device. Then, the relay device receives the downlink data through the bearer of the terminal device.

[0192] In this embodiment, the relay device can obtain the first mapping relationship (i.e., the QFI of the MT ~ the QoS parameter of the MT) and the second mapping relationship (i.e., the QFI of the MT and the bearer of the MT), and perform reasonable bearer mapping based on the association of the QoS (i.e., the mapping rule of the QoS parameter). This is conducive to ensuring that the uplink data of the terminal device can be accurately mapped to the bearer of the MT, and ensuring that the downlink data of the terminal device can be accurately mapped to the bearer of the terminal device. This is conducive to improving the efficiency of data transmission of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device.

[0193] It should be noted that when the relay device cannot obtain the first mapping relationship (i.e., the QFI of the MT ~ the QoS parameter of the MT), the relay device can determine the mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT through the method provided in the corresponding embodiments of FIG. 5, FIG. 6 or FIG. 7.

[0194] As shown in FIG. 5, another embodiment of a communication method provided by the present application is a flow chart. As shown in FIG. 5, the communication method includes the following steps:

[0195] Step 501, the relay device sends the fourth mapping relationship; correspondingly, the host node receives the fourth mapping relationship.

[0196] The fourth mapping relationship is used to indicate the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the bearer of the terminal device, or the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the QFI of the terminal device. The terminal device is a terminal device accessing the network through the relay device, i.e., the terminal device accesses the network through the gNB of the relay device. The fourth mapping relationship can be represented as "QoS parameter of UE ~ bearer of UE (or QFI of UE)".

[0197] For example, the terminal device accesses the network through the gNB of the relay device, and sends a PDU session establishment request to the core network device of the terminal device. The gNB of the relay device interacts with the core network device to establish a PDU session resource process, and obtains the QoS of the terminal device (including the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the QFI of the terminal device) from the core network device. Then, the gNB of the relay device determines the bearer of the terminal device based on the QoS of the terminal device, and obtains the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the bearer of the terminal device. At this time, the relay device obtains the fourth mapping relationship.

[0198] It should be noted that the relay device can obtain the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the QFI of the terminal device, or the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the bearer of the terminal device according to the conventional technology. When the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 3 is combined, the relay device can also determine the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the QFI of the terminal device, or the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the bearer of the terminal device based on the method provided by the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 3. In this case, the fourth mapping relationship involves the common QoS parameter of the terminal device determined by the core network device based on the second slice information and / or the third indication information, the fourth mapping relationship involves the identifier of the common QoS flow determined by the core network device based on the second slice information and / or the third indication information, and the fourth mapping relationship involves the bearer determined by the gNB of the relay device based on the common QoS.

[0199] Optionally, the MT of the relay device sends the fourth mapping relationship to the host node through an RRC message; or the gNB of the relay device sends the fourth mapping relationship to the host node through an Xn interface message.

[0200] In step 502, the host node determines a sixth mapping relationship based on the fourth mapping relationship, the fifth mapping relationship, and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter.

[0201] The fifth mapping relationship is used to indicate the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT of the relay device and the bearer of the MT, or the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QFI of the MT. The fifth mapping relationship can be represented as “QoS parameter of the MT ~ bearer (or QFI) of the MT”.

[0202] For example, the MT accesses the network through the host node, and sends a PDU session establishment request to the core network device of the MT. The host node interacts with the core network device of the MT to establish a PDU session resource process, and obtains the QoS of the MT (including the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QFI of the MT) from the core network device. Then, the host node determines the bearer of the MT based on the QoS of the MT, and obtains the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the bearer of the MT. At this time, the host node obtains the fifth mapping relationship.

[0203] It should be noted that the present embodiment can be combined with the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 2, in which case the host node determines the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QFI of the MT, or the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the bearer of the MT, based on the method provided by the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 2. In this case, the QoS parameter of the MT involved in the fifth mapping relationship is the common QoS parameter determined by the core network device of the MT based on the first slice information and / or the first indication information, the QFI involved in the fifth mapping relationship is the identifier of the common QoS flow determined by the core network device based on the first slice information and / or the first indication information, and the DRB involved in the fifth mapping relationship is the bearer determined by the host node based on the common QoS.

[0204] In addition, the mapping rule of the QoS parameter is used to indicate the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QoS parameter of the terminal device. The mapping rule of the QoS parameter can be expressed as “QoS parameter of the MT ~ QoS parameter of the UE”. For the explanation of the mapping rule of the QoS parameter, please refer to the related introduction in step 403 in the foregoing, which will not be repeated here.

[0205] Since the host node can obtain the fourth mapping relationship (i.e., UE's QoS parameter ~ UE's bearer (or UE's QFI)), the fifth mapping relationship (i.e., MT's QoS parameter ~ MT's bearer (or MT's QFI)), and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter (i.e., MT's QoS parameter ~ UE's QoS parameter), the host node can further determine the sixth mapping relationship based on the foregoing mapping relationships. The sixth mapping relationship is used to indicate the mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or the mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT, or the mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or the mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT. The sixth mapping relationship can be expressed as “UE's bearer (or UE's QFI) ~ MT's bearer (or MT's QFI)”.

[0206] In step 503, the host node sends the sixth mapping relationship; correspondingly, the relay device receives the sixth mapping relationship.

[0207] After determining the sixth mapping relationship, the host node sends the sixth mapping relationship to the relay device; correspondingly, the relay device receives the sixth mapping relationship from the host node. Optionally, the host node sends the sixth mapping relationship to the MT of the relay device through an RRC message; or the host node sends the sixth mapping relationship to the gNB of the relay device through an Xn interface message.

[0208] After receiving the sixth mapping relationship, the relay device can determine the bearer of the MT based on the bearer of the terminal device, and determine the bearer of the terminal device based on the bearer of the MT.

[0209] In uplink transmission, the relay device can determine the bearer of the MT based on the bearer of the terminal device. For example, the relay device obtains an uplink data packet from the bearer of the terminal device, and determines the bearer of the MT based on the bearer of the terminal device and the sixth mapping relationship. Then, the relay device sends the uplink data packet through the bearer of the relay device.

[0210] In downlink transmission, the relay device can determine the bearer of the terminal device based on the bearer of the MT. For example, the relay device obtains a downlink data packet from the bearer of the MT, and determines the bearer of the terminal device based on the bearer of the MT and the sixth mapping relationship. Then, the relay device sends the downlink data packet through the bearer of the terminal device.

[0211] In this embodiment, the relay device notifies the host node of the fourth mapping relationship (i.e. the QoS parameter of the UE ~ the bearer of the UE (or the QFI of the UE)), the host node determines the sixth mapping relationship (i.e. the bearer of the UE (or the QFI of the UE) ~ the bearer of the MT (or the QFI of the MT)) based on the fourth mapping relationship, the fifth mapping relationship (i.e. the QoS parameter of the MT ~ the bearer of the MT (or the QFI of the MT)) and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter (i.e. the QoS parameter of the MT ~ the QoS parameter of the UE), and sends the sixth mapping relationship to the relay device, so that the relay device determines the MT bearer corresponding to the uplink data packet, and the bearer of the terminal device corresponding to the downlink data packet. Therefore, it is beneficial to ensure that the uplink data of the terminal device can be accurately mapped to the bearer of the MT, and the downlink data of the terminal device can be accurately mapped to the bearer of the terminal device. It is beneficial to improve the efficiency of data transmission of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device.

[0212] As shown in FIG. 6, the communication method provided by the present application is applied to an O-RAN scenario. As shown in FIG. 6, the access network control device, the relay device and the host node will perform the following steps:

[0213] In step 601, the relay device sends the fourth mapping relationship; correspondingly, the access network control device receives the fourth mapping relationship.

[0214] The access network control device can be a controller that controls access network devices (e.g., a CU and / or a DU) in the access network. For example, the access network control device can be a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC). The relay device includes an MT of the relay device (e.g., a WAB-MT), a CU of the relay device (e.g., a WAB-CU), and a DU of the relay device (e.g., a WAB-DU).

[0215] The fourth mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of a terminal device and a bearer of the terminal device, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and a QFI of the terminal device. The terminal device accesses a network through a relay device. For details of the fourth mapping relationship, refer to the related description in step 501 in the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 5.

[0216] For example, the CU of the relay device sends the fourth mapping relationship to the access network control device through an E2 interface; or the DU of the relay device sends the fourth mapping relationship to the access network control device through the E2 interface.

[0217] In step 602, the donor node sends a fifth mapping relationship; and correspondingly, the access network control device receives the fifth mapping relationship.

[0218] The donor node can be a donor-CU or a donor-DU.

[0219] The fifth mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of an MT of a relay device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QFI of the MT. For details of the fifth mapping relationship, refer to the related description in step 502 in the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 5.

[0220] For example, the donor-CU sends the fifth mapping relationship to the access network control device through an E2 interface; or the donor-DU sends the fifth mapping relationship to the access network control device through the E2 interface.

[0221] In step 603, the access network control device determines a sixth mapping relationship based on the fourth mapping relationship, the fifth mapping relationship, and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter.

[0222] The mapping rule of the QoS parameter is used to indicate an association relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QoS parameter of the terminal device. The sixth mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between a bearer of the terminal device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between a QFI of the terminal device and a QFI of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT. For the mapping rule of the QoS parameter and the sixth mapping relationship, refer to the related description in step 502 in the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 5, which is not described herein again.

[0223] In step 604, the access network control device sends the sixth mapping relationship, and correspondingly, the relay device receives the sixth mapping relationship.

[0224] For example, the access network control device sends the sixth mapping relationship to the CU of the relay device through an E2 interface; or the access network control device sends the sixth mapping relationship to the DU of the relay device through the E2 interface.

[0225] In this embodiment, the relay device and the host node respectively send the fourth mapping relationship and the fifth mapping relationship to the access network control device, and the access network control device generates the sixth mapping relationship. This is conducive to accurately mapping the uplink data of the terminal device to the bearer of the MT and accurately mapping the downlink data of the terminal device to the bearer of the terminal device in the O-RAN architecture. This is conducive to improving the data transmission efficiency of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device.

[0226] As shown in FIG. 7, another embodiment of a communication method provided by the present application is a flowchart. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the communication method includes the following steps:

[0227] In step 701, the host node sends the fifth mapping relationship, and correspondingly, the relay device receives the fifth mapping relationship.

[0228] The fifth mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of an MT of the relay device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QFI of the MT. For the fifth mapping relationship, refer to the related description in step 502 in the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 5, which is not described herein again.

[0229] In a possible implementation, the host node sends the fifth mapping relationship to the relay device, and correspondingly, the relay device receives the fifth mapping relationship from the host node. For example, in a traditional access network system, the host node sends the fifth mapping relationship to the MT of the relay device through an RRC message; or the host node sends the fifth mapping relationship to the gNB of the relay device through an Xn message.

[0230] In another possible implementation, the host node sends the fifth mapping relationship to the relay device through the access network control device; correspondingly, the relay device receives the fifth mapping relationship from the host node through the access network control device. For example, in the O-RAN architecture, the host node (for example, a donor-CU or a donor-DU) sends the fifth mapping relationship to the access network control device through an E2 interface, and then the access network control device sends the fifth mapping relationship to the relay device (for example, a CU of the relay device or a DU of the relay device) through the E2 interface.

[0231] In step 702, the relay device determines the sixth mapping relationship based on the fourth mapping relationship, the fifth mapping relationship, and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter.

[0232] The fourth mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and a bearer of the terminal device, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and a QFI of the terminal device, and the terminal device accesses the network through the relay device. For details of the fourth mapping relationship, refer to the related description in step 501 in the corresponding embodiment of FIG. 5.

[0233] The mapping rule of the QoS parameter is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QoS parameter of the terminal device. The sixth mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and a QFI of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT. For details of the mapping rule of the QoS parameter and the sixth mapping relationship, refer to the related description in step 502 in the corresponding embodiment of FIG. 5.

[0234] In this embodiment, the host node sends the fifth mapping relationship to the relay device, and the relay device generates the sixth mapping relationship. This is beneficial to ensure that the uplink data of the terminal device can be accurately mapped to the bearer of the MT, and ensure that the downlink data of the terminal device can be accurately mapped to the bearer of the terminal device. This is beneficial to improve the efficiency of data transmission of the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device.

[0235] As shown in FIG. 8, it is a structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus 80 provided by the present application. The core network device in the method embodiments of FIG. 2, FIG. 3, or FIG. 4 can be based on the structure of the communication apparatus 80 shown in FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 8, the communication apparatus 80 can include a processor 801, a memory 803, and a communication interface 802. The processor 801 is coupled to the memory 803, and the processor 801 is coupled to the communication interface 802.

[0236] The communication interface 802 is connected to other communication devices through a communication link. For example, the communication interface 802 can include a network interface, such as an S1 interface, between a host node (e.g., the communication device 80 shown in FIG. 8).

[0237] The processor 801 can be a central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD can be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof. The processor 801 can refer to one processor or a plurality of processors, and the specific number of processors is not limited herein.

[0238] The memory 803 is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The memory 803 can exist independently and be connected to the processor 801. Alternatively, the memory 803 can be integrated with the processor 801, such as being integrated in one or more chips. The memory 803 can store program codes for executing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 801. The executed computer programs of various types can also be regarded as the driver of the processor 801. The memory 803 can include a volatile memory, such as a random-access memory (RAM), and can also include a non-volatile memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solid-state drive (SSD). The memory 803 can also include a combination of the above-mentioned memories. The memory 803 can refer to one memory or a plurality of memories. For example, the memory 803 is used for storing various data.

[0239] In one design, the communication device 80 is configured to perform the method of the core network device in the corresponding embodiment of FIG. 2. For example, the communication interface 802 is configured to receive a PDU session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request including first slice information and / or first indication information; the processor 801 is configured to determine a common quality of service (QoS) for a PDU session of a mobile terminal (MT) of the relay device; and the communication interface 802 is further configured to send, to a donor node of the relay device, a PDU session resource setup request including the common QoS for the PDU session of the MT determined by the core network device. The first slice information is used to indicate that the PDU session establishment request is a request to establish a PDU session of an MT of the relay device, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the communication device initiating the PDU session establishment request is the MT of the relay device.

[0240] In one possible implementation, the first slice information includes a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate any one of the following types of slices: a common type of slice; or a default type of slice; or a non-functional slice.

[0241] In one possible implementation, the first slice information includes a second slice identifier, and the second slice identifier is used to indicate a slice of the MT of the relay device.

[0242] In one possible implementation, the first slice information is information that does not include a slice identifier.

[0243] In one possible implementation, the PDU session establishment request further includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the core network device ignores the first slice information.

[0244] In one possible implementation, the PDU session is a PDU session established by the MT after authorization, and the PDU session is used for control plane transmission of the relay device. Optionally, the PDU session is also used for user plane transmission of the relay device.

[0245] In another design, the communication device 80 is configured to perform the method of the core network device in the corresponding embodiment of FIG. 3. For example, the communication interface 802 is configured to receive a PDU session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request including third indication information and / or second slice information. The processor 801 is configured to determine a common quality of service (QoS) for a PDU session of a terminal device. The communication interface 802 is further configured to send a PDU session resource setup request including the common QoS for the PDU session of the terminal device determined by the core network device. The third indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device initiating the PDU session establishment request accesses a network through a relay device, and the second slice information is used to indicate a PDU session requested to be established by the terminal device accessing the relay device.

[0246] In a possible implementation, the second slice information includes a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate any one of the following types of slices: a common type of slice; or a default type of slice; or a non-active slice.

[0247] In a possible implementation, the second slice information is information that does not include a slice identifier.

[0248] In a possible implementation, the PDU session establishment request further includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the second slice information.

[0249] In another design, the communication apparatus 80 is configured to perform the method of the core network device in the foregoing embodiment of Figure 4. For example, the communication interface 802 is configured to receive the PDU session establishment request; the processor 801 is configured to determine the first mapping relationship in a case where it is determined that the PDU session request is a request to establish a PDU session of an MT of a relay device; and the communication interface 802 is configured to send the first mapping relationship. The first mapping relationship is a mapping relationship between a QFI of the MT and a QoS parameter of the MT, and the first mapping relationship is used to determine a third mapping relationship in combination with a second mapping relationship and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter. The second mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QFI of the MT and a bearer of the MT, and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter is used to indicate an association relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QoS parameter of a terminal device. The third mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT.

[0250] It should be noted that the specific implementation and advantages of the embodiment can refer to the method of the core network device in the foregoing embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0251] As shown in Figure 9, Figure 9 is a structural schematic diagram of another communication apparatus 90 provided in the embodiment. The relay device in the method embodiments of the foregoing Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6 or Figure 7 can be based on the structure of the communication apparatus 90 shown in Figure 9 in the embodiment. Alternatively, the host node in the method embodiments of the foregoing Figure 5 or Figure 7 can also be based on the structure of the communication apparatus 90 shown in Figure 9 in the embodiment.

[0252] The communication apparatus 90 includes at least one processor 901, at least one transceiver 902 and one or more antennas 903. The processor 901 is connected to the transceiver 902 through a connection apparatus, and the antenna 903 is connected to the transceiver 902. The foregoing connection apparatus can include various interfaces, transmission lines or buses, etc., which are not limited in the embodiment.

[0253] When the communication apparatus 90 is configured to implement the function of a relay device (e.g., a layer three relay device), the transceiver 902 can be configured to support the reception or transmission of radio frequency signals between the communication apparatus 90 and a terminal device, and can also be configured to support the reception or transmission of radio frequency signals between the communication apparatus 90 and a host node. When the communication apparatus 90 is configured to implement the function of a host node (e.g., a host node of a layer three relay device), the transceiver 902 can be configured to support the reception or transmission of radio frequency signals between the communication apparatus 90 and a relay device (e.g., a WAB-MT or a WAB-gNB). The transceiver 902 includes a transmitter Tx and a receiver Rx. Specifically, one or more antennas 903 can receive radio frequency signals, and the receiver Rx of the transceiver 902 can be configured to receive the radio frequency signals from the antennas 903 and forward the radio frequency signals after amplification processing. When the communication apparatus 90 is configured to implement the function of a layer three relay device (e.g., a WAB), the transceiver 902 can also be configured to convert the received radio frequency signals into digital baseband signals or digital intermediate frequency signals, and provide the digital baseband signals or digital intermediate frequency signals to the processor 901 for further processing, such as demodulation processing and decoding processing. In addition, the transmitter Tx in the transceiver 902 can also be configured to receive modulated digital baseband signals or digital intermediate frequency signals from the processor 901, convert the modulated digital baseband signals or digital intermediate frequency signals into radio frequency signals, and transmit the radio frequency signals through the one or more antennas 903.

[0254] In addition, the aforementioned processor 901 is mainly configured to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire network device, execute software programs, and process data of the software programs, for example, to support the communication apparatus 90 to perform the actions described in the foregoing embodiments. When the communication apparatus 90 is configured to implement the function of a MT of a relay device, the processor 901 triggers the PDU session establishment process of the MT according to the protocol stack of a terminal device. When the communication apparatus 90 is configured to implement the function of a gNB of a relay device, or the function of a host node, the processor 901 further includes a baseband processor and a central processor, wherein the baseband processor is mainly configured to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processor is mainly configured to control the entire communication apparatus 90, execute software programs, and process data of the software programs. The processor 901 in FIG. 9 can integrate the functions of the baseband processor and the central processor, and those skilled in the art can understand that the baseband processor and the central processor can also be independent processors interconnected by a bus or the like. The communication apparatus 90 can include multiple baseband processors to adapt to different network standards, and the communication apparatus 90 can include multiple central processors to enhance its processing capability. The various components of the communication apparatus 90 can be connected by various buses.

[0255] Optionally, the communication apparatus 90 further includes at least one memory 904. The memory 904 is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The memory 904 can exist independently, and is connected with the processor 901. Alternatively, the memory 904 can be integrated with the processor 901, for example, integrated in one or more chips. The memory 904 can store program codes for implementing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 901. The executed computer programs of various types can also be regarded as the driver of the processor 901. It should be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, FIG. 9 only shows one memory and one processor, but in actual applications, the communication apparatus 90 can have multiple processors or multiple memories, which are not limited here. In addition, the memory 904 can also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, etc. The memory 904 can be a storage element on the same chip as the processor (i.e. an on-chip storage element), or an independent storage element, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0256] Optionally, the communication apparatus 90 further includes at least one network interface 905. The network interface 905 is used for connecting the communication apparatus 90 with other communication apparatuses through a communication link. Specifically, the network interface 905 can include a network interface between the communication apparatus 90 and a core network element, for example, an NG interface; the network interface 905 can also include a network interface between the communication apparatus 90 and other network devices (for example, other host nodes or core network elements), for example, an X2 or Xn interface.

[0257] In one design, the communication apparatus 90 is configured to perform the method of the relay device in the foregoing embodiments corresponding to FIG. 2. The transceiver 902 is configured to send a PDU session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request including first slice information and / or first indication information, the first slice information being used to indicate that the PDU session establishment request is used to request to establish a PDU session of an MT of the relay device, and the first indication information being used to indicate that the communication apparatus initiating the PDU session establishment request is the MT of the relay device.

[0258] In one possible implementation, the transceiver 902 is configured to receive the bearer configuration information of the MT sent by the host node, the bearer configuration information being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS of the PDU session of the MT and the bearer of the MT, and the QoS of the PDU session of the MT being the common QoS of the PDU session determined by the core network device.

[0259] In one possible implementation, the first slice information includes a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate any one of the following types of slices: a common type of slice; or a default type of slice; or a non-working slice.

[0260] In a possible implementation, the first slice information includes a second slice identifier, and the second slice identifier is used to indicate a slice of the MT of the relay device.

[0261] In a possible implementation, the first slice information is information that does not include a slice identifier.

[0262] In a possible implementation, the PDU session establishment request further includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the first slice information.

[0263] In a possible implementation, the PDU session is a PDU session established by the MT after authorization, and the PDU session is used for control plane transmission of the relay device. Optionally, the PDU session is also used for user plane transmission of the relay device.

[0264] In another design, the communication apparatus 90 is configured to perform the method of the relay device in the foregoing embodiment corresponding to FIG. 4. Specifically, the transceiver 902 is configured to receive a first mapping relationship, and the first mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between a quality of service flow identifier QFI of an MT of the relay device and a quality of service QoS parameter of the MT; and receive bearer configuration information of the MT sent by a host node of the relay device, and the bearer configuration information of the MT includes a second mapping relationship, and the second mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QFI of the MT and a bearer of the MT. The processor 901 is configured to determine a third mapping relationship based on the first mapping relationship, the second mapping relationship, and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter, the mapping rule of the QoS parameter is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QoS parameter of a terminal device, and the third mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, and the terminal device accesses a network through the relay device.

[0265] In a possible implementation, the first mapping relationship is carried in a PDU session establishment accept message.

[0266] In a possible implementation, the PDU session establishment accept message includes an authorized QoS flow description information element, and the authorized QoS flow description information element carries the first mapping relationship.

[0267] In a possible implementation, the mapping rule of the QoS parameter includes that the QoS parameter of the MT is not worse than the QoS parameter of the terminal device.

[0268] In a possible implementation, the processor 901 is configured to: obtain a QoS parameter of the terminal device; determine a QoS parameter of the MT based on the QoS parameter of the terminal device and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter; determine a QFI of the MT based on the QoS parameter of the MT and a first mapping relationship; and determine a bearer of the MT based on the QFI of the MT and a second mapping relationship. The transceiver 902 is configured to send uplink data through the bearer of the MT.

[0269] In a possible implementation, the processor 901 is configured to determine a QFI of the MT based on the bearer of the MT and the second mapping relationship; determine a QoS parameter of the MT based on the QFI of the MT and the first mapping relationship; determine a QoS parameter of the terminal device based on the QoS parameter of the MT and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter; and determine a bearer of the terminal device based on the QoS parameter of the terminal device. The transceiver 902 is configured to receive downlink data through the bearer of the terminal device.

[0270] In another design, the communication apparatus 90 is configured to perform the method of the relay device in the foregoing corresponding embodiments of FIG. 5 or FIG. 6. Specifically, the transceiver 902 is configured to: send, to a host node, a fourth mapping relationship, the fourth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of a terminal device and a bearer of the terminal device, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and a QFI of the terminal device, the terminal device accessing a network through the relay device; and receive, from the host node, a sixth mapping relationship, the sixth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a bearer of the terminal device and a bearer of an MT, or a mapping relationship between a QFI of the terminal device and a QFI of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT; the sixth mapping relationship being determined by the host node based on the fourth mapping relationship, a fifth mapping relationship and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter; the fifth mapping relationship being a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of an MT of the relay device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QFI of the MT; and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter being used to indicate an association relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QoS parameter of the terminal device.

[0271] In another design, the communication apparatus 90 is configured to perform the method of the relay device in the corresponding embodiment of FIG. 7. For example, the transceiver 902 is configured to receive, from the host node, a fifth mapping relationship, the fifth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of the MT of the relay device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QFI of the MT; the processor 901 is configured to determine a sixth mapping relationship based on the fourth mapping relationship, the fifth mapping relationship and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter, the fourth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of the terminal device and a bearer of the terminal device, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and a QFI of the terminal device, the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device; the mapping rule of the QoS parameter being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QoS parameter of the terminal device; the sixth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT.

[0272] It should be noted that the specific implementation and advantages of the embodiment can refer to the method of the relay device in the above embodiment, which will not be described here.

[0273] In another design, the communication apparatus 90 is configured to perform the method of the host node in the corresponding embodiment of FIG. 5. For example, the transceiver 902 is configured to receive, from the relay device, a fourth mapping relationship, the fourth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of the terminal device and a bearer of the terminal device, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and a QFI of the terminal device, the terminal device accessing the network through the relay device; the processor 901 is configured to determine a sixth mapping relationship based on the fourth mapping relationship, a fifth mapping relationship and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter; wherein the fifth mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of the MT of the relay device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QFI of the MT; the mapping rule of the QoS parameter is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QoS parameter of the terminal device; the sixth mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT; and the transceiver 902 is further configured to send the sixth mapping relationship to the relay device.

[0274] In another design, the communication apparatus 90 is configured to perform the method of the host node in the foregoing corresponding embodiment of FIG. 7. For example, the transceiver 902 is configured to send, to the relay device, a fifth mapping relationship, the fifth mapping relationship being a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of an MT of the relay device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QFI of the MT; wherein the fifth mapping relationship is used by the relay device to determine, in combination with a fourth mapping relationship and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter, a sixth mapping relationship, the fourth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS parameter of a terminal device and a bearer of the terminal device, or a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and a QFI of the terminal device, the terminal device accessing a network through the relay device; the mapping rule of the QoS parameter being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and the QoS parameter of the terminal device; the sixth mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and a bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and a QFI of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the QFI of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, or a mapping relationship between the bearer of the terminal device and the QFI of the MT.

[0275] It should be noted that the specific implementation manners and beneficial effects of the present embodiment can refer to the method of the host node in the foregoing embodiments, which will not be described herein.

[0276] As shown in FIG. 10, it is a structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus 100 provided by the present application. It should be understood that the terminal device in the foregoing corresponding method embodiment of FIG. 3 can be based on the structure of the communication apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 10 in the present embodiment.

[0277] The communication apparatus 100 comprises at least one processor 1001, at least one memory 1002 and at least one transceiver 1003. The processor 1001, the memory 1002 and the transceiver 1003 are connected. Optionally, the communication apparatus 100 can further comprise an input device 1005, an output device 1006 and one or more antennas 1004. The antenna 1004 is connected to the transceiver 1003, and the input device 1005 and the output device 1006 are connected to the processor 1001.

[0278] The memory 1002 is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The memory 1002 can exist independently and be connected to the processor 1001. Alternatively, the memory 1002 can be integrated with the processor 1001, for example, in one or more chips. The memory 1002 can store program codes for implementing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application and be controlled to execute by the processor 1001. The executed computer programs of various types can also be regarded as the driver of the processor 1001. It should be understood that FIG. 10 in the embodiments only shows one memory and one processor, but in actual applications, the communication device 100 can have multiple processors or multiple memories, which are not limited here. In addition, the memory 1002 can also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, etc. The memory 1002 can be a storage element on the same chip as the processor (i.e., an on-chip storage element), or an independent storage element, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0279] The transceiver 1003 can be used to support the reception or transmission of radio frequency signals between the communication device 100 and a network device (for example, an access network device), and the transceiver 1003 can be connected to the antenna 1004. The transceiver 1003 includes a transmitter Tx and a receiver Rx. Specifically, one or more antennas 1004 can receive radio frequency signals, and the receiver Rx of the transceiver 1003 is used to receive the radio frequency signals from the antenna 1004 and convert the radio frequency signals into digital baseband signals or digital intermediate frequency signals, and provide the digital baseband signals or digital intermediate frequency signals to the processor 1001 for further processing of the digital baseband signals or digital intermediate frequency signals by the processor 1001, such as demodulation processing and decoding processing. In addition, the transmitter Tx in the transceiver 1003 is also used to receive modulated digital baseband signals or digital intermediate frequency signals from the processor 1001, and convert the modulated digital baseband signals or digital intermediate frequency signals into radio frequency signals, and transmit the radio frequency signals through one or more antennas 1004. Specifically, the receiver Rx can selectively perform one or more levels of down-mixing and analog-to-digital conversion on the radio frequency signals to obtain digital baseband signals or digital intermediate frequency signals, and the order of the foregoing down-mixing and analog-to-digital conversion can be adjustable. The transmitter Tx can selectively perform one or more levels of up-mixing and digital-to-analog conversion on the modulated digital baseband signals or digital intermediate frequency signals to obtain radio frequency signals, and the order of the up-mixing and digital-to-analog conversion can be adjustable. The digital baseband signals and the digital intermediate frequency signals can be collectively referred to as digital signals.

[0280] It should be understood that the aforementioned transceiver 1003 can also be referred to as a transceiving unit, a transceiver, a transceiving device, etc. Optionally, the device in the transceiving unit for implementing the receiving function can be regarded as a receiving unit, and the device in the transceiving unit for implementing the sending function can be regarded as a sending unit, that is, the transceiving unit includes the receiving unit and the sending unit, the receiving unit can also be referred to as a receiver, an input port, a receiving circuit, etc., and the sending unit can be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

[0281] The processor 1001 can be a baseband processor or a central processing unit (CPU), and the baseband processor and the CPU can be integrated together or separated. The processor 1001 can be used to implement various functions for the terminal device, such as processing communication protocols and communication data, or controlling the entire terminal device, executing software programs, and processing data of the software programs; or the processor 1001 is used to implement one or more of the above functions.

[0282] In addition, the output device 1006 communicates with the processor 1001 and can display information in various ways, which are not limited here.

[0283] In one design, the communication apparatus 100 is configured to perform the method of the terminal device in the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 3. The transceiver 1003 in the communication apparatus 100 is configured to send a PDU session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request including third indication information and / or second slice information, the third indication information being used to indicate that the terminal device sending the PDU session establishment request accesses a network through a relay device, and the second slice information being used to indicate a PDU session requested to be established by the terminal device accessing the relay device.

[0284] In one possible implementation, the transceiver 1003 is configured to receive bearer configuration information of the terminal device sent by the relay device, the bearer configuration information being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS of a PDU session of the terminal device and a bearer of the terminal device.

[0285] In one possible implementation, the second slice information includes a first slice identifier, the first slice identifier being used to indicate any one of the following types of slices: a public type of slice; or a default type of slice; or a non-working slice.

[0286] In one possible implementation, the second slice information is information that does not include a slice identifier.

[0287] In one possible implementation, the PDU session establishment request further includes fourth indication information, the fourth indication information being used to instruct the core network device to ignore the second slice information.

[0288] It should be noted that the specific implementation and advantages of the embodiments of the present embodiment can refer to the method of the terminal device in the above embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0289] As shown in FIG. 11, the present application also provides a communication apparatus 110. The communication apparatus 110 can be a core network device, a relay device, a host node or a terminal device, and can also be a component (for example, an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.) of the core network device, the relay device, the host node or the terminal device. The communication apparatus 110 can also be a communication module for implementing the method in the method embodiments of the present application.

[0290] The communication apparatus 110 can include a processing module 1101 (or a processing unit). Optionally, it can also include an interface module 1102 (or a transceiver unit or a transceiver module) and a storage module 1103 (or a storage unit). The interface module 1102 is used to realize communication with other devices. The interface module 1102 can be a transceiver module or an input / output module, for example.

[0291] In a possible design, one or more modules in FIG. 11 can be implemented by one or more processors, or by one or more processors and memories; or by one or more processors and transceivers; or by one or more processors, memories and transceivers, and the embodiments of the present application do not make any limitation in this regard. The processor, the memory and the transceiver can be separately arranged, or integrated together.

[0292] The communication apparatus 110 has the function of implementing the core network device described in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the communication apparatus 110 includes the modules or units or means corresponding to the steps involved in the core network device executed by the core network device described in the embodiments of the present application, and the functions or units or means can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software, or by a combination of software and hardware. For details, further reference can be made to the corresponding description in the foregoing method embodiments. For details, further reference can be made to the communication apparatus 80 in the corresponding embodiments in FIG. 8.

[0293] Alternatively, the communication apparatus 110 has the function of implementing the host node described in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the communication apparatus 110 includes the modules or units or means corresponding to the steps involved in the host node executed by the host node described in the embodiments of the present application, and the functions or units or means can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software, or by a combination of software and hardware. For details, further reference can be made to the corresponding description in the foregoing method embodiments. For details, further reference can be made to the communication apparatus 90 in the corresponding embodiments in FIG. 9.

[0294] Alternatively, the communication apparatus 110 is provided with the functions of the relay device described in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the communication apparatus 110 includes modules or units or means corresponding to the steps involved in the relay device described in the embodiments of the present application, which are implemented by software or by hardware, or are implemented in a combination of software and hardware. Further details can be referred to the corresponding description in the foregoing method embodiments. For details, please refer to the communication apparatus 90 in the corresponding embodiment of FIG. 9.

[0295] Alternatively, the communication apparatus 110 is provided with the functions of the terminal device described in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the communication apparatus 110 includes modules or units or means corresponding to the steps involved in the terminal device described in the embodiments of the present application, which are implemented by software or by hardware, or are implemented in a combination of software and hardware. Further details can be referred to the corresponding description in the foregoing method embodiments. For details, please refer to the communication apparatus 100 in the corresponding embodiment of FIG. 10.

[0296] Furthermore, the present application provides a computer program product including one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the procedures or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are wholly or partially generated. For example, the method related to the host node in the foregoing FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 is implemented. For another example, the method related to the relay device in the foregoing FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 is implemented. For another example, the method related to the core network device in the foregoing FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 is implemented. For another example, the method related to the terminal device in the foregoing FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 is implemented. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center through wired (for example, coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (for example, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) manner. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be stored by the computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (for example, floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, digital versatile disc (DVD)) or a semiconductor medium (for example, solid state disk (SSD)) and the like.

[0297] Furthermore, the present application also provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. The computer program is executed by a processor to implement the method related to the host node in the foregoing FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6 or FIG. 7.

[0298] Furthermore, the present application also provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. The computer program is executed by a processor to implement the method related to the relay device in the foregoing FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6 or FIG. 7.

[0299] Furthermore, the present application also provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. The computer program is executed by a processor to implement the method related to the core network device in the foregoing FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6 or FIG. 7.

[0300] In addition, the application further provides a computer readable storage medium, the storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is executed by a processor to implement a terminal device related method as in the foregoing figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7.

[0301] It should be understood that, in various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence number of each process described above does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined according to its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0302] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working process of the system, device and unit described above can refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here.

Claims

1. A communication method applied in core network equipment, characterized in that, The method comprises: receiving a protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request comprising first slice information and / or first indication information, the first slice information being used to indicate that the PDU session establishment request is used to request establishment of a PDU session of a mobile terminal (MT) of a relay device, and the first indication information being used to indicate that a communication apparatus initiating the PDU session establishment request is the MT of the relay device; sending, to a host node of the relay device, a PDU session resource establishment request, the PDU session resource establishment request comprising a common quality of service (QoS) of the PDU session of the MT determined by the core network device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first slice information comprises a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate any one of the following types of slices: a common type of slice; or a default type of slice; or an inactive slice.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first slice information comprises a second slice identifier, and the second slice identifier is used to indicate a slice of the MT of the relay device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first slice information is information that does not comprise a slice identifier.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The PDU session establishment request further comprises second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the core network device ignores the first slice information.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The PDU session is a PDU session established by the MT after authorization, and the PDU session is used for control plane transmission of the relay device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The PDU session is also used for user plane transmission of the relay device.

8. A communication method applied in a relay device, comprising: The method comprises: sending a PDU session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request comprising first slice information and / or first indication information, the first slice information being used to indicate that the PDU session establishment request is used to request establishment of a PDU session of a mobile terminal (MT) of a relay device, and the first indication information being used to indicate that a communication apparatus initiating the PDU session establishment request is the MT of the relay device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving, from a host node, bearer configuration information of the MT, the bearer configuration information being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS of a PDU session of the MT and a bearer of the MT, and the QoS of the PDU session of the MT being a common QoS of the PDU session determined by a core network device.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The first slice information comprises a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate any one of the following types of slices: a common type of slice; or a default type of slice; or an inactive slice.

11. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The first slice information comprises a second slice identifier, and the second slice identifier is used to indicate a slice of the MT of the relay device.

12. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein, The first slice information is information that does not comprise a slice identifier.

13. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that, The PDU session establishment request further comprises second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the core network device ignores the first slice information.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, characterized in that, The PDU session is a PDU session established by the MT after authorization, and the PDU session is used for control plane transmission of the relay device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The PDU session is also used for user plane transmission of the relay device.

16. A communication method applied in a core network device, comprising: The method comprises: receiving a PDU session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request comprising third indication information and / or second slice information, the third indication information being used to indicate that a terminal device initiating the PDU session establishment request accesses a network through a relay device, and the second slice information being used to indicate a PDU session requested to be established by the terminal device accessing the relay device; sending, to the relay device, a PDU session resource establishment request, the PDU session resource establishment request comprising a common quality of service (QoS) of the PDU session of the terminal device determined by the core network device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, The second slice information comprises a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate any one of the following types of slices: a common type of slice; or a default type of slice; or an inactive slice.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein, The second slice information is information that does not comprise a slice identifier.

19. The method of any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein, The PDU session establishment request further comprises fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the second slice information.

20. A communication method applied in a terminal device, comprising: The method comprises: sending a PDU session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request comprising third indication information and / or second slice information, the third indication information being used to indicate that a terminal device sending the PDU session establishment request accesses a network through a relay device, and the second slice information being used to indicate a PDU session requested to be established by the terminal device accessing the relay device.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving, from the relay device, bearer configuration information of the terminal device, the bearer configuration information being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a QoS of a PDU session of the terminal device and a bearer of the terminal device.

22. The method of claim 20 or 21, wherein, The second slice information comprises a first slice identifier, and the first slice identifier is used to indicate any one of the following types of slices: a common type of slice; or a default type of slice; or an inactive slice.

23. The method of claim 20 or 21, wherein, The second slice information is information that does not comprise a slice identifier.

24. The method of any one of claims 20-23, wherein, The PDU session establishment request further comprises fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the core network device to ignore the second slice information.

25. A communication method applied in a relay device, comprising: The method comprises: receiving a first mapping relationship, the first mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between a quality of service flow (QFI) of an MT of the relay device and a quality of service (QoS) parameter of the MT; receiving, from a host node of the relay device, bearer configuration information of the MT, the bearer configuration information of the MT comprising a second mapping relationship, the second mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QFI of the MT and a bearer of the MT; determining a third mapping relationship based on the first mapping relationship, the second mapping relationship, and a mapping rule of the QoS parameter, the mapping rule of the QoS parameter being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the MT and a QoS parameter of a terminal device, and the third mapping relationship being used to indicate a mapping relationship between the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the bearer of the MT, the terminal device accessing a network through the relay device.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, The method further comprises: obtaining the QoS parameter of the terminal device; determining the QoS parameter of the MT based on the QoS parameter of the terminal device and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter; determining the QFI of the MT based on the QoS parameter of the MT and the first mapping relationship; determining the bearer of the MT based on the QFI of the MT and the second mapping relationship; sending uplink data through the bearer of the MT.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein, The method further comprises: determining the QFI of the MT based on the bearer of the MT and the second mapping relationship; determining the QoS parameter of the MT based on the QFI of the MT and the first mapping relationship; determining the QoS parameter of the terminal device based on the QoS parameter of the MT and the mapping rule of the QoS parameter; determining the bearer of the terminal device based on the QoS parameter of the terminal device; receiving downlink data through the bearer of the terminal device.

28. A communication method applied in a core network device, comprising: comprising: receiving a PDU session establishment request; in a case where it is determined that the PDU session request is a request for establishing a PDU session of an MT of a relay device, sending a first mapping relationship, the first mapping relationship being a mapping relationship between a QFI of the MT and a QoS parameter of the MT.

29. A communications device, characterized by comprising a processor and a memory; wherein the memory stores a computer program; the processor invokes the computer program to enable the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 7; or, to perform the method of any one of claims 16 to 19; or, to perform the method of claim 28.

30. A communications device, characterized by comprising a processor and a memory; wherein the memory stores a computer program; the processor invokes the computer program to enable the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 8 to 15; or, to perform the method of any one of claims 25 to 27.

31. A communications device, characterized by comprising a processor and a memory; wherein the memory stores a computer program; the processor invokes the computer program to enable the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 20 to 24.

32. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 7; or, to perform the method of any one of claims 8 to 15; or, to perform the method of any one of claims 16 to 19; or, to perform the method of any one of claims 20 to 24; or, to perform the method of any one of claims 25 to 27; or, to perform the method of claim 28.

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