Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus. When a first network element requests recommendation information from an analytics function network element, a plurality of optimization objectives and / or objective parameter value ranges can be specified, thereby avoiding the problem of when the first network element specifies only one optimization objective and / or objective parameter value range, being unable to feed recommendation information back to the first network element due to the analytics function network element failing to generate the recommendation information that meets the optimization objective and / or objective parameter value range.

Description

Communication method and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on April 3, 2024, with application number 202410404942.X and invention name “Communication Method and Communication Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] The fifth generation (5G) network introduces the network data analytics function (NWDAF) network element, which can receive subscription requests from consumer network elements (such as network functions (NFs) and operations, administration and management (OAM)), collect corresponding data from the network, process and analyze the data, obtain statistical or predictive analysis results, and then feed the analysis results back to the consumer network element.

[0004] In addition to the analysis results, the NWDAF network element can also provide recommendation information to the consumer network element, such as providing a recommended back-off timer to the access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, or providing recommended quality of service (QoS) parameters to the policy control function (PCF) network element, etc., to assist the consumer network element in making communication decisions and thus provide better communication services to users.

[0005] However, since network resources are limited and shared, if a consumer network element requests NWDAF to provide recommendation information that meets a certain optimization goal and / or constraints on the requested parameters, NWDAF may not be able to provide the consumer network element with recommendation information that meets the above-mentioned optimization goal and / or constraints on the requested parameters. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can avoid the situation where the analysis function network element is unable to provide recommendation information to the first network element.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided that can be applied to an analysis function network element. Specifically, the method can be performed by the analysis function network element, or by a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) of the analysis function network element, or by a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the analysis function network element, and this application is not limited to this.

[0008] The method includes: receiving a first message from a first network element, the first message is used to request first recommendation information that meets a first condition or a second condition, the first condition is different from the second condition, the first condition includes a first optimization target and / or a first target parameter value range, and the second condition includes a second optimization target and / or a second target parameter value range; sending a second message to the first network element, the second message includes second recommendation information generated according to the first condition or the second condition.

[0009] Based on the above technical solution, when the first network element requests recommendation information from the analysis function network element, it can specify at least two conditions, thereby avoiding the problem that when the first network element only specifies one optimization target, the analysis function network element cannot generate recommendation parameters that meet the optimization target, and cannot feedback recommendation information to the first network element. In other words, when the first network element requests recommendation information from the analysis function network element and specifies at least two conditions, the analysis function network element cannot generate recommendation information that meets one of the conditions, but may be able to generate recommendation information that meets the other condition. This is equivalent to the solution of the present application being able to increase the probability that the analysis function network element provides the first network element with recommendation information that meets the needs of the first network element.

[0010] In one possible implementation, if the first condition includes a first optimization target and a first target parameter value range, and the second condition includes a second optimization target and a second target parameter value range, then the first optimization target is different from the second optimization target, the first target parameter value range is the same as the second target parameter value range, or the first target parameter value range is different from the second target parameter value range.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the first condition and the second condition have different priorities.

[0012] Optionally, the first message further includes first priority information, where the first priority information is used to indicate the priority of the first condition and the second condition.

[0013] Based on the above technical solution, the analysis function network element can determine the priority of the first condition and the second condition according to the first priority information, and preferentially generate recommendation information that meets the high priority conditions, which is equivalent to the analysis function network element being able to preferentially meet the high priority requirements of the first network element.

[0014] This application does not limit the second recommendation information. Exemplarily, the second recommendation information satisfies the first condition or the second condition. Another exemplary embodiment is that the second recommendation information does not satisfy the first condition and the second condition. Taking the second recommendation information not satisfying the first condition as an example, when the first condition includes the first optimization target and the second target parameter value range, the second recommendation information not satisfying the first condition means that the second recommendation information does not satisfy the first optimization target and / or the first target parameter value range.

[0015] It should be understood that if the analysis function network element can generate recommendation information that satisfies the first condition or the second condition, then the second recommendation information provided by the analysis function network element to the first network element satisfies the first condition or the second condition. If the analysis function network element cannot generate recommendation information that satisfies the first condition and the second condition, then the second recommendation information provided by the analysis function network element to the first network element does not satisfy the first condition and the second condition.

[0016] Optionally, if the first message further includes first priority information, the analysis function network element preferentially generates recommendation information that meets high priority conditions according to the first priority information.

[0017] For example, if the analysis function network element determines that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition based on the first priority information, then it sends a second message to the first network element, and the second recommendation information included in the second message meets the first condition; or, if the analysis function network element determines that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition based on the first priority information, and is unable to provide recommendation information that meets the first condition, then it sends a second message to the first network element, and the second recommendation information included in the second message meets the second condition.

[0018] In other words, if the analysis function network element determines that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition based on the first priority information, then at least one recommendation information is generated based on the first condition; second recommendation information that meets the first condition is determined from the at least one recommendation information generated based on the first condition; or, if the analysis function network element determines that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition based on the first priority information and is unable to provide recommendation information that meets the first condition, then at least one recommendation information is generated based on the second condition; second recommendation information that meets the second condition is determined from the at least one recommendation information generated based on the second condition.

[0019] It should be understood that even if the second recommendation information provided by the analysis function network element to the first network element does not meet the first condition and the second condition, the second recommendation information provided by the analysis function network element is generated based on the first condition or the second condition. For example, if the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition, the second recommendation information is generated by the analysis function network element based on the first condition.

[0020] Optionally, the second recommendation information is the recommendation information whose corresponding condition is closest to the first condition among the at least one recommendation information generated by the analysis function network element based on the first condition. In other words, the analysis function network element generates at least one recommendation information based on the first condition and then determines the second recommendation information from the at least one recommendation information generated based on the first condition.

[0021] For example, the first condition includes the first optimization target, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the first optimization target; or, the first condition includes the first target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, and the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the first target parameter value range; or, the first condition includes the first optimization target and the first target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information provided based on the first condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the first optimization target and / or the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the first target parameter value range.

[0022] Optionally, if the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition, the analysis function network element determines the second recommendation information from the at least one recommendation information generated according to the first condition.

[0023] Optionally, the second recommendation information is the recommendation information whose corresponding condition is closest to the second condition among the at least one recommendation information generated by the analysis function network element based on the second condition. In other words, the analysis function network element generates at least one recommendation information based on the second condition and then determines the second recommendation information from the at least one recommendation information generated based on the second condition.

[0024] For example, the second condition includes the second optimization target, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the second condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the second optimization target; or, the second condition includes the second target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the second condition, and the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the second target parameter value range; or, the second condition includes the second optimization target and the second target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information provided generated based on the second condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the second optimization target and / or the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the second target parameter value range.

[0025] Based on the above technical solution, if the analysis function network element is unable to provide second recommendation information that meets the first condition or the second condition, it can provide the first network element with second recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition. Compared with the solution of not providing any recommendation information to the first network element, the second recommendation information provided by the analysis function network element to the first network element can, to a certain extent, assist the first network element in making communication decisions, so as to provide better communication services for users. For example, if the first network element can accept the second recommendation information provided by the analysis function network element, the first network element can directly use the second recommendation information, thereby eliminating the need to request the recommendation information from the analysis function network element again, and reducing the delay in the first network element obtaining the recommendation information.

[0026] Optionally, the first message further includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition is accepted.

[0027] Correspondingly, when the first message includes the first indication information, if the analysis function network element cannot generate recommendation information that meets the first condition or the second condition, the analysis function network element may provide the first network element with recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition.

[0028] This application does not limit the number of recommendation information included in the second recommendation information. Exemplarily, the second recommendation information includes one recommendation information, or the second recommendation information includes multiple recommendation information.

[0029] Optionally, when the second recommendation information includes multiple recommendation information, the second message further includes second priority information, and the second priority information is used to indicate the priority of the multiple recommendation information.

[0030] Optionally, the second message also includes an expected target corresponding to the second recommendation information.

[0031] The expected target corresponding to the recommendation information refers to the target that the analysis function network element predicts the first network element will theoretically achieve for the relevant parameters after using the recommendation information. For example, if the recommendation information includes recommended quality of service (QoS) parameters, the expected target corresponding to the recommendation information may be the mean opinion score (MOS) of the service experience after the analysis function network element predicts the first network element will use the recommended QoS parameters included in the recommendation information.

[0032] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided that can be applied to a first network element. Specifically, the method can be executed by the first network element, or by a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) of the first network element, or by a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first network element, which is not limited in this application.

[0033] The method includes: sending a first message to the analysis function network element, the first message is used to request first recommendation information that meets a first condition or a second condition, the first condition is different from the second condition, the first condition includes a first optimization target and / or a first target parameter value range, and the second condition includes a second optimization target and / or a second target parameter value range; receiving a second message from the analysis function network element, the second message includes second recommendation information.

[0034] It should be understood that the beneficial effects of the second aspect can be referred to the description of the first aspect above and will not be repeated here.

[0035] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first message further includes first priority information, where the first priority information is used to indicate the priority of the first condition and the second condition.

[0036] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the second recommendation information satisfies the first condition or the second condition.

[0037] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the second recommendation information does not satisfy the first condition and the second condition.

[0038] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the second recommendation information is generated based on the first condition, the first condition includes the first optimization target, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the first optimization target; or, the first condition includes the first target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, and the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the first target parameter value range; or, the first condition includes the first optimization target and the first target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the first optimization target and / or the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the first target parameter value range.

[0039] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the second recommendation information is generated based on the second condition, the second condition includes the second optimization target, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the second condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the second optimization target; or, the second condition includes the second target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the second condition, and the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the second target parameter value range; or, the first condition includes the second optimization target and the second target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the second condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the second optimization target and / or the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the second target parameter value range.

[0040] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition, and the second recommendation information is generated according to the first condition.

[0041] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first message further includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition is accepted.

[0042] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first condition includes a first optimization target and a first target parameter value range, the second condition includes a second optimization target and a second target parameter value range, the first optimization target is different from the second optimization target, and the first target parameter value range is different from the second target parameter value range.

[0043] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the second recommendation information includes multiple recommendation information, and the second message further includes second priority information, where the second priority information is used to indicate the priority of each recommendation information in the multiple recommendation information.

[0044] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the second message further includes an expected target corresponding to the second recommendation information.

[0045] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided that can be applied to an analysis function network element. Specifically, the method can be performed by the analysis function network element, or by a module (such as a chip or circuit) of the analysis root network element, or by a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the analysis function network element, which is not limited in this application.

[0046] The method includes: receiving a third message from the first network element, the third message is used to request third recommendation information that meets a third condition, the third condition includes a third optimization target and / or a third target parameter value range; if the third recommendation information cannot be provided, sending a fourth message to the first network element, the fourth message includes fourth recommendation information that does not meet the third condition.

[0047] Based on the above technical solution, if the analysis function network element is unable to provide the third recommendation information that meets the third condition, it can provide the first network element with the fourth recommendation information. The fourth recommendation information is generated based on the third condition. Compared with the solution of not providing any recommendation information to the first network element, the fourth recommendation information provided by the analysis function network element to the first network element in this application can, to a certain extent, assist the first network element in making communication decisions, so as to provide better communication services for users. For example, if the first network element can accept the fourth recommendation information provided by the analysis function network element, the first network element can directly use the fourth recommendation information, thereby eliminating the need to request the recommendation information from the analysis function network element again, and reducing the delay for the first network element to obtain the recommendation information.

[0048] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: determining at least one recommendation information based on the third condition; and determining fourth recommendation information from the at least one recommendation information.

[0049] Optionally, the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information whose corresponding condition is closest to the third condition in at least one recommendation information generated by the analysis function network element according to the third condition. For example, the third condition includes a third optimization target, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the third condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the third optimization target; or, the third condition includes a third target parameter value range, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the third condition, and the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the third target parameter value range; or, the third condition includes a third optimization target and a third target parameter value range, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the third condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the third optimization target and / or the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the third target parameter value range.

[0050] The expected target corresponding to the recommendation information refers to the target that the analysis function network element predicts the first network element will theoretically achieve for the relevant parameters after using the recommendation information. For example, if the recommendation information includes recommended QoS parameters, the expected target corresponding to the recommendation information may be the MOS of service experience predicted by the analysis function network element after the first network element uses the recommended QoS parameters included in the recommendation information.

[0051] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the third message further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the recommendation information that does not meet the third condition is accepted.

[0052] Optionally, the third condition includes a third optimization target and a third target parameter value range, and the second indication information can be used to indicate acceptance of recommendation information that does not meet the third optimization target, or the second indication information can be used to indicate acceptance of recommendation information that does not meet the third target parameter value range, or the second indication information is used to indicate acceptance of recommendation information that does not meet the first optimization target and the third target parameter value range.

[0053] Correspondingly, when the third message includes the second indication information, if the analysis function network element cannot generate recommendation information that meets the third condition, the analysis function network element may provide the first network element with fourth recommendation information that does not meet the third condition.

[0054] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the fourth message further includes an expected target corresponding to the fourth recommendation information.

[0055] Based on the above solution, the first network element may determine whether to apply the fourth recommendation information according to the expected target corresponding to the fourth recommendation information.

[0056] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the fourth message further includes third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third condition.

[0057] Optionally, if the fourth message includes the expected target corresponding to the fourth recommendation information, the fourth message may not include the third indication information. Alternatively, if the fourth message includes the third indication information, the fourth message may not include the expected target corresponding to the fourth recommendation information.

[0058] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided that can be applied to a first network element. Specifically, the method can be performed by the first network element, or by a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) of the first network element, or by a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first network element, which is not limited in this application.

[0059] The method includes: sending a third message to the analysis function network element, the third message is used to request third recommendation information that meets a third condition, the third condition includes a third optimization target and / or a third target parameter value range; receiving a fourth message from the analysis function network element, the fourth message includes fourth recommendation information that does not meet the third condition.

[0060] It should be understood that the beneficial effects of the fourth aspect can be referred to the description in the above-mentioned second aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0061] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the third condition includes a third optimization target, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the third condition, whose corresponding expected target is closest to the third optimization target; or, the third condition includes a third target parameter value range, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the third condition, whose parameter values ​​or parameter value ranges are closest to the third target parameter value range; or, the third condition includes a third optimization target and a third target parameter value range, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the third condition, whose corresponding expected target is closest to the third optimization target and / or whose parameter values ​​or parameter value ranges are closest to the third target parameter value range.

[0062] In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the third message further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the recommendation information that does not meet the third condition is accepted.

[0063] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the fourth message further includes an expected target corresponding to the fourth recommendation information.

[0064] In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the fourth message further includes third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third condition.

[0065] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided. The device may be a first network element or a module (such as a chip or circuit) of the first network element, which is not limited in this application.

[0066] The device may include a transceiver unit, which is used to: send a first message to the analysis function network element, the first message is used to request first recommendation information that meets a first condition or a second condition, the first condition is different from the second condition, the first condition includes a first optimization target and / or a first target parameter value range, and the second condition includes a second optimization target and / or a second target parameter value range; the transceiver unit is also used to: receive a second message from the analysis function network element, the second message includes second recommendation information generated according to the first condition or the second condition.

[0067] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the first message further includes first priority information, where the first priority information is used to indicate the priority of the first condition and the second condition.

[0068] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the second recommendation information satisfies the first condition or the second condition.

[0069] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the second recommendation information does not satisfy the first condition and the second condition.

[0070] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the second recommendation information is generated based on the first condition; the first condition includes the first optimization target, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the first optimization target; or, the first condition includes the first target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, and the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the first target parameter value range; or, the first condition includes the first optimization target and the first target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information provided based on the first condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the first optimization target and / or the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the first target parameter value range.

[0071] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition.

[0072] In combination with the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the first message further includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition is accepted.

[0073] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the first condition includes a first optimization target and a first target parameter value range, the second condition includes a second optimization target and a second target parameter value range, the first optimization target is different from the second optimization target, and the first target parameter value range is different from the second target parameter value range.

[0074] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the second recommendation information includes multiple recommendation information, and the second message also includes second priority information, and the second priority information is used to indicate the priority of each recommendation information in the multiple recommendation information.

[0075] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the second message further includes an expected target corresponding to the second recommendation information.

[0076] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided. The device may be an analysis function network element or a module (such as a chip or circuit) of the analysis function network element, and this application does not limit this.

[0077] The device may include a transceiver unit, which is used to: receive a first message from a first network element, the first message is used to request first recommendation information that meets a first condition or a second condition, the first condition is different from the second condition, the first condition includes a first optimization target and / or a first target parameter value range, and the second condition includes a second optimization target and / or a second target parameter value range; the transceiver unit is also used to: send a second message to the first network element, the second message includes second recommendation information generated according to the first condition or the second condition.

[0078] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first message also includes first priority information, and the first priority information is used to indicate the priority of the first condition and the second condition.

[0079] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the second recommendation information satisfies the first condition or the second condition.

[0080] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first message also includes first priority information, and the first priority information is used to indicate the priority of the first condition and the second condition. The transceiver unit is specifically used to: when it is determined that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition according to the first priority information, send a second message to the first network element, and the second recommendation information included in the second message satisfies the first condition; or, when it is determined that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition according to the first priority information, and the recommendation information that satisfies the first condition cannot be provided, send a second message to the first network element, and the second recommendation information included in the second message satisfies the second condition.

[0081] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the communication device further includes a processing unit, the first message further includes first priority information, the first priority information is used to indicate the priority of the first condition and the second condition, and the processing unit is used to: determine, based on the first priority information, that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition, then generate at least one recommendation information based on the first condition; determine the second recommendation information that meets the first condition from the at least one recommendation information generated based on the first condition; or, determine, based on the first priority information, that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition, and it is impossible to provide recommendation information that meets the first condition, then generate at least one recommendation information based on the second condition; and determine the second recommendation information that meets the second condition from the at least one recommendation information generated based on the second condition.

[0082] In combination with the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the second recommendation information does not satisfy the first condition and the second condition.

[0083] In combination with the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the processing unit is further used to: generate at least one recommendation information based on the first condition; and determine the second recommendation information from the at least one recommendation information generated based on the first condition.

[0084] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first condition includes a first optimization target, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, whose corresponding expected target is closest to the first optimization target; or, the first condition includes a first target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, whose parameter values ​​or parameter value ranges are closest to the first target parameter value range; or, the first condition includes the first optimization target and the first target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, whose corresponding expected target is closest to the first optimization target and / or whose parameter values ​​or parameter value ranges are closest to the first target parameter value range.

[0085] In combination with the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition.

[0086] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first message further includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition is accepted.

[0087] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first condition includes a first optimization target and a first target parameter value range, the second condition includes a second optimization target and a second target parameter value range, the first optimization target is different from the second optimization target, and the first target parameter value range is different from the second target parameter value range.

[0088] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the second recommendation information includes multiple recommendation information, and the second message also includes second priority information, and the second priority information is used to indicate the priority of each recommendation information in the multiple recommendation information.

[0089] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the second message further includes an expected target corresponding to the second recommendation information.

[0090] In the seventh aspect, a communication device is provided. The device can be an analysis function network element or a module of the analysis function network element (such as a chip or circuit), and this application does not limit this.

[0091] The communication device includes a transceiver unit, which is used to: receive a third message from the first network element, the third message is used to request third recommendation information that meets a third condition, the third condition includes a third optimization target and / or a third target parameter value range; the transceiver unit is also used to: when the third recommendation information cannot be provided, send a fourth message to the first network element, the fourth message includes fourth recommendation information that does not meet the third condition.

[0092] In combination with the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the communication device further includes a processing unit, which is used to: determine at least one recommendation information based on the third condition; and determine fourth recommendation information from the at least one recommendation information.

[0093] In combination with the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the third condition includes a third optimization target, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the third condition, whose corresponding expected target is closest to the third optimization target; or, the third condition includes a third target parameter value range, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the third condition, whose parameter values ​​or parameter value ranges are closest to the third target parameter value range; or, the third condition includes a third optimization target and a third target parameter value range, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the third condition, whose corresponding expected target is closest to the third optimization target and / or whose parameter values ​​or parameter value ranges are closest to the third target parameter value range.

[0094] In combination with the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the third message further includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate acceptance of recommendation information that does not meet the third condition.

[0095] In combination with the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the fourth message further includes an expected target corresponding to the fourth recommendation information.

[0096] In combination with the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the fourth message also includes third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third condition.

[0097] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided. The device may be a first network element or a module (such as a chip or circuit) of the first network element, which is not limited in this application.

[0098] The device may include a transceiver unit, which is used to: send a third message to the analysis function network element, the third message is used to request third recommendation information that meets a third condition, the third condition includes a third optimization target and / or a third target parameter value range; the transceiver unit is also used to: receive a fourth message from the analysis function network element, the fourth message includes fourth recommendation information that does not meet the third condition.

[0099] In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the third condition includes a third optimization target, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the third condition, whose corresponding expected target is closest to the third optimization target; or, the third condition includes a third target parameter value range, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the third condition, whose parameter values ​​or parameter value ranges are closest to the third target parameter value range; or, the third condition includes a third optimization target and a third target parameter value range, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the third condition, whose corresponding expected target is closest to the third optimization target and / or whose parameter values ​​or parameter value ranges are closest to the third target parameter value range.

[0100] In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the third message further includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate acceptance of recommendation information that does not meet the third condition.

[0101] In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the fourth message further includes an expected target corresponding to the fourth recommendation information.

[0102] In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the fourth message further includes third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third condition.

[0103] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor coupled to a memory and configured to execute instructions in the memory to implement any of the first through fourth aspects, and any possible implementation of the method described in any of the first through fourth aspects. Optionally, the device further comprises a memory, which may be deployed separately from the processor or centrally. Optionally, the device further comprises a communication interface, the processor coupled to the communication interface.

[0104] In one implementation, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input / output interface.

[0105] In another implementation, the device is a first network element or an analysis function network element, or a chip configured in the first network element or the analysis function network element. It can also be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first network element or the analysis function network element. When the device is a chip, the communication interface can be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The processor can also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0106] Optionally, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0107] In a specific implementation, the processor may be one or more chips, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, or various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit may be, but is not limited to, received and input by a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit may be, but is not limited to, output to and transmitted by a transmitter. The input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit, which functions as an input circuit and an output circuit at different times. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

[0108] In the tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a logic circuit and an input / output interface, wherein the logic circuit is used to couple with the input / output interface and transmit data through the input / output interface to execute any aspect of the first to fourth aspects above, and any possible implementation method of the first to fourth aspects.

[0109] In one implementation, the device is a first network element or an analysis function network element, or a chip configured in the first network element or the analysis function network element. It may also be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first network element or the analysis function network element. When the device is a chip, the communication interface may be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0110] In the eleventh aspect, the present application provides a chip system, comprising: a processor, which is used to execute the computer program or instructions in the memory, so that the chip system implements any aspect of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects, and the method in any possible implementation method of the first to fourth aspects.

[0111] In the twelfth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, comprising: a first network element and an analysis function network element, the first network element being used to execute the method of the above-mentioned first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect, or being used to execute the method of the fourth aspect and any possible implementation of the fourth aspect; the analysis function network element being used to execute the method of the above-mentioned second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect, or being used to execute the method of the above-mentioned third aspect and any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0112] In the thirteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions). When the computer program is run on a computer, the computer executes any one of the above-mentioned aspects 1 to 4, and any possible implementation of the methods in the first to fourth aspects.

[0113] In the fourteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions), which, when executed, enables a computer to execute any one of the above-mentioned aspects 1 to 4, and any possible implementation of the methods in the first to fourth aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0114] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0115] Figure 2 shows the basic process of NWDAF providing analysis results.

[0116] FIG3 shows the basic process of NWDAF providing recommendation information.

[0117] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0118] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of NWDAF providing recommendation information to PCF.

[0119] FIG6 is another schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0120] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of NWDAF providing recommendation information to PCF.

[0121] FIG8 shows a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0122] FIG9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0123] FIG10 is a schematic block diagram of a chip system provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0124] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0125] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example, long term evolution (LTE), fifth generation (5G), new radio (NR), Internet of things (IoT), wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), wireless communications related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), or other wireless communications that may appear in the future, etc., and the present application is not limited to this.

[0126] The technical solution provided in this application can also be applied to machine type communication (MTC), device-to-device (D2D) network, machine-to-machine (M2M) network, IoT network or other networks. Among them, IoT network can include vehicle network, for example. Among them, the communication mode in the vehicle network system is collectively referred to as vehicle to other devices (vehicle to X, V2X, X can represent anything), for example, the V2X can include: vehicle to vehicle (vehicle to vehicle, V2V) communication, vehicle to infrastructure (vehicle to infrastructure, V2I) communication, vehicle to pedestrian communication (vehicle to pedestrian, V2P) or vehicle to network (vehicle to network, V2N) communication, etc.

[0127] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the network architecture takes the 5G system (5th generation system, 5GS) as an example.

[0128] The network architecture can be divided into two parts: access network and core network. The network architecture can include but is not limited to: unified data management (UDM), network exposure function (NEF), network repository function (NRF), policy control function (PCF), application function (AF), access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), user equipment (UE), radio access network equipment, user plane function (UPF), data network (DN). Among them, DN can be the Internet; UDM, NEF, NRF, PCF, AF, AMF, SMF, UPF are network elements in the core network. Since Figure 1 takes the 5G system as an example, the core network can be called 5G core network (5GC or 5GCN).

[0129] The following is a brief introduction to each network element shown in FIG1 .

[0130] 1. UE: can be called terminal equipment, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device.

[0131] The terminal device can be a device that provides voice / data to users, for example, a handheld device or vehicle-mounted device with a wireless connection function. At present, some examples of terminals include: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, terminal devices in 5G networks or terminal devices in future evolved public land mobile networks (PLMNs), etc. The embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0132] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices may also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are fully functional, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0133] In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can also be a terminal device in an IoT system. IoT is an important part of the future development of information technology. Its main technical feature is to connect objects to the network through communication technology, thereby realizing an intelligent network that interconnects people and machines and things.

[0134] It should be noted that the terminal device and the access network device can communicate with each other using a certain air interface technology (such as NR or LTE technology). The terminal devices can also communicate with each other using a certain air interface technology (such as NR or LTE technology).

[0135] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal device can be the terminal device, or it can be a device that can support the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system or chip, which can be installed in the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0136] 2. (Radio) access network (R)AN): provides access to the communication network for authorized users in a specific area. It can include wireless network equipment in 3GPP networks and access points in non-3GPP networks.

[0137] The RAN manages radio resources, provides access services to user devices, and forwards control signals and user device data between the user device and the core network. The RAN can also be understood as a base station in a traditional network.

[0138] Exemplarily, the access network device in the embodiment of the present application can be any communication device with wireless transceiver functions for communicating with a user equipment. The access network device includes but is not limited to: an evolved Node B (eNB), a baseband unit (BBU), an access point (AP) in a Wi-Fi system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (TP) or a transmission and reception point (TRP), etc., and can also be a gNB in ​​a 5G, such as NR, system, or a transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G system, or a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or a distributed unit (DU), etc.

[0139] In some deployments, a gNB may include a centralized unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may also include an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU implements some gNB functions, while the DU implements some gNB functions. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, implementing the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers. The DU is responsible for processing physical layer protocols and real-time services, implementing the functions of the radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC), and physical (PHY) layers. The AAU implements some physical layer processing functions, RF processing, and active antenna-related functions. Because RRC layer information ultimately becomes PHY layer information, or is converted from PHY layer information, in this architecture, higher-layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or by both the DU and the AAU. It is understood that an access network device can include one or more of a CU node, a DU node, or an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be classified as an access network device in the RAN, or may be classified as an access network device in the core network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

[0140] In different systems, CU (or CU-control plane (CP) and CU-user plane (UP)), DU or radio unit (RU) may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open radio access network (O-RAN) system, CU may also be called an open-central unit (O-CU); DU may also be called an open-distributed unit (O-DU); CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the sake of convenience of description, this application takes CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0141] 3. UPF network element: used for packet routing and forwarding, as well as quality of service (QoS) processing for user plane data. User data can be accessed to the data network through this network element. In the embodiment of the present application, it can be used to implement the functions of the user plane network element.

[0142] 4. DN: A network used to transmit data, such as a carrier's service network, the Internet, or a third-party service network.

[0143] 5. Operations, administration and management (OAM) network element: Mainly used for network and service analysis, forecasting, planning and configuration, as well as testing and fault management of the network and its services.

[0144] 6. AMF network element: Mainly used for mobility management and access management, etc. It can be used to implement other functions of the mobility management entity (MME) in addition to session management, such as access authorization / authentication.

[0145] 7. SMF network element: mainly used for session management, network Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management of terminal equipment, selection and management of user plane functions, policy control and billing function interface endpoints, and downlink data notification.

[0146] 8. PCF network element: A unified policy framework used to guide network behavior, providing policy rule information for network elements (such as AMF, SMF network elements, etc.) or terminal devices.

[0147] 9. NRF network element: used to store description information of network function entities and the services they provide, and support functions such as service discovery and network element entity discovery.

[0148] 10. NEF network element: used to securely open the services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions to the outside world.

[0149] 11. UDM network element: used for unified data management, 5G user data management, processing user identification, access authentication, registration, or mobility management, etc.

[0150] 12. AF network element: used for data routing affected by applications, accessing network open function network elements, and interacting with the policy framework for policy control.

[0151] 13. Network data analytics function (NWDAF) network element: NWDAF has data collection, training, analysis, and reasoning functions. It can be used to collect relevant data from network elements, third-party service servers, terminal devices, or network management systems, perform analysis and training based on the relevant data, and provide data analysis results to network elements, third-party service servers, terminal devices, or network management systems. The analysis results can assist the network in selecting service quality parameters, assist the network in executing traffic routing, or assist the network in selecting background data transmission strategies.

[0152] In the embodiment of the present application, the NWDAF may be a separate network element or may be co-located with other network elements. For example, the NWDAF network element may be co-located with the AMF or with the SMF.

[0153] It should be understood that the network elements included in the communication system listed above are merely exemplary and the present application is not limited thereto.

[0154] In the architecture shown in Figure 1, the interface names and functions between the various network elements are as follows:

[0155] 1. N1: The interface between AMF and UE, which can be used to deliver QoS control rules to UE.

[0156] 2. N2: The interface between AMF and (R)AN, which can be used to transmit radio bearer control information from the core network side to the RAN.

[0157] 3. N3: Interface between RAN and UPF, used to transfer uplink or downlink user plane data between RAN and UPF.

[0158] 4. N4: The interface between SMF and UPF, which can be used to transmit information between the control plane and the user plane, including the control of the forwarding rules, QoS control rules, traffic statistics rules, etc. for the user plane and the reporting of information on the user plane.

[0159] 5. N6: Interface between UPF and DN, used to transmit uplink or downlink user data flow between UPF and DN.

[0160] 6. The service-oriented interfaces Nnef, Nnrf, Namf, Npcf, Nsmf, Nudm, Nnwdaf, and Naf are respectively provided by the above-mentioned NEF network element, NRF network element, AMF network element, PCF network element, SMF network element, UDM network element, NWDAF network element, and AF network element, and are used to call corresponding service-oriented operations.

[0161] It should be understood that the above-mentioned network architecture applied to the embodiment of the present application is only an example of the network architecture described from the perspective of the traditional point-to-point architecture and the service-oriented architecture. The network architecture applicable to the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this. Any network architecture that can realize the functions of the above-mentioned network elements is applicable to the embodiment of the present application.

[0162] It should be noted that the names of the various network elements and interfaces in this application are only examples, and this application does not exclude the possibility that the various network elements may be named differently in the future, or that the functions of the various network elements may be merged. With the evolution of technology, any device or network element that can realize the functions of the above-mentioned network elements is within the scope of protection of this application. Secondly, the above-mentioned network elements may also be referred to as entities, equipment, devices or modules, etc., which are not specifically limited in this application. Moreover, in this application, for the sake of ease of understanding and explanation, the description of "network element" is omitted in some descriptions. For example, the NWDAF network element is referred to as NWDAF. In this case, the "NWDAF" should be understood as the NWDAF network element. Hereinafter, the description of the same or similar situations will be omitted.

[0163] In addition, the above network architecture may further include a data collection coordination function (DCCF) network element and an analytics data repository function (ADRF) network element.

[0164] Among them, DCCF can be used to cooperate with NWDAF to realize the coordination function of data collection, reduce repeated data collection, and realize data formatting processing. Specifically, NWDAF can request DCCF to collect data of certain network elements through the Ndccf interface. For example, DCCF can understand the specific network elements that are serving the UE through the service interfaces provided by NRF, UDM, binding support function (BSF), etc., and then initiate data collection requests to these network elements. After the collection is completed, DCCF can feedback the data to NWDAF.

[0165] ADRF can be used to store data collected by the network (e.g., NWDAF or DCCF), as well as models and analysis results trained by NWDAF. It also provides services for retrieving historical data (from each network element) and analysis results (from NWDAF). Each network element can store and retrieve historical data (analysis results) through ADRF's Nadrf interface. Furthermore, ADRF can subscribe to the DCCF's data notification service, which allows DCCF to provide feedback to ADRF upon receiving qualified data.

[0166] After the NWDAF network element is introduced, it can receive subscription requests from consumer network elements (such as network functions (NFs) and OAMs), collect corresponding data from the network, process and analyze the data, obtain statistical or predictive analysis results, and then feed back the analysis results to the consumer network element or to the network element specified by the consumer network element (such as NFs or OAMs). In the current 5G network architecture, the consumer network element here can refer to the consumer of NWDAF services, such as 5GC NFs (such as PCF, NSSF, AMF, SMF, NEF, AF, NWDAF, DCCF) or OAMs. Based on the functions it supports, NWDAF can be divided into NWDAF containing the analytics logic function (AnLF) (denoted as NWDAF containing AnLF), NWDAF containing the model training logic function (MTLF) (denoted as NWDAF containing MTLF), and NWDAF containing AnLF and MTLF (denoted as NWDAF containing AnLFand MTLF). Among them, AnLF is the analytics logic function, which mainly focuses on reasoning operations, deriving analysis results and making them public; MTLF is the model training logic function, responsible for training machine learning (ML) models and providing the trained ML models to AnLF.

[0167] It should be understood that, in this application, the analysis result may also be referred to as a data analysis result, which is generated by NWDAF and refers to one or more parameters counted or predicted by NWDAF.

[0168] NWDAF supports providing multiple different types of analysis results, which are identified and differentiated by Analytics IDs. For example, Analytics ID = "Service Experience" indicates service experience analysis results; Analytics ID = "Network Performance" indicates network performance analysis results; and Analytics ID = "UE Mobility" indicates UE mobility analysis results. When a consuming network element subscribes to analysis results from NWDAF, it includes one or more Analytics IDs to identify the type of analysis results it wishes to obtain from NWDAF. NWDAF collects the corresponding data from the network based on the Analytics IDs and feeds the derived analysis results back to the consuming network element.

[0169] Figure 2 shows the basic process of NWDAF providing analysis results. As shown in Figure 2, the process includes the following steps.

[0170] S201: The consuming network element sends a subscription message or a request message to the NWDAF to obtain analysis results.

[0171] Specifically, the consuming network element may send a subscription message to the NWDAF through the Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Subscribe service operation to subscribe to the analysis results, or send a request message to the NWDAF through the Nnwdaf_AnalyticsInfo_Request service operation to request the analysis results.

[0172] The subscription message or request message may include the following parameters:

[0173] (1) A list of analytics ID(s): includes one or more analytics IDs, each of which is used to identify the type of analytics result requested.

[0174] (2) Analysis filter information: such as area of ​​interest (AOI), single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), etc., which indicate the applicable conditions of the analysis results.

[0175] (3) Target of analytics reporting: indicates the target to which the analysis request applies, which can be a specific UE, a group of UEs, or any UE.

[0176] (4) Analytics target period: Indicates the time period to which the analysis results apply, that is, the time period for which the consuming network element wants to obtain the analysis results.

[0177] In this application, the analysis identifier may also be referred to as an event identifier (event ID).

[0178] S202, NWDAF sends a notification message or a response message to the consuming network element, carrying the analysis result.

[0179] Specifically, NWDAF can collect data and generate analysis results based on the subscription message or request message in S201, and then send a notification message carrying the analysis results to the consuming network element through the Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Notify service operation, or send a response message carrying the analysis results to the consuming network element through the Nnwdaf_AnalyticsInfo_Request Response service operation.

[0180] The notification message or response message may include the following parameters:

[0181] (1) Analysis results: The analysis results of each Analytics ID in the requested analysis target period (foreachanalyticsid, theanalyticsinformationintherequestedanalyticstargetperiod).

[0182] (2) Timestamp: indicates the time when the analysis results were generated (timestamp of analytics generation).

[0183] (3) Validity period: indicates the validity period of the analysis results.

[0184] (4) Confidence: Indicates the confidence level in the predicted analysis results.

[0185] In addition to the analysis results, NWDAF can also provide recommendation information to consumer network elements, such as providing a recommended back-off timer to AMF, or providing recommended quality of service (QoS) parameters to PCF, etc., to assist consumer network elements in making communication decisions in order to provide users with better communication services.

[0186] Figure 3 shows the basic process of NWDAF providing recommendation information. As shown in Figure 3, the process includes the following steps.

[0187] S301: The consuming network element sends a subscription message or a request message to the NWDAF to obtain recommendation information.

[0188] Specifically, the consuming network element may send a subscription message to the NWDAF through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Subscribe service operation to subscribe to recommendation information, or send a request message to the NWDAF through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Resquest service operation to request recommendation information.

[0189] The subscription message or request message may include the following parameters:

[0190] (1) Expected recommendation results: indicates the desired recommendation results on a given domain. Specifically, it includes the following parameters:

[0191] a) Recommendation ID or recommendation type: For example, the recommendation registered ID in the given domain. The recommendation ID is used to identify the type of recommendation result to obtain, for example, it can be used to identify the recommended QoS parameters to obtain, or to identify the recommended UPF network element to obtain, etc.

[0192] b) Optimization goals: An optimization goal can be, for example, a combination of one or more parameters and the desired value for each parameter. For example, when a consumer network element wants to obtain recommended QoS parameters, the optimization goal can be the mean opinion score (MOS) of the service experience, such as MOS>4. Another example of an optimization goal could be MOS ≥ 4 and gNB resource usage < 80%.

[0193] c) Constraints per requested parameter, expressed as parameter ranges. For example, if a consumer network element wants to obtain recommended QoS parameters, the parameter range could be 50 Mbps < bitrate < 100 Mbps, or 20 ms < delay < 50 ms.

[0194] The above-mentioned "optimization target" and "constraints on request parameters" are optional parameters in the message.

[0195] (2) The observation period [start..end] in the future on which recommendations are requested may indicate the time period for providing recommendation information, i.e. the consuming network element requests the NWDAF to provide recommendation information applicable to a specific time period.

[0196] (3) The maximum acceptable delay for the provision of there recommendations.

[0197] (4) Target of event reporting: Indicates the target for the recommendation result, which can be a UE, a group of UEs, or any UE. For example, if the consuming network element wants to obtain the recommended QoS parameters and specifies the target of the event report as subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) 1, that is, Target of Event Reporting = SUPI 1, it means that the consuming network element wants to obtain the recommended QoS parameters of SUPI 1.

[0198] (5) Event filtering information: This indicates the filtering information of the recommendation results, or the applicable conditions of the recommendation results, which can be AOI, S-NSSAI, etc. For example, when the event filtering information is cell 1, that is, event filtering information = cell 1, it means that the consuming network element wants to obtain the recommendation results in cell 1.

[0199] S302: NWDAF sends a notification message or a response message to the consuming network element, carrying the recommendation information.

[0200] Specifically, NWDAF can collect data and generate recommendation information based on the subscription message or request message in S301, and then send a notification message carrying the recommendation information to NWDAF through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Notify service operation, or send a response message carrying the recommendation information to the consumer network element through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Response service operation.

[0201] The notification message or response message may include recommendation information (recommendations), indicating one or more candidate recommendation results, which may specifically include:

[0202] (1) Recommendation ID: For example, the reference to there commendation registered ID in there commendation domain. The recommendation ID is used to identify the type of recommendation result to be obtained. For example, it can be used to identify the recommended QoS parameters to be obtained, or to identify the recommended UPF network element to be obtained.

[0203] (2) The vector of tagged parameter recommended values ​​or value ranges: represents a set of recommended parameter values ​​or recommended parameter ranges.

[0204] (3) Related impacts: Indicates the possible impact if the recommendation results are used (the associated impacts (a set of predicted analytics) if such parameters are chosen).

[0205] (4) Recommended order: indicates the priority order of the recommendation result (apreference order in order to suggest a preference).

[0206] However, network resources are limited and shared. If a consumer network element requests NWDAF to provide recommendation information that meets a certain optimization goal and / or constraints on the requested parameters, NWDAF may not be able to provide the consumer network element with recommendation information that meets the above optimization goal and / or constraints on the requested parameters.

[0207] In view of this, the present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can avoid the situation where the NWDAF is unable to provide recommendation information to the consumer network element.

[0208] It should be noted that, for the sake of ease of understanding and explanation, the following text will describe in detail the method provided in the embodiment of the present application by taking the interaction between the consumption network element (or consumer) and the analysis function network element (or NWDAF) as an example. However, this should not constitute any limitation on the execution subject of the method provided in the present application. For example, the analysis function network element shown in the embodiment below can be replaced by the recommendation logical function (ReLF) in the analysis function network element. Exemplarily, ReLF can be used to generate recommendation information, and accordingly, the consumption network element (or consumer) can use the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Subscribe service operation or the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Resquest service operation of NWDAF to subscribe / request recommendation information to ReLF.

[0209] Fig. 4 shows a schematic flow chart of a communication method 400 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Fig. 4 , the method 400 may include at least the following steps.

[0210] S401: A first network element sends a first message to an analysis function network element.

[0211] Correspondingly, in S401, the analysis function network element receives a first message from the first network element.

[0212] The first network element may be referred to as a consumer network element, a user, a requester, etc., and this application does not limit this. For example, the first network element may be a NF, a network management system, a terminal device, an access network device (e.g., a RAN), or an application function network element, etc. Among them, the NF may be a core network element, for example, the NF may be a PCF, AMF, SMF, etc.

[0213] The analysis function network element may be referred to as an analysis network element, a network data analysis function network element, etc., which is not limited in this application. For example, the analysis function network element may be a NWDAF.

[0214] The first message is used to request first recommendation information that meets a first condition or a second condition. The first condition includes a first optimization objective and / or a value range of a first objective parameter, and the second condition includes a second optimization objective and / or a value range of a second objective parameter. It should be understood that the first condition and the second condition are different. For example, the first condition includes a first optimization objective, and the second condition includes a second optimization objective, and the first optimization objective and the second optimization objective are different. For another example, the first condition includes the first optimization objective, and the second condition includes a value range of a second objective parameter.

[0215] In one possible implementation, if the first condition includes a first optimization target and a first target parameter value range, and the second condition includes a second optimization target and a second target parameter value range, then the first optimization target is different from the second optimization target, the first target parameter value range is the same as the second target parameter value range, or the first target parameter value range is different from the second target parameter value range.

[0216] In a possible implementation, the first condition and the second condition have different priorities.

[0217] It should be understood that when the first message is used to request the first recommendation information that satisfies the first condition or the second condition, the first message includes the first condition and the second condition. It should be noted that the first message including the first condition and the second condition is equivalent to the first message including the first optimization target and / or the first target parameter value range, the second optimization target and / or the second target parameter value range. In one possible case, if the first optimization target is different from the second optimization target, and the first target parameter value range is the same as the second target parameter value range, then the first message includes the first condition and the second condition, which is equivalent to the first message including the first optimization target, the second optimization target and the first target parameter value range (or the second target parameter value range). In other words, the first message includes the first optimization target, the second optimization target and the first target parameter value range (or the second target parameter value range), then the first optimization target and the first target parameter value range can be regarded as the first condition, and the second optimization target and the second target parameter value range can be regarded as the second condition.

[0218] In this application, recommendation information (recommendation or recommendation information) may also be referred to as a recommendation result (recommendation result), which refers to one or more recommended parameter values ​​provided by the analysis function network element (e.g., NWDAF) based on the request of the first network element (e.g., the consumer of NWDAF). It should be understood that the recommendation information in this application can be used to provide recommended services for consumers of network function services (NF serviceconsumer, also referred to as consumer network elements). For example, the recommendation information is a recommended back-off timer provided to the AMF, or a recommended QoS parameter provided to the PCF, etc., which is used to assist the first network element in making communication decisions so as to provide better communication services to users.

[0219] The first optimization target or the second optimization target refers to the result that the first network element expects to achieve after using the recommended information provided by the analysis function network element. For example, the first network element expects to obtain the recommended QoS parameters and expects to use the recommended QoS parameters to make the service experience reach MOS ≥ 4, then the first optimization target is MOS ≥ 4.

[0220] The first target parameter value range or the second target parameter value range refers to the value range of the recommended parameter included in the recommendation information provided by the first network element requesting the analysis function network element, for example, the uplink (UL) maximum bit rate (UL-maximumbitrate) provided by the first network element requesting the analysis function network element is greater than or equal to (≥) 100Mbps, and the uplink maximum packet loss rate (UL-maximumpacketlossrate) is less than or equal to (≤) 10 -3 .

[0221] It should be understood that if the first condition includes a first optimization target and a first target parameter value range, then the first recommendation information satisfying the first condition means that the first recommendation information satisfies the first optimization condition and the first target parameter value range. Alternatively, if the second condition includes a second optimization target and a second target parameter value range, then the first recommendation information satisfying the second condition means that the first recommendation information satisfies the second optimization target and the second target parameter value range.

[0222] It should also be understood that if the first condition includes a first optimization target, then the first recommendation information meeting the first optimization target means that the first recommendation information theoretically meets the first optimization target, or in other words, the analysis function network element predicts that after the first network element uses the first recommendation information, the relevant parameters can theoretically meet the first optimization target. For example, if the first optimization target is MOS>4, then the first recommendation information meets the first optimization target, which can be that the analysis function network element predicts that after the first network element uses the QoS parameters included in the first recommendation information, the MOS of the service experience is theoretically greater than 4. If the first condition includes a first target parameter value range, then the first recommendation information meeting the first target parameter value range means that the parameters or parameter value range included in the first recommendation information are within the first target parameter value range. For example, the first target parameter value range includes the following parameter value ranges: 50Mbps<bitrate<100Mbps, 20ms<delay<50ms. If the first recommended information meets the first target parameter value range, the parameter bitrate included in the first recommended information satisfies: 50Mbps<bitrate<100Mbps, for example, bitrate=80Mbps, and the parameter delay included in the first recommended information satisfies: 20ms<delay<50ms, for example, delay=30ms.

[0223] Similarly, if the second condition includes a second optimization objective, then the first recommendation information satisfying the second optimization objective means that the first recommendation information theoretically satisfies the second optimization objective, or in other words, the analysis function predicts that after the first network element uses the first recommendation information, the relevant parameters can theoretically satisfy the second optimization objective. If the second condition includes a second target parameter value range, then the first recommendation information satisfying the second target parameter value range means that the parameters or parameter value range included in the first recommendation information are within the second target parameter value range.

[0224] It should be noted that this application uses the first message including the first condition and the second condition for illustration. In actual implementation, the first message may also include more conditions. For example, the first message may also include condition #A, and condition #A includes optimization target #A and / or target parameter value range #A. The meaning of optimization target #A can refer to the above description of the first optimization target or the second optimization target, and the meaning of target parameter value range #A can refer to the above description of the first target parameter value range or the second target parameter value range. It should be understood that condition #A is different from the first condition and the second condition. It should be understood that when the first message also includes condition #A, the first message is used to request recommendation information that meets the first condition, the second condition, or one of the conditions #A.

[0225] Other information and / or parameters that may be included in the first message are described below.

[0226] In one possible implementation, the first message further includes first priority information, where the first priority information is used to indicate the priorities of the first condition and the second condition. For example, the first priority information indicates that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition. For another example, the first priority information indicates that the priority of the first condition is "high" and that the priority of the second condition is "low."

[0227] It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the form of expression of the priorities of different conditions. For example, the priorities of different conditions can be expressed as "high", "medium", and "low" from high to low. For another example, the priorities of different conditions can be expressed as "1", "2", or "3" from high to low. For another example, the priorities of different conditions can be expressed as "A", "B", or "C" from high to low. For another example, the priorities of different conditions can be indicated implicitly, for example, different conditions are sorted according to priority, and the priority of the conditions sorted earlier is higher.

[0228] In a possible implementation, the first message further includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition is accepted.

[0229] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific form of the first indication information. Exemplarily, the first indication information is a 1-bit information, and the value of the first indication information is "1", or the value of the first indication information is "0". Exemplarily, the value of the first indication information is "YES".

[0230] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the naming of the first indication information. For example, the first indication information can also be named degradation acceptable indication.

[0231] In a possible implementation, the first message further includes indication information #A, where the indication information #A is used to indicate whether to accept recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition.

[0232] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific form of the indication information #A. Exemplarily, the indication information #A is a 1-bit information. If the value of the indication information #A is "1", the indication information #A is used to indicate the acceptance of recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition. If the value of the indication information #A is "0", the indication information #A is used to indicate the non-acceptance of recommendation information that does not meet the first condition or the second condition. Alternatively, if the value of the indication information #A is "0", the indication information #A is used to indicate the acceptance of recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition. If the value of the indication information #A is "1", the indication information #A is used to indicate the non-acceptance of recommendation information that does not meet the first condition or the second condition. Exemplarily, if the value of the indication information #A is "Yes (YES)", the indication information #A is used to indicate the acceptance of recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition. If the value of the indication information #A is "No (NO)", the indication information #A is used to indicate the non-acceptance of recommendation information that does not meet the first condition or the second condition.

[0233] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the naming of the indication information #A. For example, the indication information #A can also be named as degradation acceptable indication.

[0234] In one possible implementation, the first message may further include one or more of the following parameters: a recommendation identifier, used to indicate the type of the first recommendation information; information about the time period for requesting the first recommendation information; a target for the event report, used to indicate the target for the first recommendation information; time filtering information, used to indicate the applicable conditions for the first recommendation information; and an acceptable maximum delay for providing the first recommendation information. For more descriptions of the above parameters, please refer to S301 above and are not repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0235] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the manner in which the first network element sends the first message to the analysis function network element. For example, the first network element may send the first message to the analysis function network element through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Subscribe service operation, or the first network element may send the first message to the analysis function network element through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Request service operation.

[0236] S402: The analysis function network element sends a second message to the first network element.

[0237] Correspondingly, in S402, the consumption network element sends a second message to the analysis function network element, where the second message includes second recommendation information.

[0238] The analysis function network element provides the first network element with second recommendation information that satisfies the first condition or the second condition, or the second recommendation information does not satisfy the first condition and the second condition.

[0239] It should be understood that the second recommendation information may include one or more recommendation information, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this. Taking the recommendation information including recommended QoS parameters as an example, the second recommendation information including one recommendation information is equivalent to the second recommendation information including a set of recommended QoS parameters (recommended QoS parameters), and the second recommendation information including multiple recommendation information is equivalent to the second recommendation information including multiple sets of recommended QoS parameters.

[0240] The following describes how the analysis function network element determines the second recommendation information.

[0241] In one possible implementation, the analysis function network element preferentially generates recommendation information that satisfies the more demanding condition of the first and second conditions. If the analysis function network element cannot generate recommendation information that satisfies the more demanding condition of the first and second conditions, it generates recommendation information that satisfies the less demanding condition of the first and second conditions.

[0242] For example, if the first optimization target included in the first condition is MOS ≥ 4, and the second optimization target included in the second condition is MOS ≥ 3.5, the analysis function network element will give priority to generating recommendation information that meets the first condition. For example, the analysis function network element will generate at least one recommendation information based on the first condition, and then determine the second recommendation information that meets the first condition from the at least one recommendation information generated based on the first condition. If the analysis function network element cannot generate recommendation information that meets the first condition, the analysis function network element will generate recommendation information that meets the second condition. For example, the analysis function network element will generate at least one recommendation information based on the second condition, and then determine the second recommendation information that meets the second condition from the at least one recommendation information generated based on the second condition.

[0243] Taking the first condition as an example, the analysis function network element determines whether it can generate recommendation information that meets the first condition in the following ways.

[0244] In method 1, the analysis function network element directly determines whether recommendation information that meets the first condition can be generated based on the first condition itself. For example, the first condition includes a first optimization target, and the first optimization target is MOS ≥ 5. However, the analysis function network element determines that the current network element load is large or the network is congested, and thus it is impossible to set the QoS parameters to achieve MOS ≥ 5. In this case, the analysis function network element determines that recommendation information that meets the first condition cannot be generated. For another example, the first condition includes a first optimization target and a first target parameter value range. The first optimization target is MOS ≥ 4, and the first target parameter value range is UL-maximum bitrate ≥ 500Mbps. However, the analysis function network element determines that the maximum throughput of the base station currently carrying the service is 800Mbps, and the currently used throughput is 400Mbps. Therefore, the maximum UL-maximum bitrate can only be set to 400Mbps, and the UL-maximum bitrate cannot be set to 500Mbps. In this case, the analysis function network element determines that recommendation information that meets the first condition cannot be generated.

[0245] In method 2, the analysis function network element first generates at least one recommendation information based on a first condition, and then determines whether the at least one recommendation information generated based on the first condition satisfies the first condition. If none of the at least one recommendation information satisfies the first condition, the analysis function network element determines that it is unable to generate recommendation information that satisfies the first condition. If at least one recommendation information satisfies the first condition, the analysis function network element determines that it is able to generate recommendation information that satisfies the first condition.

[0246] Exemplarily, the way in which the analysis function network element generates at least one recommendation information based on the first condition is: the analysis function network element uses the first condition as the input of the AI ​​model, and then runs the AI ​​model to perform model inference to obtain the output of the AI ​​model, and the output of the AI ​​model is at least one recommendation information generated based on the first condition. The AI ​​model is used to generate recommendation information. It should be understood that the above is only an example, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the way in which the analysis function network element generates at least one recommendation information based on the first condition.

[0247] Taking the first condition as an example, the meaning of recommendation information #A not meeting the first condition is as follows. If the first condition includes the first optimization target, then recommendation information #A not meeting the first optimization target means that recommendation information #A theoretically does not meet the first optimization target, or in other words, the analysis function network element predicts that after the first network element uses recommendation information #A, the relevant parameters cannot theoretically meet the first optimization target. For example, if the first optimization target is MOS>4, then recommendation information #A does not meet the first optimization target, which can be that the analysis function network element predicts that after the first network element uses the QoS parameters included in recommendation information #A, the MOS of the service experience is theoretically less than or equal to (≤) 4. If the first condition includes the first target parameter value range, then recommendation information #A not meeting the first target parameter value range means that at least one parameter or parameter value range included in recommendation information #A is not within the first target parameter value range. For example, if the first target parameter value range includes the following parameter value ranges: 50 Mbps < bitrate, delay < 50 ms, then if recommendation #A does not meet the first target parameter value range, recommendation #A includes a parameter bitrate ≤ 50 Mbps and / or a parameter delay ≥ 50 ms. It should be understood that if the first condition includes the first optimization target and the first target parameter value range, recommendation #A not meeting the first condition means that recommendation #A does not meet the first optimization target and / or the first target parameter value range.

[0248] In one possible implementation, if the first message includes first priority information, the analysis function network element determines the priority of the first condition and the second condition based on the first priority information, and then preferentially generates recommendation information that satisfies the higher-priority condition of the first condition and the second condition. If the analysis function network element cannot generate recommendation information that satisfies the higher-priority condition, it generates recommendation information that satisfies the lower-priority condition of the first condition and the second condition.

[0249] For example, if the analysis function network element determines that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition based on the first priority information, the analysis function network element will give priority to generating recommendation information that meets the first condition. For example, the analysis function network element generates at least one recommendation information based on the first condition, and then determines the second recommendation information that meets the first condition from the at least one recommendation information generated based on the first condition. Alternatively, if the analysis function network element determines that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition based on the first priority information, and is unable to generate recommendation information that meets the first condition, the analysis function network element will generate recommendation information that meets the second condition. For example, the analysis function network element generates at least one recommendation information based on the second condition, and then determines the second recommendation information that meets the second condition from the at least one recommendation information generated based on the second condition.

[0250] As shown in Figure 5, the PCF (an example of a first network element) requests recommendation information that satisfies optimization objective #1 (an example of the first condition), optimization objective #2 (an example of the second condition), or optimization objective #3 (an example of condition #A). Optimization objective #1 has a MOS ≥ 4 and a high priority, optimization objective #2 has a MOS ≥ 3 and a medium priority, and optimization objective #3 has a MOS < 3 and a low priority. Accordingly, the NWDAF (an example of an analysis function network element) first determines whether it can generate recommended QoS parameters (an example of recommendation information) that meet the highest-priority optimization objective #1. If it determines that it cannot generate recommended QoS parameters that meet optimization objective #1, the NWDAF then determines whether it can generate recommended QoS parameters that meet the second-priority optimization objective #2. If it determines that it can generate recommended QoS parameters that meet optimization objective #2, the NWDAF then provides the PCF with the recommended QoS parameters that meet optimization objective #2. In the example shown in Figure 5, the NWDAF provides the PCF with multiple sets of recommended QoS parameters.

[0251] In one possible implementation, if the analysis function network element cannot generate recommendation information that meets the first condition or the second condition, the analysis function network element generates at least one recommendation information based on the higher requirement of the first condition and the second condition, and determines the second recommendation information from the at least one recommendation information.

[0252] Optionally, if the first message includes first indication information, or the first message includes indication information #A, indication information #A is used to indicate acceptance of recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition, then when the analysis function network element determines that it is impossible to generate recommendation information that meets the first condition or the second condition, it will give priority to generating at least one recommendation information based on the higher requirement of the first condition and the second condition, and determine the second recommendation information from the at least one recommendation information.

[0253] For example, taking the first condition as the more demanding of the first and second conditions, the analysis function network element generates at least one piece of recommendation information based on the first condition, and then determines the second piece of recommendation information from the at least one piece of recommendation information generated based on the first condition. For example, the second piece of recommendation information determined by the analysis function network element is the recommendation information whose corresponding condition is closest to the first condition among the at least one piece of recommendation information generated based on the first condition.

[0254] For example, if the first condition includes a first optimization objective, the second recommendation information is the recommendation information whose corresponding expected objective is closest to the first optimization objective among the at least one recommendation information generated based on the first condition. The expected objective corresponding to the recommendation information refers to the objective that the analysis function network element predicts the first network element will theoretically achieve for the relevant parameters after using the recommendation information. For example, if the recommendation information includes recommended QoS parameters, the expected objective corresponding to the recommendation information may be the MOS of the service experience predicted by the analysis function network element after the first network element uses the recommended QoS parameters included in the recommendation information. For example, if the first optimization objective is MOS ≥ 4, the analysis function network element generates three recommendation information based on the first optimization objective, such as recommendation information #1 to recommendation information #3. The expected objectives corresponding to recommendation information #1 to recommendation information #3 are: MOS = 3.8, MOS = 3.7, and MOS = 3.5, respectively. Since the expected objective corresponding to recommendation information #1 is closest to the first optimization objective, the analysis function network element determines recommendation information #1 as the second recommendation information.

[0255] For another example, if the first condition includes a first target parameter value range, the second recommended information is the recommended information whose parameters or parameter value ranges are closest to the first target parameter value range among the at least one recommended information generated based on the first condition. For example, the first target parameter value range includes the following parameter value ranges: 50Mbps<bitrate, delay<50ms. The analysis function network element generates two recommended information based on the first target parameter value range, such as recommended information #4 and recommended information #5. Recommended information #4 includes the following parameters: bitrate=40Mbps,delay>60ms, and recommended information #5 includes the following parameters: bitrate=40Mbps,delay>70ms. Among them, the parameters included in recommended information #4 are closest to the first target parameter value range, so the analysis function network element determines recommended information #5 as the second recommended information.

[0256] Optionally, if the first target parameter value range includes multiple parameter value ranges, the analysis function network element determines, based on the priorities of different parameters, the recommended information with a higher priority included in at least one recommended information generated based on the first condition and closest to the first target parameter value range as the second recommended information. For example, the first target parameter value range includes the following parameter value range: 50Mbps<bitrate, delay<50ms. The analysis function network element generates two recommended information based on the first target parameter value range, such as recommended information #6 and recommended information #7. Recommended information #6 includes the following parameters: bitrate=40Mbps,delay>60ms, and recommended information #7 includes the following parameters: bitrate=50Mbps,delay>70ms. Among them, the priority of delay is higher than the priority of bitrate. The delay included in recommended information #6 is closest to the delay value range included in the first target parameter value range. In this case, the analysis function network element determines recommended information #6 as the second recommended information.

[0257] The first message may include priority information #A, which is used to indicate the priorities of different parameters, or the priorities of different parameters are predefined or preconfigured. The representation of the priorities of different parameters can refer to the representation of the priorities of different conditions described above.

[0258] For another example, if the first condition includes a first optimization target and a first target parameter value range, then the second recommendation information is the recommendation information whose corresponding expected target is closest to the first optimization target and / or whose included parameters or parameter value range are closest to the first target parameter value range among at least one recommendation information generated based on the first condition.

[0259] Optionally, if the first message includes indication information #A, and indication information #A is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the first condition or the second condition is not accepted, then when the analysis function network element determines that it is unable to generate recommendation information that meets the first condition or the second condition, it feeds back a failure indication (failure) to the first network element.

[0260] In one possible implementation, if the first message includes first priority information and the analysis function network element cannot generate recommendation information that meets the first condition and the second condition, the analysis function network element generates at least one recommendation information based on the condition with a higher priority among the first condition and the second condition, and determines the second recommendation information from the at least one recommendation information.

[0261] Optionally, if the first message includes first indication information, or the first message includes indication information #A, indication information #A is used to indicate acceptance of recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition, then when the analysis function network element determines that it is impossible to generate recommendation information that meets the first condition or the second condition, it generates at least one recommendation information based on the condition with a higher priority among the first condition and the second condition, and determines the second recommendation information from the at least one recommendation information.

[0262] For example, taking the first condition as an example, whichever has a higher priority between the first and second conditions, the analysis function network element generates at least one recommendation based on the first condition, and then determines the second recommendation from the at least one recommendation generated based on the first condition. For example, the second recommendation determined by the analysis function network element is the recommendation whose corresponding condition is closest to the first condition among the at least one recommendation generated based on the first condition.

[0263] Other information and / or parameters that may be included in the second message are described below.

[0264] In one possible implementation, if the second recommendation information includes multiple recommendation information, the second message may further include second priority information, where the second priority information is used to indicate the priority of the multiple recommendation information. The representation of the priority of the recommendation information may refer to the representation of the priority of the condition described in S401 above.

[0265] In one possible implementation, the second message may further include the expected target corresponding to the second recommendation information. As shown in Figure 5, NWDAF provides three groups of recommended QoS parameters to PCF, and also provides the expected targets corresponding to the three groups of recommended QoS parameters. For example, the first group of recommended QoS parameters is [bitrate=200Mbps, delay=20ms]. After using the first group of recommended QoS parameters, the expected service experience that can be achieved is MOS=3.8; the second group of recommended QoS parameters is [bitrate=180Mbps, delay=30ms]. After using the second group of recommended QoS parameters, the expected service experience that can be achieved is MOS=3.5; the third group of recommended QoS parameters is [bitrate=150Mbps, delay=35ms]. After using the second group of recommended QoS parameters, the expected service experience that can be achieved is MOS=3.2.

[0266] In one possible implementation, if the second recommendation information generated by the analysis function network element does not meet the first condition and the second condition, the second message may further include indication information #B, where the indication information #B is used to indicate that the second recommendation information does not meet the first condition and the second condition.

[0267] Optionally, if the second recommendation information generated by the analysis function network element does not meet the first condition and the second condition, but the second message includes the expected target corresponding to the second recommendation information, the second message may not include the indication information #B.

[0268] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the manner in which the analysis function network element sends the second message to the first network element. For example, if the first network element sends the first message to the analysis function network element through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Subscribe service operation, the analysis function network element may send the second message to the first network element through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Notify service operation. Alternatively, if the first network element sends the first message to the analysis function network element through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Resquest service operation, the analysis function network element may send the second message to the first network element through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Response service operation.

[0269] In an embodiment of the present application, when the first network element requests recommendation information from the analysis function network element, it can specify at least two conditions, thereby avoiding the problem that when the first network element only specifies one optimization target, the analysis function network element cannot generate recommendation parameters that meet the optimization target, and cannot feedback recommendation information to the first network element. In other words, when the first network element requests recommendation information from the analysis function network element and specifies at least two conditions, the analysis function network element cannot generate recommendation information that meets one of the conditions, but may be able to generate recommendation information that meets the other condition. This is equivalent to the solution of the present application being able to increase the probability that the analysis function network element provides the first network element with recommendation information that meets the needs of the first network element.

[0270] Fig. 6 shows a schematic flow chart of a communication method 600 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Fig. 6, the method 600 may include at least the following steps.

[0271] S601: The first network element sends a third message to the analysis function network element.

[0272] Correspondingly, in S601, the analysis function network element receives the third message from the first network element.

[0273] For more descriptions of the first network element and the analysis function network element, please refer to the description in S401 above.

[0274] The third message is used to request third recommendation information that meets a third condition. The third condition includes a third optimization objective and / or a third objective parameter value range. It should be understood that when the third message is used to request third recommendation information that meets the third condition, the third message includes the third condition. It should be noted that including the third condition in the third message is equivalent to including the third optimization objective and / or a third objective parameter value range in the third message.

[0275] For more description of the recommendation information, please refer to the description in S401 above.

[0276] For more descriptions of the third optimization target, please refer to the description of the first optimization target or the second optimization target in S401 above. For more descriptions of the value range of the third target parameter, please refer to the description of the value range of the first target parameter or the second target parameter in S401 above.

[0277] It should be understood that if the third condition includes a third optimization objective and a third objective parameter value range, then the third recommendation information satisfying the third condition means that the third recommendation information satisfies the third optimization condition and the third objective parameter value range. It should also be understood that if the third condition includes a third optimization objective, then the third recommendation information satisfying the third optimization objective means that the third recommendation information theoretically satisfies the third optimization objective, or in other words, the analysis function network element predicts that after the first network element uses the third recommendation information, the relevant parameters can theoretically meet the third optimization objective. If the third condition includes a third objective parameter value range, then the third recommendation information satisfying the third objective parameter value range means that the parameters or parameter value ranges included in the third recommendation information are within the third objective parameter value range.

[0278] Other information and / or parameters that may be included in the third message are described below.

[0279] In a possible implementation, the third message further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the third condition is accepted.

[0280] Optionally, the third condition includes a third optimization target and a third target parameter value range, and the second indication information can be used to indicate that only recommendation information that does not meet the third optimization target is accepted, or the second indication information can be used to indicate that only recommendation information that does not meet the third target parameter value range is accepted, or the second indication information is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the first optimization target and the third target parameter value range is accepted.

[0281] For example, the second indication information may be a 2-bit message. If the value of the second indication information is "00," the second indication information indicates that only recommendation information that does not meet the third optimization objective is accepted. If the value of the second indication information is "01," the second indication information indicates that only recommendation information that does not meet the third target parameter value range is accepted. If the value of the second indication information is "10," the second indication information indicates that recommendation information that does not meet both the first optimization objective and the third target parameter value range is accepted. It should be understood that the above is merely an example and is not intended to be limiting in this application.

[0282] It should be understood that if the second indication information is used to indicate that only recommendation information that does not meet the third optimization objective is accepted, then the second indication information is used to implicitly indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the third objective parameter value range is not accepted. If the second indication information is used to indicate that only recommendation information that does not meet the third objective parameter value range is accepted, then the second indication information is used to implicitly indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the third optimization objective is not accepted.

[0283] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the naming of the second indication information. For example, the second indication information can also be named degradation acceptable indication.

[0284] In one possible implementation, the third message further includes indication information #C, which is used to indicate whether to accept recommendation information that does not meet the third condition. For more description of indication information #C, please refer to the description of indication information #A in S401 above.

[0285] Optionally, the third condition includes a third optimization target and a third target parameter value range, and the indication information #C can be used to indicate whether to only accept recommendation information that does not meet the third optimization target, or the indication information #C can be used to indicate whether to only accept recommendation information that does not meet the third target parameter value range, or the indication information #C is used to indicate whether to accept recommendation information that does not meet the first optimization target and the third target parameter value range.

[0286] For example, the indication information #C can be a 3-bit information. If the value of the indication information #C is "000", the indication information #C is used to indicate that only recommendation information that does not meet the third optimization target is accepted. If the value of the indication information #C is "001", the indication information #C is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the third optimization target is not accepted. If the value of the indication information #C is "010", the indication information #C can be used to indicate that only recommendation information that does not meet the third target parameter value range is accepted. If the value of the indication information #C is "100", the indication information #C is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the third target parameter value range is not accepted. If the value of the indication information #C is "101", the indication information #C is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the first optimization target and the third target parameter value range is accepted. If the value of the indication information #C is "110", the indication information #C is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the first optimization target and the third target parameter value range is not accepted. It should be understood that the above is only an example and this application does not limit this.

[0287] It should be understood that if indication information #C is used to indicate that only recommendation information that does not meet the third optimization objective is accepted, then indication information #C is used to implicitly indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the third objective parameter value range is not accepted. If indication information #C is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the third optimization objective is not accepted, then indication information #C is used to implicitly indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the third objective parameter value range is accepted. If indication information #C is used to indicate that only recommendation information that does not meet the third objective parameter value range is accepted, then indication information #C is used to implicitly indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the third optimization objective is not accepted. If indication information #C is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the third objective parameter value range is not accepted, then indication information #C is used to implicitly indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the third optimization objective is accepted.

[0288] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the naming of the indication information #C. For example, the indication information #C can also be named as degradation acceptable indication (degradation acceptable indication).

[0289] In one possible implementation, the third message may further include one or more of the following parameters: a recommendation identifier, used to indicate the type of the third recommendation information; information about the time period for requesting the third recommendation information; a target for the event report, used to indicate the target for the third recommendation information; time filtering information, used to indicate the applicable conditions for the third recommendation information; and an acceptable maximum delay for providing the third recommendation information. For more details on the above parameters, please refer to S301 above and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0290] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the manner in which the consuming network element sends the third message to the analysis function network element. For example, the consuming network element may send the third message to the analysis function network element through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Subscribe service operation, or the consuming network element may send the third message to the analysis function network element through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Request service operation.

[0291] S602: The analysis function network element sends a fourth message to the first network element.

[0292] Correspondingly, in S602, the first network element sends a fourth message to the analysis function network element.

[0293] The fourth message includes fourth recommendation information, and the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third condition.

[0294] It should be understood that the fourth recommendation information may include one or more recommendation information, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this. Taking the recommendation information including recommended QoS parameters as an example, the fourth recommendation information including one recommendation information is equivalent to the fourth recommendation information including a set of recommended QoS parameters, and the fourth recommendation information including multiple recommendation information is equivalent to the fourth recommendation information including multiple sets of recommended QoS parameters.

[0295] The meaning of the fourth recommendation information not meeting the third condition can refer to the meaning of the recommendation information #A not meeting the first condition described in S402 above.

[0296] Several possible implementations of the analysis function network element determining the fourth recommendation information are described below.

[0297] In a possible implementation manner, when the analysis function network element determines that the third recommendation information that meets the third condition cannot be generated, the fourth recommendation information is generated.

[0298] It should be understood that the steps of the analysis function network element generating the fourth recommendation information include: the analysis function network element generating at least one recommendation information based on the third condition; and determining the fourth recommendation information from the at least one recommendation information. For example, the fourth recommendation information determined by the analysis function network element is the recommendation information whose corresponding condition is closest to the third condition among the at least one recommendation information generated based on the third condition.

[0299] For example, if the third condition includes a third optimization objective, then the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information whose corresponding expected objective is closest to the third optimization objective among the at least one recommendation information generated based on the third condition. The expected objective corresponding to the recommendation information refers to the objective that the analysis function network element predicts the first network element will theoretically achieve for the relevant parameters after using the recommendation information. For example, if the recommendation information includes recommended QoS parameters, then the expected objective corresponding to the recommendation information may be the MOS of the service experience predicted by the analysis function network element after the first network element uses the recommended QoS parameters included in the recommendation information. For example, if the third optimization objective is MOS ≥ 4, the analysis function network element generates three recommendation information based on the third optimization objective, such as recommendation information #8 to recommendation information #10. The expected objectives corresponding to recommendation information #8 to recommendation information #10 are: MOS = 3.8, MOS = 3.7, and MOS = 3.5, respectively. Since the expected objective corresponding to recommendation information #8 is closest to the third optimization objective, the analysis function network element determines recommendation information #8 as the fourth recommendation information.

[0300] For another example, if the third condition includes a third target parameter value range, then the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information whose parameters or parameter value ranges are closest to the third target parameter value range among the at least one recommendation information generated based on the third condition. For example, the third target parameter value range includes the following parameter value ranges: 50Mbps<bitrate, delay<50ms. The analysis function network element generates two recommendation information based on the third target parameter value range, such as recommendation information #X and recommendation information #Y. Recommendation information #X includes the following parameters: bitrate=40Mbps,delay>60ms, and recommendation information #Y includes the following parameters: bitrate=40Mbps,delay>70ms. Among them, the parameters included in recommendation information #X are closest to the third target parameter value range. In this case, the analysis function network element determines recommendation information #X as the fourth recommendation information.

[0301] Optionally, if the third target parameter value range includes multiple parameter value ranges, the analysis function network element determines, based on the priorities of different parameters, the recommended information with a higher priority included in the at least one recommended information generated based on the third condition and closest to the third target parameter value range as the fourth recommended information. For example, the third target parameter value range includes the following parameter value range: 50 Mbps < bitrate, delay < 50 ms. The analysis function network element generates two recommended information based on the third target parameter value range, such as recommended information #X and recommended information #Y. Recommended information #X includes the following parameters: bitrate = 40 Mbps, delay > 60 ms, and recommended information #Y includes the following parameters: bitrate = 50 Mbps, delay > 70 ms. Wherein, the priority of delay is higher than the priority of bitrate. The delay included in recommended information #X is closest to the delay value range included in the third target parameter value range. In this case, the analysis function network element determines recommended information #X as the fourth recommended information.

[0302] The third message may include priority information #A, which is used to indicate the priorities of different parameters, or the priorities of different parameters are predefined or preconfigured. The representation of the priorities of different parameters can refer to the representation of the priorities of different conditions described above.

[0303] For another example, if the third condition includes a third optimization target and a third target parameter value range, then the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information whose corresponding expected target is closest to the third optimization target and / or whose included parameters or parameter value range are closest to the third target parameter value range among at least one recommendation information generated based on the third condition.

[0304] As shown in Figure 7, PCF (an example of the first network element) requests recommendation information that meets optimization target #4 (an example of the third condition) and parameter constraints (an example of the third target parameter value range), where optimization target #4 is MOS ≥ 4, and parameter constraints are: bit rate ≥ 300Mbps, packet delay budget (PDB) ≤ 50ms. Accordingly, NWDAF (an example of the analysis function network element) first determines whether it is possible to generate recommended QoS parameters (an example of recommended information) that meet optimization target #4 and parameter constraints. If it is determined that it is not possible to generate recommended QoS parameters that meet optimization target #4 and parameter constraints, NWDAF will determine the recommended information whose corresponding expected target is closest to optimization target #4 among at least one recommendation information generated according to the third condition as the fourth recommendation information. In the example shown in Figure 7, NWDAF provides multiple sets of recommended QoS parameters to PCF.

[0305] In one possible implementation, the third message includes the second indication information, or the third message includes the indication information #C, and the indication information #C is used to indicate the acceptance of the recommendation information that does not meet the third condition. If the analysis function network element determines that the third recommendation information that meets the third condition cannot be generated, the fourth recommendation information is generated.

[0306] Other information and / or parameters that may be included in the fourth message are described below.

[0307] In one possible implementation, if the fourth recommendation information includes multiple recommendation information, the fourth message may further include third priority information, where the third priority information is used to indicate the priority of the multiple recommendation information. The representation of the priority of the recommendation information may refer to the representation of the priority of the condition described in S401 above.

[0308] In one possible implementation, the fourth message may further include the expected target corresponding to the fourth recommendation information. As shown in Figure 7, NWDAF provides two sets of recommended QoS parameters to PCF, and also provides the expected targets corresponding to the two sets of recommended QoS parameters. For example, the first set of recommended QoS parameters is [bitrate = 250Mbps, delay = 30ms], and the service experience that can be achieved after using the first set of recommended QoS parameters is MOS = 3.8; the second set of recommended QoS parameters is [bitrate = 300Mbps, delay = 60ms], and the service experience that can be achieved after using the second set of recommended QoS parameters is MOS = 3.8.

[0309] In a possible implementation, the fourth message may further include third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third condition.

[0310] Optionally, the third condition includes a third optimization objective and a third objective parameter value range. In this case, the third indication information can be used to indicate that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third optimization objective, or the third indication information can be used to indicate that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third objective parameter value range, or the third indication information is used to indicate that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the first optimization objective and the third objective parameter value range. It should be understood that if the third indication information is used to indicate that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third optimization objective, it is implicit that the fourth recommendation information meets the third objective parameter value range. If the third indication information is used to indicate that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third objective parameter value range, it is implicit that the fourth recommendation information meets the third optimization objective.

[0311] For example, the third indication information may be a 2-bit message. If the value of the third indication information is "00," the third indication information indicates that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third optimization objective. If the value of the third indication information is "01," the third indication information indicates that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third target parameter value range. If the value of the third indication information is "10," the third indication information indicates that the fourth recommendation information does not meet both the first optimization objective and the third target parameter value range. It should be understood that the above is merely an example and is not intended to be limiting in this application.

[0312] Optionally, if the fourth message includes an expected target corresponding to the fourth recommendation information, the fourth message may not include the third indication information.

[0313] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the manner in which the analysis function network element sends the fourth message to the first network element. For example, if the first network element sends the third message to the analysis function network element through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Subscribe service operation, the analysis function network element may send the fourth message to the first network element through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Notify service operation. Alternatively, if the first network element sends the third message to the analysis function network element through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Resquest service operation, the analysis function network element may send the fourth message to the first network element through the Nnwdaf_Recommendations_Response service operation.

[0314] In an embodiment of the present application, if the analysis function network element is unable to provide third recommendation information that meets the third condition, it may provide fourth recommendation information to the first network element. The fourth recommendation information is generated based on the third condition. Compared with the solution of not providing any recommendation information to the first network element, the fourth recommendation information provided by the analysis function network element to the first network element in the present application can, to a certain extent, assist the first network element in making communication decisions, so as to provide better communication services for users. For example, if the first network element can accept the fourth recommendation information provided by the analysis function network element, the first network element can directly use the fourth recommendation information, thereby eliminating the need to request recommendation information from the analysis function network element again, thereby reducing the delay in the first network element obtaining the recommendation information.

[0315] The method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above in conjunction with Figures 4 to 7. Below, the communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail in conjunction with Figures 8 to 10. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment. Therefore, for matters not described in detail, please refer to the method embodiment above. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0316] 8 shows a schematic diagram of a communication device 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device 1000 includes an interface unit 1010, which can be used to implement corresponding communication functions and can also be referred to as a communication interface, a communication unit, or a transceiver unit.

[0317] Optionally, the apparatus 1000 may further include a processing unit 1020 , which may be configured to perform data processing.

[0318] Optionally, the device 1000 also includes a storage unit, which can be used to store instructions and / or data, and the processing unit 1020 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit so that the device implements the actions of different network elements (first network element or analysis function network element) in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0319] In one possible design, the device 1000 may be the analysis function network element in the aforementioned embodiment, or may be a component (e.g., a chip) of the analysis function network element. The device 1000 may implement steps or processes corresponding to those performed by the analysis function network element in the above method embodiment. The interface unit 1010 may be used to perform operations related to the transmission and reception of the analysis function network element in the above method embodiment; and the processing unit 1020 may be used to perform operations related to the processing of the analysis function network element in the above method embodiment.

[0320] In another possible design, the device 1000 may be the first network element in the aforementioned embodiment, or may be a component (e.g., a chip) of the first network element. The device 1000 may implement steps or processes corresponding to those performed by the first network element in the above method embodiment. The interface unit 1010 may be configured to perform operations related to transmission and reception of the first network element in the above method embodiment; and the processing unit 1020 may be configured to perform operations related to processing of the first network element in the above method embodiment.

[0321] Figure 9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 2000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device 2000 includes a processor 2010, which is coupled to a memory 2020. Optionally, the memory 2020 is further included. The memory 2020 is configured to store computer programs or instructions and / or data. The processor 2010 is configured to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 2020, or read data stored in the memory 2020, to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments.

[0322] Optionally, there are one or more processors 2010 .

[0323] Optionally, the memory 2020 is one or more.

[0324] Optionally, the memory 2020 is integrated with the processor 2010 or provided separately.

[0325] Optionally, as shown in FIG9 , the apparatus 2000 further includes a transceiver 2030, which is used to receive and / or transmit signals. For example, the processor 2010 is used to control the transceiver 2030 to receive and / or transmit signals. The transceiver 2030 may also be referred to as an interface.

[0326] As a solution, the device 2000 is used to implement the operations performed by the analysis function network element in the above various method embodiments.

[0327] For example, the processor 2010 is configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 2020 to implement operations related to analyzing the functional network element in each of the above method embodiments.

[0328] As another solution, the device 2000 is used to implement the operations performed by the first network element in the above method embodiments.

[0329] For example, the processor 2010 is configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in the memory 2020 to implement relevant operations of the first network element in each of the above method embodiments.

[0330] During implementation, each step of the above method can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor 2010 or by instructions in the form of software. The method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module can be located in a mature storage medium in the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory 2020, and the processor 2010 reads the information in the memory 2020 and completes the steps of the above method in conjunction with its hardware. To avoid repetition, it will not be described in detail here.

[0331] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be one or more integrated circuits for executing relevant programs to execute the method embodiments of the present application.

[0332] A processor (e.g., processor 2010) may include one or more processors and be implemented as a combination of computing devices. The processor may include one or more of the following: a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a digital signal processing device (DSPD), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), gating logic, transistor logic, discrete hardware circuits, processing circuits, or other suitable hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software to perform the various functions described in this disclosure. The processor may be a general-purpose processor or a special-purpose processor. For example, processor 2010 may be a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data. The central processing unit may be used to enable the device to execute software programs and process data in the software programs. In addition, a portion of the processor may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the processor may also store information about the device type.

[0333] In this application, the term "program" is used broadly to refer to software. Non-limiting examples of software include program code, program, subroutine, instruction, instruction set, code, code segment, software module, application, or software application. The program can be executed in a processor and / or computer to cause the device to perform the various functions and / or processes described in this application.

[0334] The memory (e.g., memory 2020) can store data required by the processor (e.g., processor 2010) when executing software. The memory can be implemented using any suitable storage technology. For example, the memory can be any available storage medium that can be accessed by the processor and / or computer. Non-limiting examples of storage media include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM), removable media, optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media, magnetic storage devices, flash memory, registers, state memory, remotely mounted storage, local or remote memory components, or any other medium capable of carrying or storing software, data, or information and accessible by a processor / computer. It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0335] The memory (e.g., memory 2020) and the processor (e.g., processor 2010) may be provided separately or integrated together. The memory may be used to connect to the processor so that the processor can read information from the memory and store and / or write information in the memory. The memory may be integrated into the processor. The memory and the processor may be provided in an integrated circuit (e.g., the integrated circuit may be provided in a UE or other network node).

[0336] 10 is a schematic block diagram of a chip system 3000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The chip system 3000 (or also referred to as a processing system) includes a logic circuit 3010 and an input / output interface 3020 .

[0337] Logic circuit 3010 may be a processing circuit in chip system 3000. Logic circuit 3010 may be coupled to a storage unit and call instructions in the storage unit, so that chip system 3000 can implement the methods and functions of various embodiments of the present application. Input / output interface 3020 may be an input / output circuit in chip system 3000, outputting information processed by chip system 3000 or inputting data or signaling information to be processed into chip system 3000 for processing.

[0338] As a solution, the chip system 3000 is used to implement the operations performed by the analysis function network element in the above method embodiments.

[0339] For example, the logic circuit 3010 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the analysis function network element in the above method embodiment; the input / output interface 3020 is used to implement the sending and / or receiving-related operations performed by the analysis function network element in the above method embodiment.

[0340] As another solution, the chip system 3000 is used to implement the operations performed by the first network element in the above method embodiments.

[0341] For example, the logic circuit 3010 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the first network element in the above method embodiment; the input / output interface 3020 is used to implement the sending and / or receiving-related operations performed by the first network element in the above method embodiment.

[0342] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium on which computer instructions are stored for implementing the methods executed by the communication device (such as the analysis function network element, the first network element) in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0343] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, implement the methods performed by the communication device (such as the analysis function network element, the first network element) in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0344] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes at least one of the analysis function network element and the first network element in the above embodiments.

[0345] The explanation of the relevant contents and beneficial effects of any of the above-mentioned devices can be referred to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, which will not be repeated here.

[0346] In the above-mentioned embodiments, unless otherwise specified or provided for, the terms and / or descriptions of the different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features of the different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0347] In the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" and "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described in this application as an "exemplary" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the word "exemplary" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner.

[0348] It should be understood that references to "embodiments" throughout this specification mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic associated with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, various embodiments throughout this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, these particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0349] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence number of each process does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiment of the present application. The names of all nodes and messages in this application are merely names set by this application for the convenience of description. The names in the actual network may be different. It should not be understood that this application limits the names of various nodes and messages. On the contrary, any name with the same or similar function as the node or message used in this application is regarded as the method or equivalent replacement of this application, and is within the scope of protection of this application.

[0350] It should also be understood that in this application, "if" and "if" both mean that the network element will make corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, and it does not limit the time, nor does it require the network element to take judgment actions when implementing it, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0351] Additionally, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein.

[0352] In this article, the term "at least one of..." or "at least one of..." means all or any combination of the listed items. For example, "at least one of A, B, and C" can mean six situations: A exists alone, B exists alone, C exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, B and C exist at the same time, and A, B, and C exist at the same time. "At least one" in this article means one or more. "Multiple" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can mean three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and subsequent associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0353] In addition, "of", "corresponding", "relevant", "corresponding" and "associated" are sometimes used interchangeably. It should be noted that when the distinction is not emphasized, the meanings they intend to express are consistent. The terms "include", "comprising", "having" and their variations all mean "including but not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0354] It should be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the first, second, and various numerical numbers are merely distinctions for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0355] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0356] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0357] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0358] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0359] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0360] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0361] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving a first message from a first network element, the first message being used to request first recommendation information that satisfies a first condition or a second condition, the first condition being different from the second condition, the first condition including a first optimization objective and / or a first objective parameter value range, and the second condition including a second optimization objective and / or a second objective parameter value range; A second message is sent to the first network element, where the second message includes second recommendation information generated according to the first condition or the second condition.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first message further includes first priority information, where the first priority information is used to indicate the priorities of the first condition and the second condition.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The second recommendation information satisfies the first condition or the second condition.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first message further includes first priority information, where the first priority information is used to indicate priorities of the first condition and the second condition. The sending the second message to the first network element includes: determining, based on the first priority information, that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition, sending a second message to the first network element, where the second recommendation information included in the second message satisfies the first condition; or If it is determined based on the first priority information that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition, and recommendation information that meets the first condition cannot be provided, a second message is sent to the first network element, and the second recommendation information included in the second message meets the second condition.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that The first message further includes first priority information, where the first priority information is used to indicate the priority of the first condition and the second condition. The method further includes: determining, according to the first priority information, that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition, and generating at least one recommendation information according to the first condition; Determining the second recommendation information that meets the first condition from the at least one recommendation information generated according to the first condition; Alternatively, the method further comprises: If it is determined according to the first priority information that the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition, and recommendation information satisfying the first condition cannot be provided, then at least one recommendation information is generated according to the second condition; The second recommendation information satisfying the second condition is determined from the at least one recommendation information generated according to the second condition.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The second recommendation information does not satisfy the first condition and the second condition.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: generating at least one piece of recommendation information according to the first condition or the second condition; The second recommendation information is determined from at least one recommendation information generated according to the first condition or the second condition.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that The second recommendation information is generated according to the first condition. The first condition includes the first optimization target, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the first condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the first optimization target. or, The first condition includes the first target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, including a parameter value or a parameter value range that is closest to the first target parameter value range; or, The first condition includes the first optimization target and the first target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the first optimization target and / or the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the first target parameter value range; or, The second recommendation information is generated according to the second condition. The second condition includes the second optimization target, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the second condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the second optimization target. or, The second condition includes the second target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the second condition, including a parameter value or a parameter value range that is closest to the second target parameter value range. or, The second condition includes the second optimization target and the second target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the second condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the second optimization target and / or the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the second target parameter value range.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that If the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition, the second recommendation information is recommendation information determined from at least one recommendation information generated according to the first condition.

10. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that The first message further includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition is accepted.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The first condition includes the first optimization target and the first target parameter value range, the second condition includes the second optimization target and the second target parameter value range, the first optimization target is different from the second optimization target, and the first target parameter value range is different from the second target parameter value range.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that The second recommendation information includes a plurality of recommendation information, and the second message further includes second priority information, where the second priority information is used to indicate the priority of each recommendation information in the plurality of recommendation information.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The second message also includes an expected target corresponding to the second recommendation information.

14. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending a first message to the analysis function network element, where the first message is used to request first recommendation information that meets a first condition or a second condition, where the first condition is different from the second condition, the first condition includes a first optimization objective and / or a first objective parameter value range, and the second condition includes a second optimization objective and / or a second objective parameter value range; Receive a second message from the analysis function network element, where the second message contains second recommendation information.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The first message further includes first priority information, where the first priority information is used to indicate the priorities of the first condition and the second condition.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that The second recommendation information satisfies the first condition or the second condition.

17. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that The second recommendation information does not satisfy the first condition and the second condition.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The second recommendation information is generated according to the first condition; The first condition includes the first optimization target, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the first condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the first optimization target. or, The first condition includes the first target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, including a parameter value or a parameter value range that is closest to the first target parameter value range; or, The first condition includes the first optimization target and the first target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the first condition, wherein the corresponding expected target is closest to the first optimization target and / or the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the first target parameter value range. or, The second recommendation information is generated according to the second condition. The second condition includes the second optimization target, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the second condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the second optimization target. or, The second condition includes the second target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the second condition, including a parameter value or a parameter value range that is closest to the second target parameter value range. or, The second condition includes the second optimization target and the second target parameter value range, and the second recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the second condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the second optimization target and / or the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the second target parameter value range.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that If the priority of the first condition is higher than the priority of the second condition, the second recommendation information is generated according to the first condition.

20. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 19, characterized in that The first message further includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that recommendation information that does not meet the first condition and the second condition is accepted.

21. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 20, characterized in that The first condition includes the first optimization target and the first target parameter value range corresponding to the first optimization target, the second condition includes the second optimization target and the second target parameter value range corresponding to the second optimization target, the first optimization target is different from the second optimization target, and the first target parameter value range is different from the second target parameter value range.

22. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 21, characterized in that The second recommendation information includes a plurality of recommendation information, and the second message further includes second priority information, where the second priority information is used to indicate the priority of each recommendation information in the plurality of recommendation information.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that The second message also includes an expected target corresponding to the second recommendation information.

24. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving a third message from the first network element, the third message being used to request third recommendation information that satisfies a third condition, the third condition including a third optimization objective and / or a third objective parameter value range; In a case where the third recommendation information cannot be provided, a fourth message is sent to the first network element, where the fourth message includes fourth recommendation information that does not meet the third condition.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that The method further comprises: determining at least one piece of recommended information according to the third condition; The fourth recommendation information is determined from the at least one recommendation information.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The third condition includes the third optimization target, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the third condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the third optimization target. or, The third condition includes the third target parameter value range, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the third condition, including a parameter value or a parameter value range that is closest to the third target parameter value range. or, The third condition includes the third optimization target and the third target parameter value range, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the third condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the third optimization target and / or the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the third target parameter value range.

27. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 26, characterized in that The third message further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the recommendation information that does not meet the third condition is accepted.

28. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 27, characterized in that The fourth message also includes an expected target corresponding to the fourth recommendation information.

29. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 28, characterized in that The fourth message further includes third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third condition.

30. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending a third message to the analysis function network element, where the third message is used to request third recommendation information that meets a third condition, where the third condition includes a third optimization objective and / or a third objective parameter value range; A fourth message is received from the analysis function network element, where the fourth message includes fourth recommendation information that does not meet the third condition.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein The third condition includes the third optimization target, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the third condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the third optimization target. or, The third condition includes the third target parameter value range, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated according to the third condition, including a parameter value or a parameter value range that is closest to the third target parameter value range. or, The third condition includes the third optimization target and the third target parameter value range, and the fourth recommendation information is the recommendation information generated based on the third condition, and the corresponding expected target is closest to the third optimization target and / or the parameter value or parameter value range included is closest to the third target parameter value range.

32. The method according to claim 30 or 31, characterized in that The third message further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the recommendation information that does not meet the third condition is accepted.

33. The method according to any one of claims 30 to 32, characterized in that The fourth message also includes an expected target corresponding to the fourth recommendation information.

34. The method according to any one of claims 30 to 33, characterized in that The fourth message further includes third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the fourth recommendation information does not meet the third condition.

35. A communication device, characterized in that: The apparatus comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 14 to 23, or a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 24 to 29, or a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 30 to 34.

36. A communication device, characterized in that include: A processor, the processor being coupled to a memory, the memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the apparatus performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or performs the method according to any one of claims 14 to 23, or performs the unit or module of any one of claims 24 to 29, or performs the unit or module of any one of claims 30 to 34.

37. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program. When the computer program is run on a computer, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or executes the method according to any one of claims 14 to 23, executes the unit or module of any one of claims 24 to 29, or executes the unit or module of any one of claims 30 to 34.

38. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes computer program code, which, when executed by a communication device, implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or executes the method according to any one of claims 14 to 23, or executes the unit or module of any one of claims 24 to 29, or executes the unit or module of any one of claims 30 to 34.

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