Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and an apparatus, relating to the technical field of wireless communications. The method comprises: a network device receives a request message for requesting establishment of a first regional session, the request message comprising information about a first region, the first region overlapping a second region corresponding to an established second regional session, and the second regional session being used for sending second data of a first MBS; and in response to the request message, the network device establishes the first regional session, the first regional session corresponding to the remaining region in the first region other than the region that overlaps the second region, and the first regional session being used for sending first data of the first MBS.

Description

Communication method and apparatus

[0001] Cross Reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202410742052.X, filed on June 7, 2024, and entitled "A communication method and apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates to the technical field of wireless communication, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0004] Multicast and broadcast service (MBS) is introduced by the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) for efficient use of mobile communication network resources, which provides a point-to-multipoint service in a mobile communication network, and realizes network resource sharing and improves resource (especially air interface resource) utilization.

[0005] Location dependent MBS belongs to a kind of MBS services, and different data of the same MBS service can be sent in different areas.

[0006] For location dependent MBS services, there is currently a lack of corresponding solutions for the service demand of sending different data of the same MBS service in the same area. SUMMARY

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, which provide a solution for the service demand of sending different data of the same MBS service in the same area for location dependent MBS services.

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network side, such as an access network device of the network side, or a module (e.g., a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) in the access network device, or a logical node, a logical module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the access network device. Taking the access network device as an example, in the method, the access network device receives a request message for requesting to establish a first area session, the request message including information of a first area, wherein the first area overlaps with a second area corresponding to an established second area session, and the second area session is used to send second data of a first MBS service; and the access network device establishes, in response to the request message, a first area session corresponding to other areas in the first area except for the area overlapping with the second area, and the first area session is used to send first data of the first MBS service.

[0009] It can be understood that the first MBS session is used to transmit the first MBS service, and the first area session and the second area session are different area sessions associated with the first MBS session. In other words, in the first MBS session, the identifier of the first area session is a unique identifier used to identify and locate related content.

[0010] With the above implementation manner, for the case that the first area and the second area overlap, the overlapping area can be excluded from the MBS service area corresponding to the first area session when the first area session is established, so that the newly established first area session can be prevented from affecting the established second area session, so as to ensure that the terminal devices in the second area (including the overlapping area) can still receive the second data.

[0011] Optionally, the request message for requesting to establish the first area session further includes an identifier of the first MBS session and an identifier of the first area session.

[0012] Optionally, the information of the first area includes one or more of the following: a cell identifier and a tracking area identifier. Optionally, the cell identifier is an identifier of a mapped cell corresponding to an NTN cell, and / or the tracking area identifier is an identifier of a mapped tracking area corresponding to an NTN tracking area.

[0013] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: sending first information indicating that no area session is established for the overlapping area.

[0014] Optionally, the first information comprises information of the overlapping area and first indication information; the first indication information indicates that the overlapping area is not included in the area corresponding to the first area session, or the first indication information indicates that the area corresponding to the first area session to be established has an overlap with the area corresponding to another area session.

[0015] Optionally, the first information can be included in a response message, and the response message further comprises an identifier of the first MBS session and an identifier of the first area session.

[0016] With the above implementation, the access network device can notify an application function (application function, AF) or an MBS server that the overlapping area is not included in the area corresponding to the first area session, and notify the AF (or the MBS server) of the overlapping area, so that the AF (or the MBS server) can obtain the MBS service area corresponding to the first area session, and can initiate a new session establishment process for the overlapping area.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises: receiving, by the access network device, a request message for requesting establishment of a new session, the request message comprising information of the overlapping area, the new session being used for transmitting the first data.

[0018] Through the above implementation, on the basis of reducing or avoiding the influence of the new area session on the original area session, a new session can also be established for the overlapping area to transmit the first data, so as to ensure that the terminal device in the overlapping area can receive both the second data and the first data, thereby meeting the business requirements.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the new session is a second MBS session, and the first MBS session is different from the second MBS session.

[0020] Optionally, the first MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service, and the second MBS session is a session of a non-location-related MBS service, or the second MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service.

[0021] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network side, such as an AF or an MBS server of the network side, or a module (for example, a circuit, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the AF or the MBS server. Taking the AF as an example, in the method, the AF sends a request message for requesting establishment of a first regional session, the request message including information of a first region, wherein the first region overlaps with a second region corresponding to an established second regional session, and the second regional session is used for sending second data of a first MBS service; the AF receives first information indicating that no regional session is established for the overlapping region; the AF sends a request message for requesting establishment of a new session, the request message for requesting establishment of the new session including information of the overlapping region, and the new session being used for sending the first data.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the first information includes information of the overlapping region and first indication information; and the first indication information indicates that the overlapping region is not included in a region corresponding to the first regional session, or the first indication information indicates that a region corresponding to the first regional session to be established overlaps with a region corresponding to another regional session.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the new session is a second MBS session, and the first MBS session is different from the second MBS session.

[0024] Optionally, the first MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service, and the second MBS session is a session of a non-location-related MBS service or a session of a location-related MBS service.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the AF sends an announcement message to a terminal device in the overlapping region, the announcement message including an identifier of the first MBS session and an identifier of the second MBS session, and the announcement message being used for instructing the terminal device to receive data of the first MBS session and data of the second MBS session, the data of the first MBS session including the second data, and the data of the second MBS session including the first data.

[0026] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network side, such as an access network device or a network exposure function (NEF) of the network side, or a module (such as a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) in the access network device or the NEF, or a logic node, a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the access network device or the NEF. Taking the access network device as an example, in the method, the access network device receives a request message for requesting to establish a first area session, the request message including information of a first area, the first area session being used for sending first data of a first MBS service; if the first area overlaps with a second area corresponding to a second area session, the second area session being used for sending second data of the first MBS service, the access network device sends a response message, the response message indicating that the first area session fails to be established.

[0027] In the above implementation manner, for the case that the first area corresponding to the first area session to be established overlaps with the second area corresponding to the second area session that has been established, the access network device can reject to establish the first area session, so that the influence on the second area session that has been established can be avoided, so as to ensure that the terminal devices in the second area (including the overlapping area) can still receive the second data.

[0028] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: obtaining context information of the second area session, the context information including information of the second area; and determining, according to the information of the second area and the information of the first area, that the first area overlaps with the second area.

[0029] In a possible implementation manner, the response message includes one or more of the following: a reason for the first area session failing to be established, or a processing suggestion.

[0030] In the above implementation manner, the access network device can feed back the reason for the first area session failing to be established and / or the processing suggestion to the AF or the MBS server, so that the AF or the MBS server can perform corresponding processing.

[0031] In a possible implementation manner, the response message includes failure cause indication information used for indicating the reason for the first area session failing to be established, the failure cause indication information being used for indicating one or more of the following: a session of a location-related MBS service cannot be established; or the first area corresponding to the first area session to be established includes a non-terrestrial network (NTN) type area; or for the first MBS session, the first area corresponding to the first area session to be established overlaps with an area corresponding to another area session.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the response message includes processing suggestion indication information for indicating a processing suggestion, and the processing suggestion indication information is used to indicate one or more of the following: establishing a session of a non-location-related MBS service, a MBS service area of the session of the non-location-related MBS service being the first area; or establishing a session of a location-related MBS service, a MBS service area of the session of the location-related MBS service being the first area; or establishing a unicast session for a terminal device in the first area, the unicast session being used to transmit the first data.

[0033] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a request message for requesting establishment of a new session, the request message for requesting establishment of the new session including information of the overlapped area, the new session being used to transmit the first data; and in response to the request message for requesting establishment of the new session, establishing the new session or sending, to a session management function network element, a session establishment request message for requesting establishment of the new session.

[0034] In the foregoing implementation, on the basis of avoiding an impact on the original area session, a new session can be established for the first area to transmit the first data, so as to ensure that a terminal device in the overlapped area can receive both the second data and the first data, thereby meeting a service requirement.

[0035] In a possible implementation, the new session is a second MBS session, and the first MBS session is different from the second MBS session.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the first MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service, and the second MBS session is a session of a non-location-related MBS service or a session of a location-related MBS service.

[0037] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network side, such as an AF or an MBS server of the network side, or a module (for example, a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.), or a logic node, a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the AF or the MBS server. Taking the AF as an example, in the method, the AF sends a request message for requesting to establish a first area session, the request message comprising information of a first area; the first area has an overlap with a second area corresponding to an established second area session, the second area session being used for sending second data of a first MBS service, and the first area session being used for sending first data of the first MBS service; the AF receives a response message corresponding to the request message, the response message indicating that the first area session fails to be established; and the AF sends a request message for requesting to establish a new session, the request message comprising information of the overlapping area, the new session being used for sending the first data.

[0038] In a possible implementation, the response message comprises one or more of the following: a reason for the failure of the first area session to be established, or a processing suggestion.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the response message comprises failure reason indication information for indicating the reason for the failure of the first area session to be established, the failure reason indication information being used for indicating one or more of the following: a session of a location-related MBS service cannot be established; or the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established comprises a non-terrestrial network (NTN) type of area; or the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established overlaps with an area corresponding to another area session for the first MBS session.

[0040] In a possible implementation, the response message comprises processing suggestion indication information for indicating a processing suggestion, the processing suggestion indication information being used for indicating one or more of the following: establishing a session of a non-location-related MBS service, an MBS service area of the session of the non-location-related MBS service being the first area; or establishing a session of a location-related MBS service, an MBS service area of the session of the location-related MBS service being the first area; or establishing a unicast session for respectively transmitting the first data for a terminal device in the first area.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the new session is a second MBS session, and the first MBS session is different from the second MBS session.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the first MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service, and the second MBS session is a session of a non-location-related MBS service, or the second MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service.

[0043] In a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network side, such as an NEF on the network side, or a module (for example, a circuit, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the NEF, or a logical node, a logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the NEF function. Taking the NEF as an example, in the method, the NEF receives a request message for requesting to establish a first area session, the request message including information of a first area, the first area session being used to send first data of a first MBS service; the NEF determines, according to cell identifiers included in the information of the first area and correspondence information, that the first area includes an NTN cell, and / or determines, according to identifiers of tracking areas included in the information of the first area and the correspondence information, that the first area includes an NTN tracking area, and then sends a response message in response to the first request message, the response message indicating that the first area session fails to be established. The correspondence information includes one of first correspondence information and second correspondence information. The correspondence information includes the first correspondence information or the second correspondence information. The first correspondence information includes correspondence information of cell identifiers and cell types, and / or correspondence information of tracking area identifiers and tracking area types. The second correspondence information includes correspondence information of mapping cell identifiers and NTN cell identifiers, and / or correspondence information of mapping tracking area identifiers and NTN tracking area identifiers.

[0044] In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network side, such as an NEF on the network side, or a module (for example, a circuit, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the NEF, or a logical node, a logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the NEF function. Taking the NEF as an example, in the method, the NEF receives a request message for requesting to establish a first area session, the request message including information of a first area, the first area session being used to send first data of a first MBS service; the NEF sends a first message for requesting a network element storing correspondence information to feed back whether the first area session is allowed to be established for the first area, the first message including the information of the first area; the NEF receives a second message from the network element storing the correspondence, the second message indicating that the first area session cannot be established for the first area, and the NEF sends a response message according to the second message, the response message being used to indicate that the first area session fails to be established.

[0045] Optionally, the network element storing the correspondence information is configured to determine whether the first area includes an NTN cell and / or an NTN tracking area according to the information of the first area and the correspondence information.

[0046] Optionally, the correspondence information includes one of first correspondence information and second correspondence information, wherein the first correspondence information includes correspondence information of a cell identifier and a cell type, and / or correspondence information of a tracking area identifier and a tracking area type, and the second correspondence information includes correspondence information of a mapping cell identifier and an NTN cell identifier, and / or correspondence information of a mapping tracking area identifier and an NTN tracking area identifier.

[0047] In a possible implementation of the method according to any one of the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect, the response message includes one or more of the following: a cause of the failure of the first area session establishment, or a processing suggestion.

[0048] In a possible implementation of the method according to any one of the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect, the response message includes failure cause indication information indicating a cause of the failure of the first area session establishment, and the failure cause indication information indicates one or more of the following: a session of a location-related MBS service cannot be established; or the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established includes an area of a non-terrestrial network (NTN) type; or the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established for the first MBS session overlaps with an area corresponding to another area session.

[0049] In a possible implementation of the method according to any one of the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect, the response message includes processing suggestion indication information indicating a processing suggestion, and the processing suggestion indication information indicates one or more of the following: a session of a non-location-related MBS service is established, and an MBS service area of the session of the non-location-related MBS service is the first area; or a session of a location-related MBS service is established, and an MBS service area of the session of the location-related MBS service is the first area; or a unicast session is established for a terminal device in the first area respectively, and the unicast session is used to transmit the first data.

[0050] In a possible implementation manner of the method according to any one of the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect, the method further includes: receiving a request message for requesting to establish a new session, the request message for requesting to establish the new session including information of the overlapped area, the new session being used for transmitting the first data; and in response to the request message for requesting to establish the new session, establishing the new session, or sending, to a session management function network element, a session establishment request message for requesting to establish the new session.

[0051] In a possible implementation manner of the method according to any one of the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect, the new session is a second MBS session, and the first MBS session is different from the second MBS session.

[0052] In a possible implementation manner of the method according to any one of the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect, the first MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service, the second MBS session is a session of a non-location-related MBS service, or the second MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service.

[0053] In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes a unit or module for performing the method according to any one of the first aspect, or a unit or module for performing the method according to any one of the second aspect, or a unit or module for performing the method according to any one of the third aspect, or a unit or module for performing the method according to any one of the fourth aspect, or a unit or module for performing the method according to any one of the fifth aspect, or a unit or module for performing the method according to any one of the sixth aspect.

[0054] In an eighth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes one or more processors configured to perform the method according to any one of the first aspect, or the method according to any one of the second aspect, or the method according to any one of the third aspect, or the method according to any one of the fourth aspect, or the method according to any one of the fifth aspect, or the method according to any one of the sixth aspect.

[0055] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, which can include an access network device and an AF; wherein the access network device can implement the method according to any one of the first aspect, and the AF can implement the method according to any one of the second aspect; or the access network device can implement the method according to any one of the third aspect, and the AF can implement the method according to any one of the fourth aspect.

[0056] In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which can include a NEF and an AF; wherein the NEF can implement the method of any one of the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect, and the AF can implement the method of any one of the fourth aspect.

[0057] In an eleventh aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, which stores a program or instructions, when the program or instructions are run on an apparatus, cause the apparatus to execute the method of any one of the first aspect, or execute the method of any one of the second aspect, or execute the method of any one of the third aspect, or execute the method of any one of the fourth aspect, or execute the method of any one of the fifth aspect, or execute the method of any one of the sixth aspect.

[0058] In a twelfth aspect, a chip system is provided, which is used to support a computer device to implement the method of any one of the first aspect, or implement the method of any one of the second aspect, or implement the method of any one of the third aspect, or implement the method of any one of the fourth aspect, or implement the method of any one of the fifth aspect, or implement the method of any one of the sixth aspect.

[0059] In a thirteenth aspect, a program product is provided, which includes a program; when the program is run on a computer, cause the computer to execute the method of any one of the first aspect, or execute the method of any one of the second aspect, or execute the method of any one of the third aspect, or execute the method of any one of the fourth aspect, or execute the method of any one of the fifth aspect, or execute the method of any one of the sixth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0060] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service interface suitable for the embodiments of the present application;

[0061] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a point-to-point interface suitable for the embodiments of the present application;

[0062] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an NTN network suitable for the embodiments of the present application;

[0063] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an MBS transmission mode suitable for the embodiments of the present application;

[0064] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a session establishment process of a broadcast service suitable for the embodiments of the present application;

[0065] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of transmission of a location-related MBS service;

[0066] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating transmission of different data in the same area for a location-dependent MBS according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating transmission of different data in the same area for a location-dependent MBS according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG. 13 is a structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG. 14 is a structural diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] FIG. 15 is a structural diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0075] Hereinafter, first, some terms and technologies related to embodiments of the present application are explained and described, so as to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0076] (I) Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) and terrestrial networks (TN)

[0077] Non-terrestrial networks, abbreviated as NTN or NTN network, refer to a network in which at least part of the network devices are deployed on non-terrestrial. For example, aircraft (including aircraft or drones, for example) or satellites are introduced into the communication system as relay nodes or used as base stations. Correspondingly, the terrestrial network can be abbreviated as TN or TN network, which is a network in which all network devices are deployed on land.

[0078] In NTN, in the uplink direction, the terminal device sends data to the base station through the satellite, and in the downlink direction, the base station sends data to the terminal device through the satellite. Due to the long distance from the satellite to the ground, the coverage area of one satellite is large, that is, the coverage radius of the air interface cell is large.

[0079] The network architecture of NTN and TN can follow the Next Generation System architecture established by the 3GPP standard group, which can also be referred to as the 5G network architecture. The architecture supports access to the 5G core network (CN) using wireless access technologies defined by the 3GPP standard group (such as long term evolution (LTE) access technology, 5G radio access network (RAN) access technology, etc.), and also supports access to the core network through non-3GPP (non-3GPP) interworking function (N3IWF) or next generation packet data gateway (ngPDG) using non-3GPP access technology.

[0080] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service-based architecture. The 5G network architecture shown in FIG. 1 can include access network devices and core network devices. A terminal device accesses a data network (DN) through the access network devices and the core network devices. The core network devices include, but are not limited to, some or all of the following network elements: an authentication server function (AUSF) network element, a unified data management (UDM) network element, a unified data repository (UDR) network element (not shown in the figure), a network repository function (NRF) network element, a network exposure function (NEF) network element, a network slice selection function (NSSF) network element, a network slice-specific authentication and authorization function (NSSAAF) network element, a network slice admission control function (NSACF) network element, an application function (AF) network element, a policy control function (PCF) network element, an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, a session management function (SMF) network element, a user plane function (UPF) network element, and a binding support function (BSF) network element (not shown in the figure).

[0081] The terminal device can be a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal device, etc. The terminal device can be widely applied in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiving function, a wearable device, a vehicle, an urban air vehicle (such as a pilotless plane, a helicopter, etc.), a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, etc.

[0082] The access network device is a device with wireless transceiving function, used for communicating with the terminal device. The access network device includes but is not limited to a base station (base transceiver station (BTS), Node B, eNodeB / eNB, or gNodeB / gNB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a base station of subsequent evolution of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), an access node in a Wi-Fi system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, etc. The base station can be a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, a small station, a relay station, etc. Multiple base stations can support a network of the same access technology, or a network of different access technologies. The base station can contain one or more co-sited or non-co-sited transmission reception points. The access network device can also be a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, a centralized unit (CU), and / or a distributed unit (DU). The access network device can also be a server, etc.

[0083] The access network device and the terminal device can be fixed in position or movable. The access network device and the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface; can also be deployed on an airplane, a balloon, and a man-made satellite in the air. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the access network device and the terminal device.

[0084] AMF network element, responsible for mobility management of the UE, including mobility state management, allocation of temporary identity of the UE, authentication and authorization of the UE.

[0085] SMF network element, responsible for selection of the UPF network element, reselection of the UPF network element, IP address allocation, responsible for establishment, modification and release of a bearer, quality of service (QoS) control.

[0086] UPF network element, supporting all or part of the following functions: interconnection of a protocol data unit (PDU) session and a data network; packet routing and forwarding (for example, supporting uplink classification of traffic and forwarding to a data network); packet detection.

[0087] UDM network element, responsible for managing subscription data, and responsible for notifying corresponding network elements when subscription data is modified.

[0088] Nnssf, Nnef, Nnrf, Npcf, Nudm, Naf, Nnssaaf, Nausf, Namf, Nsmf, Nnsacf in FIG. 1 are service interfaces provided by the above-mentioned NSSF, NEF, NRF, PCF, UDM, AF, NSSAAF, AUSF, AMF, SMF and NSACF, respectively, for invoking corresponding service operations. N1, N2, N3, N4, N6 and N9 are interface serial numbers, and the meanings of these interface serial numbers are as follows:

[0089] N1: interface between AMF and terminal device, which can be used to transmit non access stratum (NAS) signaling (such as QoS rules from AMF) to terminal device and the like.

[0090] N2: interface between AMF and access network device, which can be used to transmit radio bearer control information from core network side to access network device and the like.

[0091] N3: interface between access network device and UPF, mainly used for transmitting uplink and downlink user plane data between access network device and UPF.

[0092] N4: interface between SMF and UPF, which can be used to transmit information between control plane and user plane, including downlink of forwarding rules, QoS rules, traffic statistics rules and the like of user plane, and information reporting of user plane.

[0093] N6: interface between UPF and DN, used for transmitting uplink and downlink user data flow between UPF and DN.

[0094] N9: User plane interface between UPF network elements and UPF network elements, used to transmit uplink and downlink user data flow between UPF network elements.

[0095] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a point-to-point interface. The functions of the network elements in Figure 2 can be referred to the functions of the corresponding network elements in Figure 1, which will not be described again. The main difference between Figure 2 and Figure 1 is that the interface between the control plane network elements in Figure 1 is a service interface, and the interface between the control plane network elements in Figure 2 is a point-to-point interface.

[0096] It should be understood that the above network elements or functions can be network elements in a hardware device, or software functions running on a dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). Optionally, the above network elements or functions can be implemented by one device, or by multiple devices together, or by a functional module in a device, and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations.

[0097] The mobility management network element, the session management network element, the data management network element, and the network storage function network element in the present application can be AMF network element, SMF network element, and NEF network element in the 5G system, or can be network elements with the functions of the above AMF network element, SMF network element, and NEF network element in future communication such as 6G network, and the present application does not make specific limitations. In the embodiments of the present application, an example of taking AMF network element, SMF network element, and NEF network element as mobility management network element, session management network element, data management network element, and network storage function network element respectively is described. And, the AMF network element, SMF network element, and NEF network element are simply referred to as AMF, SMF, and NEF respectively.

[0098] For the convenience of description, the base station and the UE are taken as a specific example of the access network device and the terminal device respectively in the embodiments of the present application, and the base station and the UE appearing at any position in the subsequent description can be replaced by the access network device and the terminal device respectively.

[0099] Based on the network system architecture shown in Figures 1 and 2, Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of an NTN network, in which the satellite can be used as a relay node between the terminal device and the ground base station, or as a base station.

[0100] (II) Air interface cell identifier (Uu cell ID), mapped cell identifier (mapped cell ID)

[0101] A mapped cell ID is an identifier of a geographical area. In TN, the identifier of a cell includes a physical cell identification (PCI), a carrier frequency (such as an absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN)), and a cell global identification (GCI). For a core network, a cell is usually identified by a GCI. In some scenarios, some core network elements, such as an NEF and an AMF, can map a GCI to a corresponding geographical area.

[0102] However, in an NTN, the coverage radius of a cell is large, and a GCI cannot be used to identify a cell. Therefore, in an NTN scenario, the concept of a mapped cell ID is introduced. One cell can be associated with multiple mapped cell IDs, and each mapped cell ID corresponds to a fixed geographical area. In some NTN scenarios, a satellite is stationary relative to the ground, so that the mapped cell ID corresponding to one NTN cell does not change over time. In other NTN scenarios, a satellite is earth-moving, so that the mapped cell ID corresponding to one NTN cell changes over time. For an NG interface between a core network and a base station, the NR CGI field in the message exchanged is filled with a mapped cell ID, so that the base station and the core network can determine the geographical location of a terminal device. For an Xn interface between base stations, any one of the mapped cell ID and the mapped cell ID can be exchanged.

[0103] It should be understood that the role of a mapped cell ID is to map a geographical area, and it does not represent the coverage of a cell in the geographical area, nor does it mean that the geographical area is necessarily covered by a signal.

[0104] A tracking area (TA) can include one or more cells, and different tracking areas can be distinguished by a tracking area identity (TAI). Similarly, for a tracking area, there is also an NTN tracking area. A TAI of an NTN tracking area can correspond to one or more mapped TAIs. A mapped TAI can correspond to one or more mapped cell IDs.

[0105] (Three) Multicast and Broadcast Service (MBS)

[0106] MBS is a service that is transmitted to multiple terminal devices at the same time, such as a live service, a public safety service, a batch software update service, and the like. The service data of the MBS comes from an MBS server, which is also referred to as a data server, which can provide MBS data. For example, an AF can act as an MBS server.

[0107] First, the MBS server sends the data of the MBS to a core network device, then the core network device sends the MBS data to an access network device, and finally the access network device sends the MBS data to one or more terminal devices that receive the MBS. In this process, the core network device sends the MBS data to the access network device through a common transmission channel, i.e., an MBS session, and the access network device can send the MBS data to the terminal device in the following two ways: way 1) using a point to multi-point (PTM) transmission mode; and way 2) using a point to point (PTP) transmission mode. As shown in FIG. 4, a schematic diagram of PTP transmission and PTM transmission is shown.

[0108] It should be understood that MBS is only an example name, and the name of the multicast broadcast service under different communication systems can be different, for example, in long term evolution (LTE), the multicast broadcast service can be called multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), in new radio (NR), the multicast broadcast service can be called MBS, and in future communication development, the multicast broadcast service can also be named as other, which is not limited in the present application.

[0109] In the embodiments of the present application, the MBS can also be referred to as "MBS service", "MBS service", "MBS broadcast service", "MBS session" or "MBS broadcast service" and the like.

[0110] The area where the MBS is provided can be referred to as "MBS service area", "MBS service area", "MBS broadcast service area", "MBS session area", "MBS broadcast service area", "MBS area", "multicast service area (MBS service area)", "MBS service area" or "service area" and the like.

[0111] The service type of the MBS can include multicast service (also referred to as multi-cast service) and broadcast service. In this application, MBS can be replaced by multicast or broadcast.

[0112] The multicast service is designed for high QoS requirement service, and group management can be performed for the multicast service, and the same QoS level as the unicast service can be provided. Specifically, for the multicast service, the CN can manage the joining and exiting of the terminal device. For the RAN, the PTP or PTM transmission mode is supported to send data to the terminal device, and the dynamic switching between PTP and PTM controlled by the RAN is supported. The multicast service is provided to the RRC connected state terminal device, and the terminal device information corresponding to the MBS group can be maintained by the RAN and the CN. The multicast service also supports the MBS session deactivation / activation triggered by the core network, and the terminal device is not aware of the service state.

[0113] The broadcast service is designed for relatively low QoS requirement service, and the best effort QoS is guaranteed. The broadcast service supports the terminal device in any RRC state, and the RAN and the CN do not need to maintain the terminal device group receiving the related broadcast service. When the service is being provided, the terminal device group performs reception according to the configuration information. The data transmission of the broadcast service is designed only for downlink transmission like the multicast service, and the broadcast service only supports the PTM transmission mode. For the terminal device, the configuration of the broadcast service and the configuration of the multicast service are completely independent.

[0114] The broadcast service is limited to a certain range. Optionally, for a broadcast service, different data contents can also be provided in different area ranges (i.e., local broadcast service).

[0115] Unlike the traditional unicast procedure, the broadcast service is a top-down session establishment procedure. As shown in FIG. 5, first, a content provider (such as an application function (AF) or an MBS server, etc.) provides relevant information (such as a broadcast area, QoS information required for sending data, etc.) required for establishing a session of the broadcast service to an SMF (such as an MB-SMF in the figure), where MB-SMF is an abbreviation of multicast / broadcast session management function, that is, a multicast / broadcast session management function; thereafter, the core network device determines a corresponding policy according to the QoS information, establishes a corresponding QoS flow, and establishes a context of the broadcast session at a corresponding base station (gNB) and a UPF (such as an MB-UPF in the figure).

[0116] (Four) Location dependent MBS service

[0117] One type of location dependent MBS service is a local MBS service. The local MBS service feature is embodied in service content and area correlation, only terminal devices within the service area can receive content data, and terminal devices outside the MBS service area are not allowed to receive location-specific content. The multicast service area (MBS service area) corresponding to the location dependent MBS service can be composed of a group of tracking areas and / or a group of cells, used to indicate a specific range.

[0118] For the location dependent MBS service, one MBS session is identified using a unique session identifier, and the identifier of the MBS session can be an MBS session identifier (MBS Session ID) or a temporary mobile group identifier (TMGI), etc. One MBS session can be associated with multiple MBS service areas, and each MBS service area is identified by an area session identifier (area session ID). In other words, one MBS session can be associated with one or more MBS area sessions, or one MBS session identifier can be associated with one or more area session identifiers. The data content corresponding to different area session IDs of the same MBS session is different, and the data source can also be different. In other words, the area session identifier (such as area session ID) and the identifier of the MBS session (such as TMGI) together can identify the data flow of a certain MBS session in a certain specific MBS service area. The terminal device does not perceive the area session ID, but only perceives the MBS session identifier.

[0119] An example of the location-related MBS service is weather forecast, map update, etc. As shown in FIG. 6, TMGI#A corresponds to an MBS session associated with area 1 in cell#1 and area 2 in cell#2, and area session 1 (i.e., Area session#1) is established for area 1 and area session 2 (i.e., Area session#1) is established for area 2. The base station broadcasts weather data of area 1 through area session 1 (Area session#1) and broadcasts weather data of area 2 through area session 2 (Area session#2).

[0120] In the NTN scenario, one air interface cell is mapped to multiple mapped cells in the core network. For the location-related MBS service, the base station can only send data corresponding to the corresponding area session on an area in the range of one air interface cell. For example, in FIG. 6, the base station can only broadcast weather data of area 1 through area session 1 (Area session#1) in area 1 in cell#1. If an area in the range of one air interface cell already has an area session, when a content provider (e.g., AF) requests to establish a new area session for the area to broadcast new data, one of the following situations can occur:

[0121] Case 1: The network side (e.g., core network device or base station) determines that the area for which the area session is established this time already has an area session (referred to as an old area session), and therefore refuses to establish a new area session for the area, resulting in the inability to realize the service requirement of broadcasting data corresponding to the old area session and new data in the area;

[0122] Case 2: The network side (e.g., core network device or base station) determines that the area for which the area session is established this time already has an area session (referred to as an old area session), and therefore no longer broadcasts data corresponding to the old area session in the area, but broadcasts data corresponding to the new area session. That is, the new area session will cover the old area session, resulting in the inability to realize the service requirement of broadcasting data corresponding to the old area session and data corresponding to the new area session in the area at the same time.

[0123] Similar problems exist in the TN scenario.

[0124] Therefore, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and related devices that can implement the method to provide a solution for sending different data in the same area for a location-related MBS service, thereby realizing the sending of different data in the same area for a location-related MBS service.

[0125] The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0126] The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be used for the case where the same MBS session is requested to be established. If the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established currently overlaps with the second area corresponding to the second area session established, the access network device can establish the first area session, but the first area session does not include the overlapping area, so that the influence of the newly established first area session on the original second area session can be reduced or avoided.

[0127] Optionally, the access network device can also indicate the overlapping area to the content provider (i.e. MBS server, such as AF, etc.), so that the content provider can establish a new session for the overlapping area, so that the same data corresponding to the first area session can be transmitted in the overlapping area, and thus the different data of the same MBS session can be transmitted in the overlapping area.

[0128] The first area session and the second area session are the area sessions associated with the first MBS session, or in other words, the first area session and the second area session belong to the first MBS session.

[0129] Based on the architecture shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, referring to FIG. 7, a flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown.

[0130] In FIG. 7, the AF is taken as an example for description. It should be understood that the present flowchart is described by taking the content provider of the MBS service as the AF as an example, and the content provider of the MBS service can also be other devices, which is not limited by the present application.

[0131] As shown in FIG. 7, the flowchart can include the following steps:

[0132] Step 701: The AF sends a session establishment request message to the NEF, and the session establishment request message is used to request to establish a first area session.

[0133] The first area session is a user plane channel between the access network device and a user plane function network element (such as UPF) in the core network. The first area session is used to transmit the first data of the first MBS session, that is, the user plane network element can send the first data in a multicast or multicast or broadcast manner based on the first area session.

[0134] The session establishment request message can include an identifier of the first MBS session, to indicate that the first regional session requested to be established belongs to the first MBS session, or in other words, the first regional session is a regional session associated with the first MBS session. In another case, the session establishment request message does not include the identifier of the first MBS session, and in this case, the identifier of the MBS session is allocated by the MB-SMF network element in step 703.

[0135] The session establishment request message also includes information of the first region, to indicate the MBS service region corresponding to the regional session requested to be established.

[0136] In a possible implementation, the information of the first region can include information of one or more cells, for example, including an identifier of one or more cells. For example, the information of the first region can include a cell list including an identifier of one or more cells.

[0137] Optionally, in the NTN scenario, the identifier of the cell is a mapped cell ID.

[0138] Optionally, in the TN scenario, the identifier of the cell is a Uu cell ID, for example, a CGI or a PCI, etc.

[0139] In another possible implementation, the information of the first region can include information of one or more tracking areas, for example, including an identifier of one or more tracking areas. For example, the information of the first region can include a tracking area list including an identifier of one or more tracking areas.

[0140] Optionally, in the NTN scenario, the identifier of the tracking area is a mapped TAI. One mapped TAI can correspond to one or more mapped cell IDs.

[0141] Optionally, in the TN scenario, the identifier of the tracking area is a TAI. One TAI can correspond to one or more Uu cell IDs.

[0142] In another possible implementation, the information of the first region can include geographical region information. For example, the geographical region information can be coordinate information of a positioning system, or address information (for example, street name), or zip code, or other information that can be used to describe a geographical region, which is not limited in the present application.

[0143] It should be understood that the information of the first region can include one or more of the identifier of the cell, the identifier of the tracking area, and the geographical region information.

[0144] The session establishment request message can further include first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the first regional session requested to be established is a session of a location-related MBS service, or in other words, the first indication information indicating that the type of the first regional session is a location-related MBS service session type.

[0145] In a possible implementation, the AF can invoke the Nnef_MBSSession_Create request service provided by the NEF to trigger the establishment process of the first regional session.

[0146] In step 702, after receiving the session establishment request message from the AF, the NEF sends a session establishment request message to the MB-SMF, where the session establishment request message is used to request establishment of the first regional session.

[0147] In this step, after receiving the session establishment request message from the AF, the NEF can select the MB-SMF that matches the location of the first region according to the information of the first region included in the received session establishment request message, and send the session establishment request message to the MB-SMF. Another possible implementation is that the NEF selects the MB-SMF according to the association relationship between the first MBS session identifier and the MB-SMF stored locally, and sends the session establishment request message to the MB-SMF.

[0148] The session establishment request message sent by the NEF can include the identifier of the first MBS session, to indicate that the first regional session requested to be established belongs to the first MBS session, or in other words, the first regional session is a regional session associated with the first MBS.

[0149] The session establishment request message sent by the NEF can further include information of the first region, and the first region indicated by the information can be the same as the region indicated by the information of the first region received by the NEF from the AF.

[0150] In a possible implementation, if the information of the first region received by the NEF from the AF includes geographic region information, the NEF can obtain corresponding cell identifiers and / or tracking area identifiers according to the geographic region information, and replace the geographic region information in the information of the first region with the obtained cell identifiers and / or tracking area identifiers, so as to carry the replaced information of the first region in the session establishment request message sent to the MB-SMF.

[0151] In a possible implementation, the NEF can invoke the Nmbsmf_MBSSession_Create Request service provided by the MB-SMF to implement sending the session establishment request message to the MB-SMF.

[0152] Step 703: After receiving the session establishment request message from the NEF, the MB-SMF sends a session establishment request message to the AMF, where the session establishment request message is used to request to establish the first regional session.

[0153] In this step, after receiving the session establishment request message from the NEF, the MB-SMF can select an AMF matched with the location of the first region according to the information of the first region contained in the received session establishment request message, and send the session establishment request message to the AMF.

[0154] Optionally, the MB-SMF allocates the first MBS session identifier, for example, when the session establishment request message received from the NEF does not contain the identifier of the first MBS session.

[0155] The session establishment request message sent by the MB-SMF can include the identifier of the first MBS session, which is used to indicate that the first regional session requested to be established belongs to the first MBS session, or in other words, the first regional session is a regional session associated with the first MBS.

[0156] The session establishment request message sent by the MB-SMF can also include the information of the first region, which can be the same as the information of the first region received by the MB-SMF from the NEF.

[0157] The session establishment request message sent by the MB-SMF can also include the identifier of the first regional session. Since the first regional session is used to send the first data in the first region, and the first regional session belongs to the first MBS session, the identifier of the first regional session can be understood as the first data used to identify the first MBS session. The identifier of the first regional session can be allocated by the MB-SMF.

[0158] In a possible implementation, the MB-SMF can call the Namf_MBSBroadcast_ContextCreate service provided by the AMF to implement sending the session establishment request message to the AMF.

[0159] Step 704: After receiving the session establishment request message from the MB-SMF, the AMF sends a session establishment request message to the access network device, where the session establishment request message is used to request to establish the first regional session.

[0160] The session establishment request message sent by the AMF can include the identifier of the first MBS session, which is used to indicate that the first regional session requested to be established belongs to the first MBS session, or in other words, the first regional session is a regional session associated with the first MBS.

[0161] The session establishment request message sent by the AMF can further include information of the first area, which can be the same as the information of the first area received by the AMF from the MB-SMF. In another implementation manner, the session establishment request message sent by the AMF includes information of a third area, which indicates that the third area belongs to or is contained in the first area indicated by the information of the first area received by the AMF from the MB-SMF. For example, the AMF can send messages to multiple access network devices based on the areas supported by the access network devices, and the area in each message is appropriately reduced to adapt to the area supported by the access network device.

[0162] The session establishment request message sent by the AMF can further include an identifier of the first area session.

[0163] In a possible implementation manner, the session establishment request message sent by the AMF is a BROADCAST SESSION SETUP REQUEST message.

[0164] Step 705: After receiving the session establishment request message from the AMF, the access network device determines, according to the information of the first area included in the session establishment request message, that the first area and the second area have an overlapping area.

[0165] The second area is an MBS service area corresponding to a second area session associated with the first MBS session, and the second area session is used to send second data of the first MBS service to terminal devices in the second area. The first data sent through the first area session is different from the second data sent through the second area session. That is, for the first area session and the second area session associated with the same MBS session, the first area corresponding to the first area session currently requested to be established overlaps with the MBS service area corresponding to another area session associated with the same MBS session.

[0166] Since the second area session is an established area session, the access network device has context information of the second area session, and the context information includes information of the second area corresponding to the second area session. The access network device can determine whether the first area and the second area overlap according to the information of the first area included in the received session establishment request message and the information of the second area included in the context information of the second area session saved by the access network device.

[0167] In the embodiments of the present application, the area in which the first area and the second area overlap can be understood as follows: the first area includes both the part overlapping with the second area and the part not overlapping with the second area.

[0168] For example, the area in which the first area and the second area overlap can include the following cases:

[0169] Case 1: There is overlap between the part of the first area and the part of the second area. For example, the first area includes cell A and cell B, and the second area includes cell A and cell C, and the overlapping area of the first area and the second area is cell A.

[0170] Case 2: The first area is larger than the second area, and the second area is completely within the first area. For example, the first area includes cell A and cell B, and the second area includes cell A, and the overlapping area of the first area and the second area is cell A.

[0171] Step 706: The access network device establishes a first area session, and the area corresponding to the first area session is the area in the first area except the area overlapping with the second area.

[0172] Since there is also an area in the first area that does not overlap with the second area, for example, case 1 or case 2 described above, the access network device can establish a first area session and save the context information of the first area session. The context information of the first area session can include the information of the MBS service area corresponding to the first area session, which is the area in the first area except the overlapping area described above, that is, the area corresponding to the first area session is the area in the first area except the area overlapping with the second area. The access network device can receive first data of the first MBS service from the core network, and can send the first data to the terminal device in the area in the first area except the overlapping area according to the information of the MBS service area included in the context information of the first area session.

[0173] The access network device can still receive second data of the first MBS service from the core network through the second area session, and send the second data to the terminal device in the second area (including the overlapping area).

[0174] In the above process, for the case where the first area and the second area overlap, the overlapping area can be excluded from the MBS service area corresponding to the first area session when establishing the first area session, so that the newly established first area session does not affect the established second area session, so as to ensure that the terminal device in the second area (including the overlapping area) can still receive the second data.

[0175] On the basis of reducing or avoiding the influence of the new area session on the original area session, in some embodiments of the present application, a new session can also be established for the overlapping area to transmit the first data, so as to ensure that the terminal device in the overlapping area can receive both the second data and the first data, thereby meeting the business requirements.

[0176] Still taking the flow shown in FIG. 7 as an example, in a possible implementation, the flow shown in FIG. 7 can further include the following steps.

[0177] Step 707: The access network device sends first information (for example, a session establishment response message) to the AMF, where the first information indicates that no regional session is established for the overlapping region.

[0178] In a possible implementation, the first information can include information of the overlapping region and first indication information. The first indication information can be used to indicate that the overlapping region is not included in the region corresponding to the first regional session, or in other words, the first indication information can be used to indicate that the region corresponding to the first regional session requested to be established overlaps with the region corresponding to another regional session.

[0179] In a possible implementation, the first information can be included in the session establishment response message, or the first information can be understood as the session establishment response message. In this flow, the sending of the session establishment response message is taken as an example for description.

[0180] In a possible implementation, the information of the overlapping region can include the identity of one or more cells, and the first region and the second region overlap in the one or more cells. For example, in the above case 1 or case 2 or case 3, the information includes the identity of cell A. For another example, the information can include the identity of one or more tracking areas, and the first region and the second region overlap in the one or more tracking areas.

[0181] It should be understood that the information used to indicate the overlapping region of the first region and the second region can include one or more of the cell identity and the tracking area identity.

[0182] Since the first regional session and the second regional session both belong to the first MBS service, and the second regional session that has been established covers the overlapping region, the access network device cannot send another data (here, the first data) of the first MBS service in the overlapping region, but can send the first data of the first MBS service in the region in the first region except the overlapping region, and therefore the overlapping region can also be referred to as a region that is not accepted by the regional session (that is, the first regional session) requested to be established, or simply referred to as a region that is not accepted. Correspondingly, the region in the first region except the overlapping region can be referred to as a region that is accepted by the regional session (that is, the first regional session) requested to be established, or simply referred to as a region that is accepted. In other words, the first indication information can indicate the region in the first region that is accepted and / or not accepted by the first regional session.

[0183] Optionally, on the basis that the first indication information indicates that the overlapped region is not included in the region corresponding to the first regional session, the first indication information can further indicate that the reason why the overlapped region is not included in the region corresponding to the first regional session is that the region corresponding to the first regional session to be established overlaps with the region corresponding to another regional session.

[0184] In another possible implementation, the reason why the overlapped region is not included in the region corresponding to the first regional session can also be indicated by second indication information. That is, the first information can include the first indication information and the second indication information. For example, the session establishment response message sent by the access network device further includes the second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate the reason why the overlapped region is not accepted by the first regional session, or the reason why the overlapped region is not included in the region corresponding to the first regional session. The reason can be that, for the same MBS session (i.e., the first MBS session), the region corresponding to the first regional session to be established overlaps with the region corresponding to the already-established regional session. Alternatively, the reason can be that the region corresponding to the first regional session to be established includes a region that overlaps with the MBS service region corresponding to the already-established regional session. It should be understood that the second indication information can also be referred to as reason information or a reason value.

[0185] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the access network device further includes an identifier of the first regional session, to indicate that the session establishment response message is the session establishment response message for the first regional session.

[0186] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the access network device further includes an identifier of the first MBS session, to indicate that the first regional session to be established belongs to the first MBS session, or the first regional session is a regional session associated with the first MBS session.

[0187] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the access network device can be a Namf_MBSBroadcast_ContextCreate Response message.

[0188] Step 708: After receiving the session establishment response message from the access network device, the AMF sends the session establishment response message to the MB-SMF.

[0189] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the AMF includes the first information.

[0190] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the AMF further comprises an identifier of the first regional session, so as to indicate that the session establishment response message is a session establishment response message for the first regional session.

[0191] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the AMF further comprises an identifier of the first MBS session, so as to indicate that the first regional session to be established belongs to the first MBS session, or in other words, the first regional session is a regional session associated with the first MBS.

[0192] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the AMF can be a Namf_MBSBroadcast_ContextCreate Response message.

[0193] Step 709: After receiving the session establishment response message from the AMF, the MB-SMF sends the session establishment response message to the NEF.

[0194] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the MB-SMF comprises the first information.

[0195] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the MB-SMF further comprises an identifier of the first regional session, so as to indicate that the session establishment response message is a session establishment response message for the first regional session.

[0196] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the MB-SMF further comprises an identifier of the first MBS session, so as to indicate that the first regional session to be established belongs to the first MBS session, or in other words, the first regional session is a regional session associated with the first MBS.

[0197] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the MB-SMF can be a Nmbsmf_MBSSession_StatusNotify message.

[0198] Step 710: After receiving the session establishment response message from the MB-SMF, the NEF sends the session establishment response message to the AF.

[0199] The session establishment response message sent by the NEF comprises the overlapping regional information and the first indication information, and optionally, the second indication information.

[0200] In a possible implementation, the overlapping regional information in the session establishment response message sent by the NEF is the same as the overlapping regional information contained in the session establishment response message received by the NEF.

[0201] In another possible implementation, if the information of the first area received by the NEF from the AF in step 701 includes the geographic location information, the NEF obtains the corresponding geographic location information according to the cell identifier and / or the tracking area identifier of the overlapping area received from the MB-SMF in step 710, and sends the geographic location information as the information of the overlapping area in the session establishment response message to the AF.

[0202] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the NEF further includes an identifier of the first area session, to indicate that the session establishment response message is the session establishment response message for the first area session.

[0203] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the NEF further includes an identifier of the first MBS session, to indicate that the first area session requested to be established belongs to the first MBS session, or in other words, the first area session is a regional session associated with the first MBS session.

[0204] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the NEF can be an Nnef_MBSSession_StatusNotify message.

[0205] Step 711: After receiving the session establishment response message from the NEF, the AF establishes a new session according to the information of the overlapping area included in the session establishment response message, for the overlapping area session establishment request message, to request to establish a new session. Through the session establishment request message, a new session establishment process can be initiated, and the first data can be transmitted through the new session.

[0206] In a possible implementation, the AF can initiate a second MBS session establishment process, and the second MBS session is a normal MBS session, or in other words, the second MBS session is a session for a non-location-related MBS service. For example, the AF sends a session establishment request message, and the session establishment request message includes the information of the overlapping area described above. The session establishment request message is used to request to establish a second MBS session, and the second MBS session is used to send the first data to the terminal device in the overlapping area. The identifier of the second MBS session is different from the identifier of the first MBS session, and the MBS service area corresponding to the second MBS session includes the overlapping area.

[0207] In another possible implementation, the AF can initiate a session establishment procedure of a region session associated with a second MBS session, the second MBS session being a session of a location-related MBS service. Optionally, the second MBS session can be associated with only the first region, or in other words, the second MBS session can be associated with only one region session, the region session corresponding to the overlapping region. For example, the AF sends a session establishment request message including information of the overlapping region, the session establishment request message being used to request establishment of a region session (for the sake of distinguishing the first region session and the second region session, the region session can be referred to as a third region session), the third region session being the only region session associated with the second MBS session, the region session corresponding to the overlapping region, and the region session being used to send the first data to the terminal devices in the overlapping region. The second MBS session has a different identifier from the first MBS session.

[0208] Optionally, the AF can also send a service announcement message (for example, a service announcement) to the terminal devices in the MBS service region of the second MBS session, to notify the terminal devices at the application layer to receive the data (that is, the first data) of the second MBS session in the MBS service region of the second MBS session.

[0209] The service announcement message can include the identifier of the second MBS session and the information of the MBS service region (that is, the overlapping region), so that the terminal devices can receive the data of the second MBS session.

[0210] Optionally, the service announcement message can also include the identifier of the first MBS session and the information of the MBS service region (the MBS service region including the overlapping region), so that the terminal devices can receive the data of the first MBS session.

[0211] Optionally, the service announcement message can also include service identification information, for example, IP address information (for example, IP five-tuple) corresponding to the service, or application identification (APP ID) corresponding to the service, and the like.

[0212] After receiving the service announcement message, the terminal devices in the overlapping region can receive the data (that is, the second data) of the first MBS session and the data (that is, the first data) of the second MBS session according to the service announcement message.

[0213] In another possible implementation, the AF can initiate a session establishment procedure for each terminal device in the first region and in the region overlapping with the second region, respectively, to establish a unicast session with each terminal device, and send the data corresponding to the first region session to the terminal devices in the overlapping region in a unicast manner.

[0214] It should be understood that the message names in the flow shown in FIG. 7 above are only one possible example, and the present application does not limit the message names. For example, the session establishment request message can be replaced by "first request message", and the session establishment response message can be replaced by "first response message".

[0215] It should also be understood that the sending manner of the first information in the flow shown in FIG. 7 above is only one possible example, and the present application does not limit this. For example, the first information can be included in the session establishment response message, and the session establishment response message can also be regarded as the first information.

[0216] In another case, if there is no overlapping area between the first area and the second area, the access network device establishes a first area session, and the area corresponding to the first area session is the first area. Based on the first area session, the access network device obtains first data of the first MBS service from the core network and sends the first data to the terminal devices in the first area in a broadcast or multicast manner; based on the second area session, the access network device obtains second data of the first MBS service from the core network and sends the second data to the terminal devices in the second area in a broadcast or multicast manner.

[0217] Based on the flow shown in FIG. 7 above, for a location-related MBS service, in the case where the MBS service area corresponding to the requested established area session overlaps with the MBS service area corresponding to the existing area session, a new session can be established for the overlapping area to transmit the requested first data, so that the second data corresponding to the original area session can also be transmitted in the overlapping area, and the first data corresponding to the new session can also be transmitted, thereby realizing the transmission of different data in the same area.

[0218] As shown in FIG. 8, the first area session and the second area session are two different area sessions associated with the first MBS session. The second area session is an established area session, and the MBS service area corresponding thereto is the second area 802 shown in the figure. In the case where the second area session has been established for the second area 802 to transmit the second data of the first MBS session, if the first area session is requested to be established for the first area 801 to transmit the first data of the first MBS session, the area corresponding to the first area session does not include the overlapping area 803 of the first area 801 and the second area 802. The second MBS session can be established for the overlapping area 803 to transmit the first data. In this way, the terminal devices in the above overlapping area 803 can receive both the first data and the second data, thereby meeting the service requirements.

[0219] In another communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application, for the same MBS session, in the case of currently requesting to establish a first regional session, if the first region corresponding to the first regional session currently requested to establish overlaps with the second region corresponding to the second regional session already established, the access network device can feed back regional session establishment failure information and indicate the failure reason, so that the content provider (namely, the MBS server, such as AF, etc.) performs corresponding processing according to the failure reason, for example, establishes a new session for the overlapping region, so that the same data as the data corresponding to the first regional session can be transmitted in the overlapping region, and then different data of the same MBS session can be transmitted in the overlapping region.

[0220] The first MBS session can be associated with multiple regional sessions, and the first regional session and the second regional session are regional sessions associated with the first MBS, or in other words, the first regional session and the second regional session belong to the first MBS session. The service region corresponding to the first regional session and the service region corresponding to the second regional session are within the service region corresponding to the first MBS session.

[0221] Based on the architecture shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, referring to FIG. 9, a flowchart of a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in FIG. 9. The flowchart can include the following steps:

[0222] Step 901: The AF sends a session establishment request message to the NEF, and the session establishment request message is used to request to establish a first regional session.

[0223] The specific implementation of this step can refer to step 701 in FIG. 7.

[0224] Step 902: After the NEF receives the session establishment request message from the AF, the NEF sends a session establishment request message to the MB-SMF, and the session establishment request message is used to request to establish a first regional session.

[0225] The specific implementation of this step can refer to step 702 in FIG. 7.

[0226] Step 903: After the MB-SMF receives the session establishment request message from the NEF, the MB-SMF sends a session establishment request message to the AMF, and the session establishment request message is used to request to establish a first regional session.

[0227] The specific implementation of this step can refer to step 703 in FIG. 7.

[0228] Step 904: After the AMF receives the session establishment request message from the MB-SMF, the AMF sends a session establishment request message to the access network device, and the session establishment request message is used to request to establish a first regional session.

[0229] The specific implementation of this step can refer to step 704 in FIG. 7.

[0230] Step 905: After receiving the session establishment request message from the AMF, the access network device determines, according to the information of the first area included in the session establishment request message, that the first area and the second area exist overlap.

[0231] The second area is a service area corresponding to a second area session associated with the first MBS session. The second area session is used to send second data of the first MBS service to a terminal device in the second area. The first data sent through the first area session is different from the second data sent through the second area session. That is, for the first area session and the second area session associated with the same MBS session, the first area corresponding to the first area session currently requested to be established overlaps with the second area corresponding to the second area session that has been established.

[0232] Since the second area session is an established area session, the access network device saves context information of the second area session, and the context information includes information of the second area corresponding to the second area session. The access network device can determine whether the first area and the second area exist overlap according to the information of the first area included in the received session establishment request message and the information of the second area included in the context information of the second area session saved by the access network device.

[0233] In the embodiment of the present application, the first area and the second area exist overlap, which can be understood as: the first area and the second area exist partial overlap, or the first area and the second area coincide.

[0234] For example, the first area and the second area exist overlap can specifically include the following cases:

[0235] Case 1: Part of the first area and part of the second area exist coincidence. For example, the first area includes cell A and cell B, and the second area includes cell A and cell C. The overlap area of the first area and the second area is cell A.

[0236] Case 2: The first area is larger than the second area, and the second area completely falls into the first area. For example, the first area includes cell A and cell B, and the second area includes cell A. The overlap area of the first area and the second area is cell A.

[0237] Case 3: The first area is smaller than the second area, and the first area completely falls into the second area. For example, the first area includes cell A, and the second area includes cell A and cell B. The overlap area of the first area and the second area is cell A.

[0238] Case 4: The first area and the second area completely coincide. For example, the first area includes cell A and cell B, and the second area also includes cell A and cell B, and the overlapping area of the first area and the second area is cell A and cell B.

[0239] Step 906: The access network device sends a session establishment response message to the AMF, and the session establishment response message indicates that the first area session establishment fails.

[0240] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message includes a reason for the first area session establishment failure and / or a processing suggestion.

[0241] Optionally, the reason for the first area session establishment failure can be indicated by indication information (or a reason value).

[0242] Optionally, the processing suggestion can be indicated by corresponding indication information.

[0243] Optionally, the indication information of the reason for the session establishment failure and the indication information of the processing suggestion can be jointly encoded, that is, the reason for the first area session establishment failure and the processing suggestion can be indicated by one indication information.

[0244] In a possible implementation, the failure reason indicated by the indication information (reason value) of the failure reason is that a session of the location-related MBS service cannot be established. Because the first area and the second area overlap, the access network device rejects the establishment of the first area session for the first area.

[0245] In a possible implementation, the failure reason indicated by the indication information (reason value) of the failure reason is that the first area corresponding to the first area session to be established includes an NTN type area, for example, an NTN cell and / or an NTN tracking area.

[0246] Optionally, in some embodiments, a correspondence relationship information of a cell identifier and a cell type can be preconfigured. In other words, the correspondence relationship information can indicate, for a single cell, whether the cell is an NTN type cell. In this way, the access network device can query the correspondence relationship information according to the cell identifier included in the information of the first area in the received session establishment request message, so as to determine whether the first area corresponding to the first area session includes an NTN cell. Similarly, a correspondence relationship information of a tracking area identifier and a tracking area type can be preconfigured, so that the access network device can query the correspondence relationship information according to the tracking area identifier included in the information of the first area in the received session establishment request message, so as to determine whether the first area corresponding to the first area session includes an NTN tracking area.

[0247] Optionally, in some embodiments, the correspondence information between the mapped cell ID and the Uu cell ID of the cell can be pre-configured, so that the access network device can query the correspondence information according to the mapped cell ID contained in the information of the first area in the received session establishment request message, so as to determine whether the first area corresponding to the first area session includes the NTN cell. Similarly, the correspondence information between the mapped TAI and the NTN TAI can be pre-configured, so that the access network device can query the correspondence information according to the mapped TAI contained in the information of the first area in the received session establishment request message, so as to determine whether the first area corresponding to the first area session includes the NTN tracking area.

[0248] The above correspondence information can be configured on the access network device, or the above correspondence information can be configured on another device accessible by the access network device, and the access network device can obtain the above correspondence information from the other device, or the access network device requests the other device to determine whether the first area corresponding to the first area session currently requested to be established includes the NTN cell based on the correspondence information.

[0249] In another possible implementation, the failure cause indicated by the indication information (cause value) of the failure cause is that the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established overlaps with the area corresponding to another area session.

[0250] In a possible implementation, the processing manner indicated by the indication information of the processing suggestion is to establish a session of a non-location-related MBS service for the overlapping area, and the MBS service area of the session of the non-location-related MBS service is the first area.

[0251] In another possible implementation, the processing manner indicated by the indication information of the processing suggestion is to establish a session of a location-related MBS service, and the MBS service area of the session of the location-related MBS service is the first area. Optionally, the session of the location-related MBS service is only associated with the first area, or in other words, the session of the location-related MBS service is only associated with one area session, and the MBS service area corresponding to the area session is the first area.

[0252] In another possible implementation, the processing suggestion indicated by the indication information of the processing suggestion is to establish a unicast session for each terminal device in the first area respectively, and the unicast session is used to transmit the first data. That is, a session establishment process is initiated for each terminal device in the first area respectively, so that the first data is transmitted to the terminal device in a unicast manner.

[0253] In a possible implementation, in the NTN scenario, the access network device includes information of the first area in a session establishment response message. For example, the information of the first area can include an identifier of an NTN cell and / or an identifier of an NTN tracking area. After receiving the session establishment request message, the access network device can obtain an identifier of a corresponding NTN cell according to a cell identifier of a mapped cell in the information of the first area in the session establishment request message, and carry the identifier of the NTN cell in the session establishment response message. Similarly, after receiving the session establishment request message, the access network device can obtain an identifier of a corresponding NTN tracking area according to an identifier of a mapped tracking area in the information of the first area in the session establishment request message, and carry the identifier of the NTN tracking area in the session establishment response message.

[0254] Optionally, on the basis of including the information of the first area in the session establishment response message, the session establishment response message can further include the cause of the failure of the first area session establishment and / or the processing suggestion.

[0255] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the access network device further includes an identifier of the first area session, to indicate that the session establishment response message is a session establishment response message for the first area session.

[0256] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the access network device further includes an identifier of the first MBS session, to indicate that the first area session requested to be established belongs to the first MBS session, or that the first area session is a regional session associated with the first MBS.

[0257] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the access network device can be a Namf_MBSBroadcast_ContextCreate Response message.

[0258] Step 907: After receiving the session establishment response message from the access network device, the AMF sends the session establishment response message to the MB-SMF.

[0259] Optionally, the session establishment response message includes the cause of the failure of the first area session establishment and / or the processing suggestion.

[0260] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the AMF further includes the information of the first area. For example, the information of the first area can include an identifier of an NTN cell and / or an identifier of an NTN tracking area.

[0261] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the AMF further comprises an identifier of the first regional session, so as to indicate that the session establishment response message is a session establishment response message for the first regional session.

[0262] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the AMF further comprises an identifier of the first MBS session, so as to indicate that the first regional session to be established belongs to the first MBS session, or in other words, the first regional session is a regional session associated with the first MBS.

[0263] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the AMF can be a Namf_MBSBroadcast_ContextCreate Response message.

[0264] Step 908: After receiving the session establishment response message from the AMF, the MB-SMF sends the session establishment response message to the NEF.

[0265] Optionally, the session establishment response message comprises the cause of the failure of the first regional session establishment and / or the processing suggestion.

[0266] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the MB-SMF further comprises the information of the first region. For example, the information of the first region can comprise an identifier of an NTN cell and / or an identifier of an NTN tracking area.

[0267] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the MB-SMF further comprises an identifier of the first regional session, so as to indicate that the session establishment response message is a session establishment response message for the first regional session.

[0268] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the MB-SMF further comprises an identifier of the first MBS session, so as to indicate that the first regional session to be established belongs to the first MBS session, or in other words, the first regional session is a regional session associated with the first MBS.

[0269] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the MB-SMF can be an Nmbsmf_MBSSession_StatusNotify message.

[0270] Step 909: After receiving the session establishment response message from the MB-SMF, the NEF sends the session establishment response message to the AF.

[0271] Optionally, the session establishment response message comprises the cause of the failure of the first regional session establishment and / or the processing suggestion.

[0272] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the NEF further comprises the information of the first area.

[0273] Optionally, if the information of the first area received by the NEF from the AF in step 701 is the geographic location information, in step 909, the NEF obtains the corresponding geographic location information according to the identifier of the NTN cell and / or the identifier of the NTN tracking area, and carries the geographic location information as the information of the first area in the session establishment response message sent to the AF.

[0274] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the NEF further comprises an identifier of the first area session, to indicate that the session establishment response message is the session establishment response message for the first area session.

[0275] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the NEF further comprises an identifier of the first MBS session, to indicate that the first area session to be established belongs to the first MBS session, or the first area session is a region session associated with the first MBS.

[0276] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the NEF can be an Nnef_MBSSession_StatusNotify message.

[0277] In the above process, in the case of overlap between the first area and the second area, the access network device can reject to establish the first area session, so as to avoid affecting the established second area session, to ensure that the terminal devices in the second area (including the overlapping area) can still receive the second data.

[0278] In some embodiments, the access network device can feed back the cause of the failure of the first area session establishment and / or processing suggestions to the AF or the MBS server, so that the AF or the MBS server can perform corresponding processing.

[0279] On the basis of avoiding affecting the original area session, in some embodiments of the present application, a new session can be established for the first area to transmit the first data, to ensure that the terminal devices in the overlapping area can receive both the second data and the first data, thereby meeting the business requirements.

[0280] Still taking the flow shown in FIG. 9 as an example, in a possible implementation, the flow shown in FIG. 9 can further comprise the following steps:

[0281] Step 910: After receiving the session establishment response message from the NEF, the AF initiates a new session establishment process for the first region according to the information (for example, the cause of the first regional session establishment failure and / or the processing suggestion, and / or the information of the first region) included in the session establishment response message, and transmits the first data through the new session.

[0282] In a possible implementation, the AF can initiate a second MBS session establishment process, and the second MBS session is a normal MBS session, or in other words, the second MBS session is a session for a non-location-related MBS service. For example, the AF sends a session establishment request message including the information of the first region, and the session establishment request message is used to request establishment of the second MBS session, and the second MBS session is used to transmit the first data to the terminal device in the first region. The identifier of the second MBS session is different from the identifier of the first MBS session, and the MBS service region corresponding to the second MBS session includes the first region. In this way, when the access network device receives the session establishment request message used to request establishment of the second MBS session, the second MBS session can be established, and the first data can be transmitted in the MBS service region (that is, the first region) of the second MBS session.

[0283] In another possible implementation, the AF can initiate a session establishment process of a regional session associated with a second MBS session, the second MBS session is a session for a location-related MBS service, and the MBS service region corresponding to the regional session is the first region. Optionally, the second MBS session is only associated with the first region, or in other words, the second MBS session is only associated with one regional session. For example, the AF sends a session establishment request message including the information of the first region, and the session establishment request message is used to request establishment of a regional session (for the sake of distinguishing the first regional session and the second regional session, the regional session can be referred to as a third regional session here), the regional session is the only regional session associated with the second MBS session, the MBS service region corresponding to the regional session is the first region, and the regional session is used to transmit the first data to the terminal device in the first region. The identifier of the second MBS session is different from the identifier of the first MBS session. In this way, when the access network device receives the session establishment request message used to request establishment of the third regional session, the corresponding regional session can be established, and the first data can be transmitted in the MBS service region (that is, the first region) of the regional session.

[0284] Optionally, the AF can also send a service announcement message (e.g., service announcement) to the terminal device in the MBS service area of the second MBS session, to inform the terminal device at the application layer to receive the data (i.e., first data) of the second MBS session in the MBS service area of the second MBS session and receive the data of the first MBS session in the MBS service area of the first MBS session. The service announcement message can include the identification of the second MBS session and the information of the MBS service area, and include the identification of the first MBS session and the information of the MBS service area, so that the terminal device can receive the data of the second MBS session and the data of the first MBS session.

[0285] In the embodiments of the present application, according to the information included in the session establishment response message, the implementation mode of initiating a new session establishment process for the first area can include the following modes:

[0286] Mode 1:

[0287] The session establishment response message includes a first reason value for indicating the reason for the failure of the first area session establishment. The failure reason indicated by the first reason value is that the session of the location-related MBS service cannot be established.

[0288] According to the failure reason, the AF can attempt to establish a session of a non-location-related MBS service for the first area. The specific implementation mode can refer to the description in the foregoing.

[0289] Optionally, in this implementation mode, before establishing a session of a non-location-related MBS service for the first area, the AF can analyze the failure reason and determine the corresponding processing mode according to the failure reason. For example, the AF can obtain the MBS service area corresponding to the other area session associated with the first MBS session, and determine whether the first area and the MBS service area corresponding to the other area session overlap. If there is an overlap, it can be determined to establish a session of a non-location-related MBS service for the first area.

[0290] Mode 2:

[0291] In the NTN scenario, the session establishment response message includes a second reason value for indicating the reason for the failure of the first area session establishment. The failure reason indicated by the second reason value is that the first area corresponding to the first area session to be established includes an NTN type area.

[0292] According to the failure cause, the AF can attempt to establish a non-location-related MBS service session. Alternatively, the AF can also establish a location-related MBS service session, which is optionally associated with only the first area, or in other words, the location-related MBS session is associated with only one area session. The area session corresponds to the first area of the MBS service area. The specific implementation manner can refer to the foregoing description.

[0293] Alternatively, in the implementation manner, since the second cause value indicates that the first area corresponding to the first area session currently requested to be established includes an NTN type area, the AF can determine that the failure cause of the first area session is likely to be caused by the existence of an overlap between the first area and the MBS service area corresponding to the other area session associated with the same MBS session in the NTN scenario, and thus can determine to establish a non-location-related MBS service session for the first area or establish a location-related MBS service session.

[0294] Compared with the above-described manner 1, since the failure cause indicated by the cause value in the manner 2 has a larger amount of information or is more specific, the processing logic of the AF can be reduced, the processing flexibility of the AF is provided, and the AF is helped to process in a suitable manner.

[0295] Manner 3:

[0296] In the NTN scenario, the session establishment response message includes the second cause value for indicating the failure cause of the first area session establishment and the information of the first area.

[0297] According to the failure cause, the AF can attempt to establish a non-location-related MBS service session. Alternatively, the AF can also establish a location-related MBS service session, which is optionally associated with only the first area, or in other words, the location-related MBS session is associated with only one area session. The area session corresponds to the first area of the MBS service area. The specific implementation manner can refer to the foregoing description.

[0298] Similarly to the above-described manner 2, since the second cause value indicates that the first area corresponding to the first area session currently requested to be established includes an NTN type area, the AF can determine that the failure cause of the first area session is likely to be caused by the existence of an overlap between the first area and the MBS service area corresponding to the other area session associated with the same MBS session in the NTN scenario, and thus can determine to establish a non-location-related MBS service session for the first area or establish a location-related MBS service session.

[0299] Manner 4: The session establishment response message includes a third cause value indicating a cause of the failure of the establishment of the first area session, and the cause indicated by the third cause value is that the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established overlaps with the MBS service area corresponding to another area session associated with the same MBS session.

[0300] According to the failure cause, the AF can attempt to establish a session of the non-location-related MBS service. Alternatively, the AF can also establish a session of the location-related MBS service, and the session of the location-related MBS service is only associated with the first area, or in other words, the location-related MBS session is only associated with one area session, and the MBS service area corresponding to the area session is the first area.

[0301] Optionally, in this implementation manner, since the third cause value indicates that the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established overlaps with the MBS service area corresponding to another area session associated with the same MBS session, the AF can determine to establish a session of the non-location-related MBS service for the first area or establish a session of the location-related MBS service without performing failure cause analysis.

[0302] Compared with the above-mentioned manner 1 or the above-mentioned manner 2 or the above-mentioned manner 3, since the cause indicated by the cause value in the manner 4 has more information or is more specific, the processing logic of the AF can be reduced, the processing flexibility of the AF is provided, and the AF is helped to process in a suitable manner.

[0303] Manner 5:

[0304] The session establishment response message includes indication information of a processing suggestion, and the processing suggestion is to suggest establishing a normal MBS session, that is, establishing a session of the non-location-related MBS service.

[0305] According to the processing suggestion, the AF can establish a session of the non-location-related MBS service.

[0306] Compared with the above-mentioned manner 1, since the session establishment response message in the manner 5 gives a processing suggestion, the AF can perform corresponding processing according to the processing suggestion, so that the processing logic of the AF can be reduced.

[0307] Manner 6:

[0308] In the NTN scenario, the session establishment response message includes information of the first area.

[0309] According to the failure cause, the AF can attempt to establish a session of the non-location-related MBS service. Alternatively, the AF can also establish a session of the location-related MBS service, and the session of the location-related MBS service is only associated with the first area, or in other words, the location-related MBS session is only associated with one area session, and the MBS service area corresponding to the area session is the first area.

[0310] Optionally, in this implementation, since the information of the first area, which is an area of an NTN type, such as the identifier of an NTN cell and / or the identifier of an NTN tracking area, is included in the session establishment response message, the AF can determine that the failure cause of the first area session is likely to be caused by the existence of an overlap between the first area and the MBS service area corresponding to the other area session associated with the same MBS session in an NTN scenario, and thus can determine to establish a session of the non-location-related MBS service for the first area or establish a session of the location-related MBS service.

[0311] Compared with the above-mentioned manner 1, since the amount of information in the session establishment response message in the manner 6 is relatively large, the processing logic of the AF can be reduced, the processing flexibility of the AF can be provided, and the AF can be helped to process in a suitable manner.

[0312] It should be understood that the above only exemplarily shows several possible processing manners, and the present application is not limited in this regard.

[0313] In the above flow, the access network device can still receive second data of the first MBS service from the core network through the second area session and send the second data to the terminal devices in the second area (including the overlapping area).

[0314] In another case, if there is no overlapping area between the first area and the second area, the access network device establishes a first area session, and the area corresponding to the first area session is the first area. Based on the first area session, the access network device obtains first data of the first MBS service from the core network and sends the first data to the terminal devices in the first area in a broadcast or multicast manner; based on the second area session, the access network device obtains second data of the first MBS service from the core network and sends the second data to the terminal devices in the second area in a broadcast or multicast manner.

[0315] Based on the flow shown in FIG. 9, for a location-related MBS service, in a case where the MBS service area corresponding to the region session established upon request overlaps with the MBS service area corresponding to the existing region session, causing the current requested region session establishment to fail, a new session can be established for the region, the MBS-SMF sends a session establishment request message to the AMF, and the AMF sends a session establishment request message to the access network device to transmit the first data requested for transmission, so that both the second data corresponding to the original region session and the first data corresponding to the new session can be transmitted in the overlapping region, thereby enabling different data to be transmitted in the same region.

[0316] As shown in FIG. 10, the first region session and the second region session are two different region sessions associated with the first MBS session. The second region session is an established region session, and the MBS service area corresponding thereto is the second region 1002 as shown in the figure. In a case where the second region session has been established for the second region 1002 to transmit the second data of the first MBS session, if the AF requests to establish the first region session for the first region 1001 to transmit the first data of the first MBS session, the access network device rejects to establish the first region session due to the overlap between the first region 1001 and the second region 1002. The AF can initiate a second MBS session establishment process for the first region 1001, thereby establishing the second MBS session, and the region corresponding to the second MBS session is the first region 1001. In this way, the terminal device in the overlapping region 1003 can receive the second data based on the second region session and can receive the first data based on the second MBS session, thereby meeting the service requirements.

[0317] In another communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application, for the same MBS session, in a case where the first region session is currently requested to be established, if the first region corresponding to the first region session currently requested to be established overlaps with the second MBS service area corresponding to the second region session that has been established, the NEF can feed back the region session establishment failure information and indicate the failure reason, so that the content provider (i.e., the MBS server, such as the AF, etc.) can perform corresponding processing according to the failure reason, for example, establishing a new session for the overlapping region, so that the same data corresponding to the first region session can be transmitted in the overlapping region, thereby enabling different data of the same MBS session to be transmitted in the overlapping region.

[0318] The first MBS session can be associated with multiple region sessions, and the first region session and the second region session are region sessions associated with the first MBS session, or in other words, the first region session and the second region session belong to the first MBS session. The service area corresponding to the first region session and the service area corresponding to the second region session are within the service area corresponding to the first MBS session.

[0319] Based on the architecture shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, referring to FIG. 11, a flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 11. The flowchart can include the following steps:

[0320] Step 1101: The AF sends a session establishment request message to the NEF, where the session establishment request message is used to request establishment of a first regional session.

[0321] The specific implementation of this step can refer to step 701 in FIG. 7.

[0322] Step 1102: After the NEF receives the session establishment request message from the AF, the NEF determines that the first region includes a region of NTN type, for example, determines that the first region includes an NTN cell and / or an NTN tracking area.

[0323] In one possible implementation, the first correspondence information can be preconfigured, and the first correspondence information includes correspondence information between a cell identifier and a cell type. In other words, the correspondence information can be for a single cell, and indicates whether the cell is an NTN type cell. In this way, the NEF can query the correspondence information according to the cell identifier contained in the information of the first region in the received session establishment request message, so as to determine whether the first region corresponding to the first regional session includes an NTN cell.

[0324] Similarly, the first correspondence information can also include correspondence information between a tracking area identifier and a tracking area type. That is, the correspondence information between the tracking area identifier and the tracking area type can be preconfigured, so that the NEF can query the correspondence information according to the tracking area identifier contained in the information of the first region in the received session establishment request message, so as to determine whether the first region corresponding to the first regional session includes an NTN tracking area.

[0325] In another possible implementation, the second correspondence information can be preconfigured, and the second correspondence information includes correspondence information between a mapped cell identifier (mapped cell ID) and an air interface cell identifier (Uu cell ID), so that the NEF can query the correspondence information according to the mapped cell ID contained in the information of the first region in the received session establishment request message, so as to determine whether the first region corresponding to the first regional session includes an NTN cell.

[0326] Similarly, the second correspondence information can also include correspondence information of mapped tracking area identifier (mapped TAI) and NTN tracking area identifier. That is, the correspondence information of mapped tracking area identifier (mapped TAI) and NTN tracking area identifier can be pre-configured, so that the NEF can query the correspondence information according to the mapped TAI contained in the information of the first area in the received session establishment request message, to determine whether the first area corresponding to the first area session includes the NTN tracking area.

[0327] In an implementation manner, the above correspondence information can be configured on the NEF.

[0328] In another implementation manner, the above correspondence information can be configured in the NRF or the UDM, and the NEF can query the NRF to obtain the correspondence or the information of whether the first area includes the NTN cell.

[0329] In step 1103, the NEF sends a session establishment response message to the AF, and the session establishment response message is used to indicate that the first area session establishment fails.

[0330] In a possible implementation manner, the session establishment response message includes the reason for the failure of the first area session establishment and / or the processing suggestion. The related description of the failure reason and the processing suggestion can refer to the related content in step 906 in FIG. 9.

[0331] In a possible implementation manner, in the NTN scenario, the session establishment response message sent by the NEF includes the information of the first area. For example, the information of the first area can include the identifier of the NTN cell and / or the identifier of the NTN tracking area. After receiving the session establishment request message, the NEF can obtain the identifier of the corresponding NTN cell according to the cell identifier of the mapped cell in the information of the first area in the session establishment request message, and carry the identifier of the NTN cell in the session establishment response message. Similarly, after receiving the session establishment request message, the NEF can obtain the identifier of the corresponding NTN tracking area according to the identifier of the mapped tracking area in the information of the first area in the session establishment request message, and carry the identifier of the NTN tracking area in the session establishment response message.

[0332] Optionally, on the basis of including the above information of the first area in the session establishment response message, the session establishment response message can also include the reason for the failure of the first area session establishment and / or the processing suggestion.

[0333] In a possible implementation manner, the session establishment response message sent by the NEF also includes the identifier of the first area session, to indicate that the session establishment response message is the session establishment response message for the first area session.

[0334] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the NEF further comprises an identifier of the first MBS session, so as to indicate that the first regional session requested to be established belongs to the first MBS session, or that the first regional session is a regional session associated with the first MBS session.

[0335] In a possible implementation, the session establishment response message sent by the NEF can be an Nnef_MBSSession_Create response message or an Nnef_MBSSession_StatusNotify message.

[0336] After receiving the session establishment response message from the NEF, the AF initiates a new session establishment process for the first region according to the information (for example, the reason for the failure of the first regional session establishment and / or the processing suggestion, and / or the information of the first region) included in the session establishment response message, and transmits the first data through the new session.

[0337] The specific implementation of this step can refer to step 910 in FIG. 9.

[0338] In another case, if the NEF determines that the first region does not include the NTN type of region, the subsequent session establishment process can be continued, for example, a session establishment request message is sent to the MB-SMF, so that the access network device establishes a first regional session corresponding to the first region. Based on the first regional session, the access network device obtains first data of the first MBS service from the core network and transmits the first data to the terminal device in the first region in a broadcast or multicast manner; based on the second regional session, the access network device obtains second data of the first MBS service from the core network and transmits the second data to the terminal device in the second region in a broadcast or multicast manner.

[0339] Based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 11, for a location-related MBS service, in the case where the first region corresponding to the first regional session requested to be established includes the NTN type of region, the MBS service region corresponding to the requested regional session can overlap with the MBS service region corresponding to the existing regional session, which can cause the establishment of the current requested regional session to fail. Therefore, the AF can establish a new session for the region to transmit the first data requested to be transmitted, so that the second data corresponding to the original regional session can be transmitted in the overlapping region, and the first data corresponding to the new session can also be transmitted, thereby realizing the transmission of different data in the same region.

[0340] On the other hand, compared with the flow shown in FIG. 9, the method shown in FIG. 11 can reduce signaling interaction, so that the AF can respond to the session establishment failure information faster to process accordingly, thereby reducing the processing delay of the MBS service.

[0341] In another communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application, for the same MBS session, in the case of currently requesting to establish a first regional session, if the first region corresponding to the first regional session currently requested to establish overlaps with the second MBS service region corresponding to the second regional session already established, the NEF can feed back the regional session establishment failure information and indicate the failure reason, so that the content provider (i.e. MBS server, such as AF, etc.) can process accordingly according to the failure reason, for example, establish a new session for the overlapping region, so that the same data corresponding to the first regional session can be transmitted in the overlapping region, thereby enabling different data of the same MBS session to be transmitted in the overlapping region.

[0342] The first MBS session can be associated with multiple regional sessions, and the first regional session and the second regional session are regional sessions associated with the first MBS, or in other words, the first regional session and the second regional session belong to the first MBS session. The service region corresponding to the first regional session and the service region corresponding to the second regional session are within the service region corresponding to the first MBS session.

[0343] Based on the architecture shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, referring to FIG. 12, a flowchart of a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown. Unlike the method shown in FIG. 11, the NEF obtains the regional session establishment failure information by interacting with other network elements, and optionally, the failure reason and / or processing suggestion can also be obtained.

[0344] As shown in FIG. 12, the flow can include the following steps:

[0345] Step 1201: The AF sends a session establishment request message to the NEF, and the session establishment request message is used to request to establish a first regional session.

[0346] The specific implementation of this step can refer to step 701 in FIG. 7.

[0347] Step 1202: After receiving the session establishment request message from the AF, the NEF sends a first message to the NRF, and the first message is used to request to feed back whether the first regional session is allowed to be established for the first region.

[0348] Optionally, the first message includes information of the first region.

[0349] In a possible implementation, the NEF can send the first message to the NRF by invoking an Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request Request service of the NRF.

[0350] Step 1203: The NRF sends a second message to the NEF, where the second message indicates that the first area session cannot be established for the first area.

[0351] In a possible implementation, if the NRF determines that the first area includes an NTN type area (for example, an NTN cell and / or an NTN tracking area), it is determined that the first area session cannot be established for the first area.

[0352] In another possible implementation, if the NRF determines that the first area corresponding to the first area session currently requested to be established overlaps with an MBS service area corresponding to another area session associated with the same MBS session, it is determined that the first area session cannot be established for the first area.

[0353] In the embodiments of the present application, the NRF can determine whether the first area includes an NTN type area in the following ways:

[0354] Firstly, a correspondence relationship information between a cell identifier and a cell type can be set on the NRF. In other words, the correspondence relationship information can indicate, for a single cell, whether the cell is an NTN type cell. In this way, the NRF can query the correspondence relationship information according to the cell identifier contained in the received first area information, so as to determine whether the first area includes an NTN cell.

[0355] Similarly, a correspondence relationship information between a tracking area identifier and a tracking area type can be set on the NRF. In this way, the NRF can query the correspondence relationship information according to the tracking area identifier contained in the received first area information, so as to determine whether the first area includes an NTN tracking area.

[0356] The above correspondence relationship information is independent of the configuration information of the MB-SMF and the configuration information of the AMF.

[0357] Secondly, a correspondence relationship information between a mapped cell identifier (mapped cell ID) and an air interface cell identifier (Uu cell ID) can be set on the NRF. In this way, the NRF can query the correspondence relationship information according to the mapped cell ID contained in the received first area information, so as to determine whether the first area includes an NTN cell.

[0358] Similarly, the NRF can be configured with correspondence information between a mapped tracking area identifier (mapped TAI) and an NTN tracking area identifier. The NRF can determine whether the first area includes an NTN tracking area based on the mapped TAI included in the received information of the first area and the correspondence information.

[0359] The correspondence information is independent of the configuration information of the MB-SMF and the configuration information of the AMF.

[0360] The third approach is that the NRF can be configured with correspondence information between an identifier of a mapped cell and an identifier of an NTN cell in the configuration information (or NF profile) of the MB-SMF. The NRF can determine whether the first area includes an NTN cell based on the identifier of the mapped cell included in the received information of the first area and the correspondence information.

[0361] Similarly, the NRF can be configured with correspondence information between an identifier of a mapped tracking area (mapped cell ID) and a cell identifier (Uu cell ID) of a Uu cell in the configuration information (or NF profile) of the MB-SMF. The NRF can determine whether the first area includes an NTN cell based on the mapped cell ID included in the received information of the first area and the correspondence information.

[0362] The fourth approach is that the NRF can be configured with correspondence information between an identifier of a mapped cell and an identifier of an NTN cell in the configuration information (or NF profile) of the AMF. The NRF can determine whether the first area includes an NTN cell based on the identifier of the mapped cell included in the received information of the first area and the correspondence information.

[0363] Similarly, the NRF can be configured with correspondence information between an identifier of a mapped tracking area (mapped cell ID) and a cell identifier (Uu cell ID) of a Uu cell in the configuration information (or NF profile) of the AMF. The NRF can determine whether the first area includes an NTN cell based on the mapped cell ID included in the received information of the first area and the correspondence information.

[0364] In a possible implementation, the second message can further include a reason why the first-area session cannot be established for the first area. The NRF can determine the reason why the first-area session cannot be established for the first area, and carry indication information (or a reason value) of the reason in the second message.

[0365] Exemplarily, the failure cause indicated by the indication information (cause value) of the failure cause is that it is impossible to establish the session of the location-related MBS service. Since the region of the first area includes a region of NTN type, or since the first area and the MBS service region corresponding to the other area session associated with the same MBS session exist in overlap, the NRF determines that it is impossible to establish the first area session for the first area.

[0366] Exemplarily, the failure cause indicated by the indication information (cause value) of the failure cause is that the first area corresponding to the first area session currently requested to be established includes a region of NTN type, such as an NTN cell and / or an NTN tracking area.

[0367] Exemplarily, the failure cause indicated by the indication information (cause value) of the failure cause is that the first area corresponding to the first area session currently requested to be established exists in overlap with the MBS service region corresponding to the other area session associated with the same MBS session.

[0368] In a possible implementation, the second message can further include a processing suggestion. When the NRF determines that it is impossible to establish the first area session for the first area, the NRF can determine a suggested processing manner (i.e., a processing suggestion) and carry indication information for indicating the processing suggestion in the second message.

[0369] Exemplarily, the processing manner indicated by the indication information of the processing suggestion is to establish a session of non-location-related MBS service for the overlapping region.

[0370] Exemplarily, the processing manner indicated by the indication information of the processing suggestion is to establish a session of location-related MBS service, and the MBS service region corresponding to the area session is the first area. Optionally, the session of the location-related MBS service is only associated with the first area, or in other words, the session of the location-related MBS session is only associated with one area session.

[0371] Exemplarily, the processing suggestion indicated by the indication information of the processing suggestion is to initiate a session establishment process for each terminal device in the first area respectively, so as to send the first data to the terminal device in a unicast manner.

[0372] It should be understood that the second message can include the failure cause, or include the processing suggestion, or include both the failure cause and the processing suggestion.

[0373] In a possible implementation, the second message includes indication information for indicating that it is impossible to establish the first area session for the first area.

[0374] In a possible implementation, in the NTN scenario, the first area information is included in the second message. For example, the first area information can include an identification of an NTN cell and / or an identification of an NTN tracking area. In a case where the NRF determines that the first area session cannot be established for the first area, the NRF can obtain an identification of a corresponding NTN cell according to a cell identification of a mapped cell in the first area information, and carry the identification of the NTN cell in the second message. Similarly, in a case where the NEF determines that the first area session cannot be established for the first area, the NEF can obtain an identification of a corresponding NTN tracking area according to an identification of a mapped tracking area in the first area information, and carry the identification of the NTN tracking area in the second message.

[0375] In a possible implementation, the second message further includes an identification of the first area session.

[0376] In a possible implementation, the second message further includes an identification of the first MBS session.

[0377] In a possible implementation, the second message is an Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request Response message.

[0378] Step 1204: The NEF sends, according to the received second message, a session establishment response message to the AF, where the session establishment response message is used to indicate that the first area session establishment fails.

[0379] The specific implementation of this step can refer to step 1103 in FIG. 11.

[0380] Step 1205: After the AF receives the session establishment response message from the NEF, the AF initiates, according to information (for example, a reason for the first area session establishment failure and / or a processing suggestion, and / or the above-mentioned first area information) included in the session establishment response message, a new session establishment process for the first area, and transmits the first data through the new session.

[0381] The specific implementation of this step can refer to step 1104 in FIG. 11.

[0382] In the method shown in FIG. 12, the interaction between the NEF and the NRF is taken as an example for description. It should be understood that the NRF can be replaced by other network elements, and the NEF can obtain the area session establishment failure information by interacting with the other network elements, and optionally, can also obtain the failure reason and / or the processing suggestion.

[0383] In another case, if the NRF determines to allow the establishment of the first-area session for the first area, the subsequent session establishment procedure can be continued, for example, sending a session establishment request message to the MB-SMF, the MB-SMF sending a session establishment request message to the AMF, the AMF sending a session establishment request message to the access network device, so that the access network device establishes a first-area session corresponding to the first area. Based on the first-area session, the access network device obtains first data of the first MBS service from the core network and sends the first data to the terminal device in the first area in a broadcast or multicast manner; based on the second-area session, the access network device obtains second data of the first MBS service from the core network and sends the second data to the terminal device in the second area in a broadcast or multicast manner.

[0384] Based on the flow shown in FIG. 12, for a location-related MBS service, in the case that the first area corresponding to the first-area session currently requested to be established includes an NTN type area, there may be an overlap between the MBS service area corresponding to the session requested to be established and the MBS service area corresponding to the existing session, which may cause the current requested session establishment to fail. Therefore, the AF can establish a new session for the area to transmit the first data requested to be transmitted, so that both the second data corresponding to the original session and the first data corresponding to the new session can be transmitted in the overlapping area, and different data can be transmitted in the same area.

[0385] On the other hand, compared with the flow shown in FIG. 9, the method shown in FIG. 12 can reduce signaling interaction, so that the AF can respond to the session establishment failure information and perform corresponding processing more quickly, thereby reducing the processing delay of the MBS service.

[0386] It can be understood that, in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the network device and the terminal device include corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for performing various functions. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and method steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in the present application, the present application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is implemented in hardware or computer software driven hardware depends on the specific application scenarios and design constraints of the technical solutions.

[0387] FIGS. 13 and 14 are structural schematic diagrams of possible communication apparatuses provided by embodiments of the present application. These communication apparatuses can be used to implement the functions of the related devices (for example, the access network device, or the NEF, or the AF) in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus can be the above device or a module (such as a chip) in the above device.

[0388] As shown in FIG. 13, the communication apparatus 1300 includes a processing unit 1310 and a transceiver unit 1320. The communication apparatus 1300 is configured to implement the function of the related device in the method embodiments shown in any of FIG. 7, FIG. 9, FIG. 11 or FIG. 12.

[0389] When the communication apparatus 1300 is configured to implement the function of the access network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 7: the transceiver unit 1320 is configured to receive a request message for requesting to establish a first regional session, the request message including information of a first region, wherein the first region overlaps with a second region corresponding to an established second regional session, and the second regional session is used to send second data of a first MBS service; and the processing unit 1310 is configured to, in response to the request message, establish a first regional session corresponding to a region in the first region other than the region overlapping with the second region, and the first regional session is used to send first data of the first MBS service.

[0390] When the communication apparatus 1300 is configured to implement the function of the AF in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 7: the processing unit 1310 is configured to send, through the transceiver unit 1320, a request message for requesting to establish a first regional session, the request message including information of a first region, wherein the first region overlaps with a second region corresponding to an established second regional session, and the second regional session is used to send second data of a first MBS service; the transceiver unit 1320 is configured to receive first information indicating that no regional session is established for the overlapping region; and the processing unit 1310 is configured to send, through the transceiver unit 1320, a request message for requesting to establish a new session, the request message for requesting to establish the new session including information of the overlapping region, and the new session is used to send the first data.

[0391] When the communication apparatus 1300 is configured to implement the function of the access network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 9: the transceiver unit 1320 is configured to receive a request message for requesting to establish a first regional session, the request message including information of a first region, and the first regional session is used to send first data of a first multicast broadcast (MBS) service; and the processing unit 1310 is configured to, in a case where the first region overlaps with a second region corresponding to a second regional session, send, through the transceiver unit 1320, a response message indicating that the first regional session fails to be established, and the second regional session is used to send second data of the first MBS service.

[0392] When the communication apparatus 1300 is configured to implement the function of the NEF in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the transceiver 1320 is configured to receive a request message for requesting to establish a first regional session, wherein the request message comprises information of a first region, and the first regional session is used to send first data of a first MBS service; the processing unit 1310 is configured to determine that the first region comprises an NTN cell according to a cell identifier included in the information of the first region and correspondence relationship information, and / or determine that the first region comprises an NTN tracking area according to an identifier of a tracking area included in the information of the first region and the correspondence relationship information, and then send a response message through the transceiver 1320 in response to the first request message, wherein the response message indicates that the first regional session fails to be established. The correspondence relationship information comprises one of first correspondence relationship information and second correspondence relationship information. The correspondence relationship information comprises the first correspondence relationship information or the second correspondence relationship information. The first correspondence relationship information comprises correspondence relationship information of a cell identifier and a cell type, and / or correspondence relationship information of a tracking area identifier and a tracking area type. The second correspondence relationship information comprises correspondence relationship information of a mapping cell identifier and an NTN cell identifier, and / or correspondence relationship information of a mapping tracking area identifier and an NTN tracking area identifier.

[0393] When the communication apparatus 1300 is configured to implement the function of the NEF in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the transceiver 1320 is configured to receive a request message for requesting to establish a first regional session, wherein the request message comprises information of a first region, and the first regional session is used to send first data of a first MBS service; the processing unit 1310 is configured to send a first message through the transceiver 1320, wherein the first message is used to request a network element storing correspondence relationship information to feed back whether the first regional session is allowed to be established for the first region, and the first message comprises the information of the first region; the processing unit 1310 is configured to receive a second message from the network element storing the correspondence relationship through the transceiver 1320, wherein the second message indicates that the first regional session cannot be established for the first region, and the processing unit 1310 sends a response message through the transceiver 1320 according to the second message, wherein the response message is used to indicate that the first regional session fails to be established.

[0394] When the communication apparatus 1300 is configured to implement the function of AF in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 9 or FIG. 11 or FIG. 12, the processing unit 1310 is configured to send, by the transceiver 1320, a request message for requesting to establish a first area session, wherein the request message comprises information of a first area; wherein the first area has an overlap with a second area corresponding to an established second area session, the second area session is used to send second data of a first MBS service, and the first area session is used to send first data of the first MBS service; the transceiver 1320 is configured to receive a response message corresponding to the request message, wherein the response message indicates that the first area session fails to be established; and the processing unit 1310 is configured to send, by the transceiver 1320, a request message for requesting to establish a new session, wherein the request message for requesting to establish the new session comprises information of the overlapping area, and the new session is used to send the first data.

[0395] For more detailed description of the processing unit 1310 and the transceiver 1320, please refer to the relevant description in the method embodiments shown in the above-mentioned figures directly, which will not be repeated here.

[0396] Some embodiments of the present application provide a communication apparatus 1400, which comprises a processing circuit 1410. The processing circuit 1410 can comprise one or more processors, or all or part of the circuit for control or processing functions in one or more processors.

[0397] The communication apparatus 1400 can further comprise a communication circuit 1420.

[0398] When the communication apparatus 1400 is an access network device, the communication circuit 1420 can be a transceiver or a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. When the communication apparatus 1400 is a chip for an access network device, the communication circuit 1420 can be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. When the communication apparatus is a server, the communication circuit can be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit.

[0399] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1400 can further comprise a memory 1430. The memory 1430 is used to store instructions executed by the processor or to store input data required for the processor to run instructions or to store data generated after the processor runs instructions.

[0400] When the communication apparatus 1400 is configured to implement the method shown in the above-mentioned figures, the processor is configured to implement the functions of the above-mentioned processing unit, and the communication circuit is configured to implement the functions of the above-mentioned transceiver.

[0401] When the communication apparatus 1400 is a chip applied to the device, the chip implements the functions of the corresponding device in the method embodiments. The chip receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the device, and the information is sent by other devices to the device; or the chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the device.

[0402] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0403] In the present application, another example of a communication apparatus is provided, which includes at least one processor and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor, the at least one memory configured to store instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the communication apparatus to perform the method in the above embodiments. Taking the communication apparatus including one processor and one memory as an example, as shown in FIG. 15, the communication apparatus 1500 includes one processor 1510 and one memory 1530. The processor 1510 and the memory 1530 are coupled, and the memory 1530 stores instructions. When the instructions stored in the memory 1530 are executed by the processor 1510, the communication apparatus 1500 performs the method executed by the related device in the above embodiments.

[0404] It should be understood that the processor 1510 and the memory 1530 can also be integrated together, such as integrated in one chip.

[0405] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an erasable programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a network-side device or a terminal-side device. The processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the network-side device or the terminal-side device.

[0406] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments are performed. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a server, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable apparatus. The computer programs or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer programs or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center through a wired or wireless manner. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that integrates one or more available media. The available media can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disc; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state disk. The computer-readable storage medium can be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or can include both volatile and non-volatile storage media.

[0407] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication system, which can include an access network device and an AF. The access network device can implement the method and functions implemented by the access network device in FIG. 7, and the AF can implement the method and functions implemented by the AF in FIG. 7. Optionally, the communication system can also include other network elements, such as one or more of AMF, SMF, NEF, etc. An example of the communication system can be a system architecture as shown in the flow in FIG. 7.

[0408] Embodiments of the present application also provide a communication system, which can comprise an access network device and an AF. The access network device can implement the method and functions implemented by the access network device in FIG. 9, and the AF can implement the method and functions implemented by the AF in FIG. 9. Optionally, the communication system can further comprise other network elements, such as one or more of AMF, SMF, NEF, etc. An example of the communication system can be the system architecture as shown in FIG. 9.

[0409] Embodiments of the present application also provide a communication system, which can comprise an NEF and an AF. The NEF can implement the method and functions implemented by the NEF in FIG. 11 or FIG. 12, and the AF can implement the method and functions implemented by the AF in FIG. 11 or FIG. 12. Optionally, the communication system can further comprise other network elements, such as one or more of AMF, SMF, access network device, etc. An example of the communication system can be the system architecture as shown in FIG. 11 or FIG. 12.

[0410] In various embodiments of the present application, the terms and / or descriptions in different embodiments are consistent and can be referred to each other if there is no special description and logical conflict, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0411] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association between the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of the present application, the character " / ", generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of the present application, the character " / ", indicates that the associated objects before and after are in a "division" relationship. "Including at least one of A, B and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B and C.

[0412] It can be understood that the various numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for convenient differentiation, and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the serial number of the above processes does not mean the execution order, and the execution order of the processes should be determined by its function and inherent logic.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: receiving a request message for requesting to establish a first regional session, the request message comprising information of a first region; wherein the first region overlaps with a second region corresponding to an established second regional session, the second regional session being used for sending second data of a first multicast broadcast service (MBS) service; in response to the request message, establishing the first regional session corresponding to regions in the first region except for a region overlapping with the second region, the first regional session being used for sending first data of the first MBS service.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, Further comprising: sending first information indicating that a regional session is not established for the overlapping region.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The first information comprises information of the overlapping region and first indication information; wherein the first indication information indicates that the overlapping region is not included in the regions corresponding to the first regional session, or the first indication information indicates that the regions corresponding to the first regional session to be established overlap with the regions corresponding to another regional session.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, Further comprising: receiving a request message for requesting to establish a new session, the request message comprising information of the overlapping region, the new session being used for sending the first data.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The new session is a second MBS session, and the first MBS session is different from the second MBS session.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, The first MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service; The second MBS session is a session of a non-location-related MBS service; or the second MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service.

7. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: sending a request message for requesting to establish a first regional session, the request message comprising information of a first region; wherein the first region overlaps with a second region corresponding to an established second regional session, the second regional session being used for sending second data of a first multicast broadcast service (MBS) service; receiving first information indicating that a regional session is not established for the overlapping region; sending a request message for requesting to establish a new session, the request message comprising information of the overlapping region, the new session being used for sending the first data.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The first information comprises information of the overlapping region and first indication information; wherein the first indication information indicates that the overlapping region is not included in the regions corresponding to the first regional session, or the first indication information indicates that the regions corresponding to the first regional session to be established overlap with the regions corresponding to another regional session.

9. The method according to any one of claims 7-8, wherein, The new session is a second MBS session, and the first MBS session is different from the second MBS session.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The first MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service; The second MBS session is a session of a non-location-related MBS service; or the second MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service.

11. A communication method, comprising: The method comprises: receiving a request message for requesting to establish a first area session, the request message comprising information of a first area, the first area session being used for transmitting first data of a first multicast broadcast service (MBS) service; if the first area overlaps with a second area corresponding to a second area session used for transmitting second data of the first MBS service, sending a response message indicating that the first area session fails to be established; and 12. The method of claim 11, wherein, further comprising: obtaining context information of the second area session, the context information comprising information of the second area; determining that the first area overlaps with the second area according to the information of the second area and the information of the first area.

13. The method of any one of claims 11-12, wherein, the response message comprising one or more of the following: a cause of the first area session failing to be established, or a processing suggestion.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, the response message comprising failure cause indication information indicating a cause of the first area session failing to be established, the failure cause indication information indicating one or more of the following: a session of a location-related MBS service cannot be established; or the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established comprises a non-terrestrial network (NTN) type area; or for the first MBS session, the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established overlaps with an area corresponding to another area session.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein, the response message comprising processing suggestion indication information indicating a processing suggestion, the processing suggestion indication information indicating one or more of the following: establishing a session of a non-location-related MBS service, an MBS service area of the session of the non-location-related MBS service being the first area; or establishing a session of a location-related MBS service, an MBS service area of the session of the location-related MBS service being the first area; or establishing a unicast session for a terminal device in the first area respectively, the unicast session being used for transmitting the first data.

16. The method of any one of claims 11-15, wherein, further comprising: receiving a request message for requesting to establish a new session, the request message comprising information of the overlapping area, the new session being used for transmitting the first data; in response to the request message for requesting to establish the new session, establishing the new session, or sending a session establishment request message for requesting to establish the new session to a session management function network element.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, the new session is a second MBS session, the first MBS session being different from the second MBS session.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, the first MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service; the second MBS session is a session of a non-location-related MBS service; or the second MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service.

19. A method of communication, comprising: the method comprising: sending a request message for requesting to establish a first area session, the request message comprising information of a first area; wherein the first area has an overlap with a second area corresponding to an established second area session, the second area session being used for sending second data of a first multicast broadcast service (MBS) service, and the first area session being used for sending first data of the first MBS service; receiving a response message corresponding to the request message, the response message indicating that the first area session fails to be established; sending a request message for requesting to establish a new session, the request message comprising information of the overlapped area, the new session being used for sending the first data.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein, The response message comprises one or more of the following: a cause of the first area session failing to be established, or a processing suggestion.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein, The response message comprises failure cause indication information for indicating a cause of the first area session failing to be established, the failure cause indication information being used for indicating one or more of the following: a session for a location-related MBS service cannot be established; or the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established comprises a non-terrestrial network (NTN) type area; or for the first MBS session, the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established has an overlap with an area corresponding to another area session.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein, The response message comprises processing suggestion indication information for indicating a processing suggestion, the processing suggestion indication information being used for indicating one or more of the following: establishing a session for a non-location-related MBS service, an MBS service area of the session for the non-location-related MBS service being the first area; or establishing a session for a location-related MBS service, an MBS service area of the session for the location-related MBS service being the first area; or establishing a unicast session for a terminal device in the first area respectively, the unicast session being used for transmitting the first data.

23. The method of any one of claims 19-22, wherein, The new session is a second MBS session, and the first MBS session is different from the second MBS session.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein, The first MBS session is a session for a location-related MBS service. The second MBS session is a session for a non-location-related MBS service; or the second MBS session is a session for a location-related MBS service.

25. A method of communication, comprising: comprising: receiving a request message for requesting to establish a first area session, the request message comprising information of a first area, the first area session being used for sending first data of a first multicast broadcast service (MBS) service; if it is determined, according to the information of the first area and correspondence relationship information, that the first area comprises a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell and / or an NTN tracking area, sending a response message in response to the first request message, the response message indicating that the first area session fails to be established; The information of the first area includes a cell identifier and / or an identifier of a tracking area, the correspondence information includes one of first correspondence information and second correspondence information, the first correspondence information includes correspondence information of a cell identifier and a cell type, and / or correspondence information of a tracking area identifier and a tracking area type, and the second correspondence information includes correspondence information of a mapping cell identifier and an NTN cell identifier, and / or correspondence information of a mapping tracking area identifier and an NTN tracking area identifier.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, The response message includes one or more of the following: a reason for the failure of the first area session establishment, or a processing suggestion.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein, The response message includes failure reason indication information for indicating a reason for the failure of the first area session establishment, and the failure reason indication information is used to indicate one or more of the following: A session of a location-related MBS service cannot be established; or The first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established includes a non-terrestrial network (NTN) type area; or For the first MBS session, the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established overlaps with an area corresponding to another area session.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein, The response message includes processing suggestion indication information for indicating a processing suggestion, and the processing suggestion indication information is used to indicate one or more of the following: Establish a session of a non-location-related MBS service, and an MBS service area of the session of the non-location-related MBS service is the first area; or Establish a session of a location-related MBS service, and an MBS service area of the session of the location-related MBS service is the first area; or Respectively for terminal devices within the first area, establish a unicast session for transmitting the first data.

29. The method of any one of claims 25-28, wherein, Further comprising: Receiving a request message for requesting to establish a new session, the request message for requesting to establish a new session including information of the overlapping area, and the new session being used for transmitting the first data; In response to the request message for requesting to establish a new session, establishing the new session or sending a session establishment request message for requesting to establish the new session to a session management function network element.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein, The new session is a second MBS session, and the first MBS session is different from the second MBS session.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein, The first MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service, the second MBS session is a session of a non-location-related MBS service, or the second MBS session is a session of a location-related MBS service.

32. A method of communication, comprising: Comprising: Receiving a request message for requesting to establish a first area session, the request message including information of a first area, and the first area session being used for transmitting first data of a first multicast broadcast (MBS) service; Sending a first message for requesting a network element storing correspondence information to feed back whether to allow establishing a first area session for a first area, and the first message including the information of the first area; receiving a second message from a network element storing the correspondence, the second message indicating that a first area session cannot be established for a first area; sending a response message according to the second message, the response message being used to indicate that the first area session establishment fails.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein, The network element storing the correspondence information is configured to determine whether a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell and / or an NTN tracking area is included in the first area according to information of the first area and the correspondence information.

34. The method of any one of claims 32-33, wherein, The correspondence information includes one of first correspondence information and second correspondence information, wherein the first correspondence information includes correspondence information of a cell identifier and a cell type, and / or correspondence information of a tracking area identifier and a tracking area type, and the second correspondence information includes correspondence information of a mapping cell identifier and an NTN cell identifier, and / or correspondence information of a mapping tracking area identifier and an NTN tracking area identifier.

35. The method of any one of claims 32-34, wherein, The response message includes one or more of the following: a reason for the failure of the first area session establishment, or a processing suggestion.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein, The response message includes failure cause indication information used to indicate the reason for the failure of the first area session establishment, and the failure cause indication information is used to indicate one or more of the following: a session for a location-related MBS service cannot be established; or the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established includes a non-terrestrial network (NTN) type of area; or for the first MBS session, the first area corresponding to the first area session requested to be established overlaps with an area corresponding to another session.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein, The response message includes processing suggestion indication information used to indicate a processing suggestion, and the processing suggestion indication information is used to indicate one or more of the following: establish a session for a non-location-related MBS service, and an MBS service area of the session for the non-location-related MBS service is the first area; or establish a session for a location-related MBS service, and an MBS service area of the session for the location-related MBS service is the first area; or establish a unicast session for a terminal device in the first area respectively, and the unicast session is used to transmit the first data.

38. The method of any one of claims 32-37, wherein, Further comprising: receiving a request message used to request to establish a new session, and the request message used to request to establish the new session includes information of the overlapping area, and the new session is used to transmit the first data; in response to the request message used to request to establish the new session, establishing the new session, or sending a session establishment request message used to request to establish the new session to a session management function network element.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein, The new session is a second MBS session, and the first MBS session is different from the second MBS session.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein, The first MBS session is a session for a location-related MBS service, and the second MBS session is a session for a non-location-related MBS service, or the second MBS session is a session for a location-related MBS service.

41. A communications device, characterized by comprising means or modules for performing the method of any of claims 1-6, or comprising means or modules for performing the method of any of claims 7-10, or comprising means or modules for performing the method of any of claims 11-18, or comprising means or modules for performing the method of any of claims 19-24, or comprising means or modules for performing the method of any of claims 25-31, or comprising means or modules for performing the method of any of claims 32-40.

42. A communications device, characterized by comprising: one or more processors configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-6, or to perform the method of any of claims 7-10, or to perform the method of any of claims 11-18, or to perform the method of any of claims 19-24, or to perform the method of any of claims 25-31, or to perform the method of any of claims 32-40.

43. A communication system, characterized by comprising an access network device and an application function network element; the access network device is configured to implement the method of any of claims 1-6, and the application function network element is configured to implement the method of any of claims 7-10; or the access network device is configured to implement the method of any of claims 11-18, and the application function network element is configured to implement the method of any of claims 19-24.

44. A communication system, characterized by comprising a network exposure function network element and an application function network element; the network exposure function network element is configured to implement the method of any of claims 25-31, or to implement the method of any of claims 32-40, and the application function network element is configured to implement the method of any of claims 19-24.

45. A readable storage medium characterized by, the readable storage medium stores programs or instructions which, when executed on the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1-6, or to perform the method of any of claims 7-10, or to perform the method of any of claims 11-18, or to perform the method of any of claims 19-24, or to perform the method of any of claims 25-31, or to perform the method of any of claims 32-40.

46. A chip system, characterized by comprising a processor configured to support a computer apparatus to implement the method of any of claims 1-6, or to implement the method of any of claims 7-10, or to implement the method of any of claims 11-18, or to implement the method of any of claims 19-24, or to implement the method of any of claims 25-31, or to implement the method of any of claims 32-40.

47. A program product, characterized by The program product comprises a program; when the program runs on the computer, the computer is caused to execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-6, or execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 7-10, or execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 11-18, or execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 19-24, or execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 25-31, or execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 32-40.

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