Communication method and related apparatuses

Abstract

A communication method and related apparatuses. In the method, on the basis of quality of service information corresponding to a quality of service flow in one session of a terminal device, a first communication apparatus determines quality of service information corresponding to a quality of service flow in another session of the terminal device corresponding to the same transmission tunnel, such that the quality of service information of one session can be used as one basis for determining the quality of service information of another session. Thus, when data of different sessions of the same terminal device is transmitted via the same transmission tunnel, the first communication apparatus can consider the impact of different quality of service flows in other sessions during a process of configuring quality of service information of a quality of service flow of one session, thereby ensuring the data transmission quality.

Description

Communication method and related apparatus

[0001] This application claims priority from the Chinese Patent Application No. CN202410994888.9 filed on July 23, 2024, and entitled "A communication method and related apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication, and in particular to a communication method and related apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0003] In a communication network, after a terminal device accesses the network through an access network device, the terminal device can establish one or more sessions with the network. Each session includes one or more quality of service flows, and each session is managed by a corresponding session management network element in the network. For example, in order to meet the quality of service requirements of different services, the session management network element can configure quality of service information for the quality of service flows in the session, so that the access network device and the user plane network element in the network can implement data transmission of different services within the session according to the quality of service information.

[0004] Currently, the access network device and the user plane network element transmit data of different sessions through different tunnels (such as N3 tunnels), but in the future communication network, the same tunnel between the access network device and the user plane network element can be used to transmit data of different sessions, in which case the existing quality of service information configuration method can cause the quality of data transmission to decline. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and related apparatus for improving the quality of data transmission.

[0006] The first aspect of the present application provides a communication method, which is performed by a first communication device. The first communication device can be a communication apparatus (e.g., a network device), or the first communication device can be a part of the communication apparatus (e.g., a circuit or a chip responsible for communication functions (such as a Modem chip (also known as a baseband chip), a system on chip (SoC) chip, such as an SoC chip including a modem core, or a system in package (SIP) chip), etc.), or the first communication device can also be a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the communication apparatus. In the method, the first communication device obtains first quality of service information corresponding to a first quality of service flow, the first quality of service flow being used for transmission of first data between a first user plane network element and a second user plane network element, the first data being data of a first session of a terminal device; the first communication device determines third quality of service information according to the first quality of service information and second quality of service information, the second quality of service information corresponding to a second quality of service flow, the second quality of service flow being used for transmission of second data through a tunnel between the first user plane network element and an access network device, the second data being data of a second session of the terminal device; and the first communication device sends the third quality of service information corresponding to a third quality of service flow, the third quality of service flow being used for transmission of the first data through the tunnel.

[0007] Based on the above scheme, after the first communication device obtains the first quality of service information corresponding to the first quality of service flow, the first communication device determines the third quality of service information according to the first quality of service information and the second quality of service information, and then the first communication device can send the third quality of service information corresponding to the third quality of service flow, the third quality of service flow being used for transmission of the first data through the tunnel. In other words, based on the quality of service information corresponding to the quality of service flow in one session of the terminal device, the first communication device determines the quality of service information corresponding to the quality of service flow in another session of the terminal device corresponding to the same transmission tunnel, so that the quality of service information of the one session can be used as one of the determination bases of the quality of service information of the other session. Thus, in the case that the data of different sessions of the same terminal device are transmitted through the same transmission tunnel, the first communication device can consider the influence of different quality of service flows in other sessions in the configuration process of the quality of service information of the quality of service flow in one session, so as to guarantee the network quality of service.

[0008] In addition, in the case that data of different sessions of the same terminal device is transmitted through the same transmission tunnel, compared with the implementation manner of independently configuring quality of service information of different sessions, in the above scheme, since the influence between quality of service information of quality of service flows of different sessions is comprehensively considered in the process of configuring quality of service information of quality of service flows of a certain session, the configuration efficiency of quality of service information can be improved, and the data transmission performance can be improved.

[0009] In the above scheme, since the influence between quality of service information of quality of service flows of different sessions is comprehensively considered in the process of configuring quality of service information of quality of service flows of a certain session, the configuration efficiency of quality of service information can be improved, and the data transmission performance can be improved.

[0010] It should be noted that after the first communication device determines the third quality of service information, the first communication device can maintain / keep / save the mapping relationship between the first quality of service flow in the first session and the third quality of service flow. If the first communication device subsequently receives an indication or request for modifying / updating / adjusting / deleting the first quality of service flow, the first communication device can perform corresponding modification / update / adjustment / deletion on the third quality of service flow based on the mapping relationship, so as to meet the requirement of the indication or request, and also avoid or reduce the situation that the quality of service of certain network service cannot be guaranteed due to configuration error.

[0011] It should be noted that in the above scheme, the second session of the terminal device can include one or more sessions other than the first session of the terminal device. Correspondingly, the second quality of service flow in the second session can include any quality of service flow in any session of the one or more sessions. In other words, the determination basis of the first communication device for determining the third quality of service information can include quality of service information of other quality of service flows in addition to the first quality of service flow of the first session. The other quality of service flows can include more quality of service flows in addition to the second quality of service flow in the second session. For example, the other quality of service flows can include any quality of service flow in the second session of the terminal device, and / or one or more quality of service flows in other sessions of the terminal device, and the like.

[0012] Optionally, the one or more sessions included in the second session can be established sessions of the terminal device, or unestablished sessions of the terminal device, which is not limited here.

[0013] In this application, a session (e.g., a first session, a second session, etc.) can be a bearer in long term evolution (LTE), a protocol data unit (PDU) session in 5G (or new radio, NR), or other forms of implementation defined by future communication networks, which are not limited herein.

[0014] For example, the session involved in this application can be a public network session, a park session, a local session, a private network session, or other sessions, which are not limited herein.

[0015] In this application, in one or more data streams transmitted by different communication devices, data streams that obtain the same quality of service network service guarantee can be transmitted in a certain quality of service stream described above, i.e., data packets (or data messages) transmitted in the same quality of service stream can obtain the same or similar quality of service network service guarantee. Generally, data packets (or data messages) transmitted in different quality of service streams can obtain different quality of service network service guarantees.

[0016] In addition, the quality of service stream can be an evolved packet system (EPS) bearer in LTE, a quality of service flow (QoS flow) in 5G, or other forms of implementation defined by future communication networks, which are not limited herein.

[0017] Similarly, the identifier of the quality of service stream described below can be an evolved packet system bearer identity (EBI) in LTE, a quality of service flow identifier (QFI) in NR, or other forms of implementation defined by future communication networks, which are not limited herein.

[0018] Similarly, the quality of service identifier described below can be a quality of service class identifier (QCI) in LTE, a 5G quality of service identifier (5QI) in NR, or other forms of implementation defined by future communication networks, which are not limited herein.

[0019] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the method is applied to a session management network element for managing the first session and the second session of the terminal device, which can be referred to as a serving session management function (S-SMF) network element, and the first communication device can be the S-SMF network element or an internal module of the S-SMF network element. In this case, the process in which the first communication device obtains the first quality of service information includes: the first communication device receives the first quality of service information from a second communication device, which can be a session management network element for managing the first session. For example, the second communication device can be an SMF network element corresponding to the first session, a component (for example, a chip) of the SMF network element corresponding to the first session, or a logic module or software that implements all or part of the function of the SMF network element corresponding to the first session.

[0020] Optionally, the session management network element corresponding to the first session and the session management network element corresponding to the second session are the same session management network element, so that the above scheme can be applied to a scenario in which different sessions of the same terminal device are managed by the same session management network element, and the influence between the quality of service information of the quality of service flows of different sessions is comprehensively considered to guarantee the quality of network services. It should be understood that in this case, the first communication device can obtain the first quality of service information based on a locally preconfigured policy (or a policy configured by a policy control function (PCF) network element or another network element).

[0021] As an example, the first communication device can be an S-SMF network element for managing one or more sessions (for example, the first session and the second session described above) of a terminal device, support selecting a session management network element (for example, a session management network element serving a public network service, a local SMF (L-SMF) network element serving a local service, a session management network element serving a private network service, or an anchor SMF (A-SMF) network element) for each session of the terminal device, and can establish a connection to different network domains (public network, campus network, private network, or subnetwork) for the terminal device. For example, the first communication device can be an intermediate SMF (I-SMF) network element supporting the function of managing or controlling one or more sessions of a terminal device, or a session management network element (for example, an SMF or an L-SMF) supporting the function of managing or controlling one or more sessions of a terminal device.

[0022] As another example, the first communication device can be a SMF network element or the like corresponding to the second session, for managing the second session (and possibly other sessions, such as the first session).

[0023] In the above solution, taking the device sending the first service quality information to the first communication device as an example, the second communication device can be a SMF network element or the like corresponding to the first session, for managing the first session. For example, the first service quality information can be carried in a request or response message sent by the second communication device to the first communication device for establishing or modifying a session or a session management (SM) context, such as:

[0024] a SM context creation response (Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Response);

[0025] a session creation response (Nsmf_PDUSession_Create Response);

[0026] a SM context modification request (Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext Request);

[0027] a session modification response (Nsmf_PDUSession_Update Request).

[0028] Optionally, in addition to the above implementation, the first service quality information can also be carried in other messages sent by the second communication device to the first communication device in the future communication network, which is not limited here.

[0029] In the above solutions, the third communication device receiving the third service quality information sent by the first communication device is taken as an example, which can be a terminal device, an access network device, a first user plane network element (such as a user plane function (UPF) network element), etc. The first user plane network element can be understood as a serving UPF (S-UPF) network element, an uplink classifier (UL CL), etc., which is managed / controlled by the first communication device, and can be responsible for forwarding / shunting data packets sent by the terminal device or the access network device to the user plane network element corresponding to the session. For example, the first user plane network element forwards first data sent by the terminal device or the access network device to a second user plane network element, which is the user plane network element corresponding to the first session of the terminal device, and forwards second data sent by the terminal device or the access network device to the user plane network element corresponding to the second session. For example, the first user plane network element can be an intermediate UPF (I-UPF) network element, or a UPF network element, a local UPF (L-UPF) network element, etc.

[0030] For example, in the case where the third communication device is a terminal device, the third service quality information can be carried in a non-access stratum (NAS) message. Optionally, the NAS message can be a session modification instruction message (such as a PDU session modification command) message, or other forms defined by future communication networks, which are not limited here.

[0031] For example, in the case where the third communication device is an access network device, the third service quality information can be carried in a PDU session resource modification request message (such as a PDU session resource modification request message), or other forms defined by future communication networks, which are not limited here.

[0032] For example, in the case where the third communication device is a first user plane network element, the third service quality information can be carried in a packet forwarding control protocol session modification request message, or other forms defined by future communication networks, which are not limited here.

[0033] Optionally, the first service quality information can be used to indicate that the service quality information corresponding to the first service quality flow is established, re-established or modified as the first service quality information. Similarly, the third service quality information can be used to indicate that the service quality information corresponding to the third service quality flow is established, re-established or modified as the third service quality information.

[0034] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first service quality information comprises a first service quality flow identifier, the second service quality information comprises a second service quality flow identifier, and the third service quality information comprises a third service quality flow identifier. The first communication device determines the third service quality information according to the first service quality information and the second service quality information, comprising: in a case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, the first communication device determines the third service quality flow identifier as an identifier different from the first service quality flow identifier.

[0035] Based on the above scheme, the service quality information corresponding to any service quality flow can comprise a service quality flow identifier of the any service quality flow. Accordingly, in a case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, the first communication device can determine the third service quality flow identifier as an identifier different from the first service quality flow identifier (or the first communication device can determine the third service quality flow identifier as an identifier different from the second service quality flow identifier). In this way, it can be avoided or reduced that the first data and the second data transmitted in the same transmission tunnel use the same service quality flow identifier, so as to improve the data transmission performance.

[0036] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, in a case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, the first communication device determines the third service quality flow identifier as an identifier different from the first service quality flow identifier, comprising: in a case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, and a first condition is satisfied, the first communication device determines the third service quality flow identifier as an identifier different from the first service quality flow identifier; wherein the first condition comprises any one of the following:

[0037] a resource type of the first service quality flow is a guaranteed bit rate (GBR);

[0038] a resource type of the second service quality flow is a GBR;

[0039] The resource type of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow is non-GBR (non-guaranteed bit rate), and the first service quality indicator is different from the second service quality indicator (optionally, for the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information, the two service quality indicators can be standardized service quality indicators, or the two service quality indicators can be non-standardized service quality indicators, or one of the two service quality indicators is a standardized service quality indicator and the other is a non-standardized service quality indicator); or

[0040] The resource type of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow is non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are both non-standardized service quality indicators, and the service quality parameter associated with the first service quality indicator is different from the service quality parameter associated with the second service quality indicator.

[0041] Based on the above scheme, in the case that the identifier of the first service quality flow and the identifier of the second service quality flow are the same, if the first condition is met, the first communication device can determine that using the same identifier for the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow will cause at least one service quality flow to fail to obtain the required network service quality guarantee. Therefore, the first communication device can determine that the identifier of the third service quality flow is different from the identifier of the first service quality flow (for example, the first communication device determines the identifier of the third service quality flow from one of the one or more identifiers that are currently not allocated (or idle), and the first communication device can determine the identifier of the third service quality flow that has been allocated or used according to the mapping relationship between the first service quality flow and the third service quality flow saved by the first communication device, and then determine the identifier of the third service quality flow that is not allocated or idle), in this way, the conflict caused by using the same identifier for the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow can be avoided, so as to guarantee the network service quality required by each service quality flow.

[0042] In a possible implementation form of the first aspect, the third service quality information satisfies at least one of the following:

[0043] The third service quality information is used to establish the third service quality flow;

[0044] The third service quality information includes the service quality indicator in the first service quality information;

[0045] The third service quality information includes the service quality parameter associated with the service quality indicator in the first service quality information; or

[0046] The third quality of service information comprises a packet filter rule in the first quality of service information.

[0047] Based on the above scheme, the third quality of service information can satisfy the at least one, so that the third communication device can establish the third quality of service flow based on the at least one to guarantee the network quality of service of transmitting the first data.

[0048] It should be noted that the third quality of service information can indicate the establishment of the third quality of service flow in various ways.

[0049] For example, the third quality of service information has an indication function (for example, the receiver of the third quality of service information determines that the identifier of the third quality of service flow contained in the third quality of service information is an identifier that is not currently used), so that the receiver of the third quality of service information can establish the third quality of service flow based on the third quality of service information.

[0050] For another example, the message / signaling used to carry the third quality of service information has an indication function (for example, the message implicitly indicates the function through the message name / transport resource / transport interface, and for another example, the message explicitly indicates the function through one or more bits of indication information), so that the receiver of the third quality of service information can establish the third quality of service flow based on the message / signaling. For example, the message can be the session modification instruction message, the session resource modification request message, or the packet forwarding control protocol session modification request message described above.

[0051] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first quality of service information comprises a first quality of service flow identifier, the second quality of service information comprises a second quality of service flow identifier, and the third quality of service information comprises a third quality of service flow identifier. The first communication device determines the third quality of service information according to the first quality of service information and the second quality of service information, comprising: in the case that the first quality of service flow identifier and the second quality of service flow identifier are the same, the first communication device determines that the identifier of the third quality of service flow is the identifier of the first quality of service flow or the identifier of the second quality of service flow.

[0052] Based on the above scheme, the quality of service information corresponding to any quality of service flow can comprise the quality of service flow identifier of the any quality of service flow. Accordingly, in the case that the first quality of service flow identifier and the second quality of service flow identifier are the same, the first communication device can determine that the third quality of service flow identifier is the first quality of service flow identifier (or the first communication device can determine that the third quality of service flow identifier is the second quality of service flow identifier). In this way, the first data and the second data transmitted in the same transmission tunnel can use the same quality of service flow identifier, so as to reduce the maintenance / storage overhead of a large number of quality of service flow identifiers.

[0053] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, the first communication device determining the identifier of the third service quality flow as the identifier of the first service quality flow or the identifier of the second service quality flow comprises: in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same and a second condition is met, the first communication device determining the identifier of the third service quality flow as the identifier of the first service quality flow or the identifier of the second service quality flow; wherein the second condition comprises any one of the following:

[0054] the types of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow are both non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are both standardized service quality indicators, and the first service quality indicator and the second service quality indicator are the same; or

[0055] the types of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow are both non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are both non-standardized service quality indicators, the first service quality indicator and the second service quality indicator are the same, and the service quality parameters associated with the first service quality indicator and the service quality parameters associated with the second service quality indicator are the same.

[0056] Based on the above scheme, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, if the second condition is met, the first communication device can determine that using the same identifier for the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow will not cause the two service quality flows to fail to obtain the required network service quality guarantee. Therefore, the first communication device can determine the identifier of the third service quality flow as the identifier of the first service quality flow or the identifier of the second service quality flow, which can reduce the number of identifiers of different service quality flows of the same terminal device, thereby reducing the complexity of configuration and the maintenance / storage overhead of configuration of different service quality flows of the same terminal device.

[0057] In addition, the number of identifiers of different service quality flows of the same terminal device can be limited (for example, 64, 128, etc.), and the above scheme can reduce unnecessary repeated configuration of identifiers and can avoid or reduce the case that the number of identifiers of different service quality flows of the same terminal device is not enough, resulting in the inability to allocate a new identifier for the terminal device.

[0058] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the third service quality information satisfies at least one of the following:

[0059] The third service quality information is used to modify service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow;

[0060] The third service quality information indicates a rule operation in the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow; or

[0061] The third service quality information includes packet filtering information contained in the first service quality information.

[0062] Based on the above scheme, the third service quality information can satisfy at least one of the above, so that the third communication device can establish / modify / update the third service quality flow based on at least one of the above, to guarantee the network service quality required by the third service quality flow.

[0063] It should be noted that the third service quality information can indicate the modification of the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow in multiple ways.

[0064] For example, the third service quality information has an indication function (for example, the third service quality information carries one or more bits of indication information to indicate the function), so that the receiver of the third service quality information can modify the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow based on the third service quality information.

[0065] For another example, the message / signaling used to carry the third service quality information has an indication function (for example, the message implicitly indicates the function through the message name / transport resource / transport interface, and for another example, the message explicitly indicates the function through one or more bits of indication information), so that the receiver of the third service quality information can modify the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow based on the message / signaling. For example, the message can be the session modification instruction message, the session resource modification request message, or the packet forwarding control protocol session modification request message described above.

[0066] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first service quality information includes a first service quality flow identifier, the second service quality information includes a second service quality flow identifier, and the third service quality information includes a third service quality flow identifier. The first communication device determines the third service quality information according to the first service quality information and the second service quality information, including: in the case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different, the first communication device determines the third service quality flow identifier as the first service quality flow identifier.

[0067] Based on the above scheme, the service quality information corresponding to any service quality flow can include the service quality flow identifier of the any service quality flow, and accordingly, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different, the first communication device can determine the third service quality flow identifier as the first service quality flow identifier. In this way, it can be ensured that the first data and the second data transmitted in the same transmission tunnel use different service quality flow identifiers to guarantee different service qualities, so as to improve the data transmission performance.

[0068] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different, the first communication device determines the third service quality flow identifier as the first service quality flow identifier, including: in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different and a third condition is satisfied, the first communication device determines the third service quality flow identifier as the first service quality flow identifier; wherein the third condition includes any one of the following:

[0069] The type of the first service quality flow is GBR;

[0070] The type of the second service quality flow is GBR;

[0071] The type of the first service quality flow is non-GBR, and the first service quality indicator is different from the second service quality indicator (optionally, for the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information, the two service quality indicators can both be standardized service quality indicators, or the two service quality indicators can both be non-standardized service quality indicators, or one of the two service quality indicators is a standardized service quality indicator and the other is a non-standardized service quality indicator); or

[0072] The type of the first service quality flow is non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are non-standardized service quality indicators, and the service quality parameter associated with the first service quality indicator is different from the service quality parameter associated with the second service quality indicator.

[0073] Based on the above scheme, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different, if the third condition is met, the first communication device may determine that the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow use the same identifier, which will cause at least one service quality flow to fail to obtain the required network service quality guarantee. Therefore, the first communication device may determine the third service quality flow identifier as the first service quality flow identifier, in this way, the required network service quality of each service quality flow can be realized through the identifier of different service quality flows, and the configuration complexity can be reduced.

[0074] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first service quality information includes a first service quality flow identifier, the second service quality information includes a second service quality flow identifier, and the third service quality information includes a third service quality flow identifier. The first communication device determines the third service quality information according to the first service quality information and the second service quality information, including: in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different, the first communication device determines the third service quality flow identifier as the second service quality flow identifier.

[0075] Based on the above scheme, the service quality information corresponding to any service quality flow can include the service quality flow identifier of the any service quality flow. Accordingly, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different, the first communication device may determine the third service quality flow identifier as the second service quality flow identifier, in this way, the first data and the second data transmitted in the same transmission tunnel can use the same service quality flow identifier, so as to reduce the maintenance / storage overhead of a large number of service quality flow identifiers.

[0076] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different, the first communication device determines the third service quality flow identifier as the second service quality flow identifier, including: in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different, and a fourth condition is met, the first communication device determines the third service quality flow identifier as the second service quality flow identifier; wherein the fourth condition includes any of the following:

[0077] The type of the first service quality flow is non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are the same and are standardized service quality indicators; or

[0078] The type of the first service quality flow is non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information is same as the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information and is a non-standardized service quality indicator, and the service quality parameter associated with the first service quality indicator is same as the service quality parameter associated with the second service quality indicator.

[0079] Based on the above scheme, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier is different from the second service quality flow identifier, if the fourth condition is satisfied, the first communication device can determine that using the same identifier for the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow will not cause the two service quality flows to fail to obtain the required network service quality guarantee. To this end, the first communication device can determine that the identifier of the third service quality flow is the identifier of the second service quality flow. In this way, the number of identifiers of different service quality flows of the same terminal device can be reduced, so as to reduce the complexity of configuration and the maintenance overhead of configuration of different service quality flows of the same terminal device.

[0080] In addition, the number of identifiers of different service quality flows of the same terminal device can be limited (for example, 64, 128, etc.). Through the above scheme, unnecessary repeated identifier configuration can be reduced, and the case that the number of identifiers of different service quality flows of the same terminal device is not enough to allocate a new identifier for the terminal device can be avoided.

[0081] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the third service quality information satisfies at least one of the following:

[0082] The third service quality information is used to modify the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow;

[0083] The third service quality information indicates a rule operation in the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow;

[0084] The third service quality information includes the packet filtering information included in the first service quality information; or

[0085] The third service quality information includes the identifier of the third service quality flow.

[0086] Based on the above scheme, the third service quality information can satisfy the at least one of the above, so that the third communication device can establish / modify / update the third service quality flow based on the at least one of the above to guarantee the network service quality required by the third service quality flow.

[0087] Similarly, the third service quality information can indicate to modify the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow in various manners, which can be referred to the foregoing description.

[0088] The second aspect of the present application provides a communication method, which is performed by a second communication device. The second communication device can be a communication device (e.g., a network device), or the second communication device can be a part of the communication device (e.g., a circuit or a chip responsible for communication functions (e.g., a Modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or a SIP chip containing a modem core, etc.), or the second communication device can also be a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the communication device functions. In the method, the second communication device sends first service quality information, the first service quality information corresponding to a first service quality flow, the first service quality flow being used for transmission of first data between a first user plane network element and a second user plane network element, the first data being data of a first session of a terminal device.

[0089] The implementation process of the second communication device can be referred to the description of the first aspect and its related implementation manners.

[0090] The third aspect of the present application provides a communication method, which is performed by a third communication device. The third communication device can be a communication device (e.g., a terminal device or a network device), or the third communication device can be a part of the communication device (e.g., a circuit or a chip responsible for communication functions (e.g., a Modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or a SIP chip containing a modem core, etc.), or the third communication device can also be a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the communication device functions. In the method, the third communication device receives third service quality information, the third service quality information corresponding to a third service quality flow, the third service quality flow being used for transmission of first data through a tunnel between a first user plane network element and an access network device. The first data is data of a first session of a terminal device, and the tunnel is also used for transmission of second data, the second data being data of a second session of the terminal device.

[0091] The implementation process of the third communication device can be referred to the description of the first aspect and its related implementation manners.

[0092] The fourth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which is a first communication device, comprising a transceiver and a processing unit; the processing unit is configured to obtain first quality of service information, the first quality of service information corresponding to a first quality of service flow, the first quality of service flow being used for transmission of first data between a first user plane network element and a second user plane network element, the first data being data of a first session of a terminal device; the processing unit is further configured to determine third quality of service information according to the first quality of service information and second quality of service information, the second quality of service information corresponding to a second quality of service flow, the second quality of service flow being used for transmission of second data through a tunnel between the first user plane network element and an access network device, the second data being data of a second session of the terminal device; and the transceiver is configured to send the third quality of service information, the third quality of service information corresponding to a third quality of service flow, the third quality of service flow being used for transmission of the first data through the tunnel.

[0093] In a possible implementation form of the fourth aspect, the first quality of service information comprises a first quality of service flow identifier, the second quality of service information comprises a second quality of service flow identifier, and the third quality of service information comprises a third quality of service flow identifier; and the processing unit is configured to determine the third quality of service information according to the first quality of service information and the second quality of service information, comprising: in a case where the first quality of service flow identifier and the second quality of service flow identifier are the same, the processing unit determines the third quality of service flow identifier as an identifier different from the first quality of service flow identifier.

[0094] In a possible implementation form of the fourth aspect, in a case where the first quality of service flow identifier and the second quality of service flow identifier are the same, the processing unit is configured to determine the third quality of service flow identifier as an identifier different from the first quality of service flow identifier, comprising: in a case where the first quality of service flow identifier and the second quality of service flow identifier are the same and a first condition is met, the processing unit determines the third quality of service flow identifier as an identifier different from the first quality of service flow identifier; and the first condition comprises any one of the following:

[0095] The resource type of the first quality of service flow is a guaranteed bit rate (GBR);

[0096] The resource type of the second quality of service flow is a GBR;

[0097] The resource type of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow is non-GBR, the first service quality indicator is different from the second service quality indicator (optionally, for the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information, both of the service quality indicators can be standardized service quality indicators, or both of the service quality indicators can be non-standardized service quality indicators, or one of the service quality indicators is a standardized service quality indicator and the other is a non-standardized service quality indicator); or

[0098] The resource type of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow is non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are both non-standardized service quality indicators, and the first service quality indicator is associated with service quality parameters different from the second service quality indicator.

[0099] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the third service quality information satisfies at least one of the following:

[0100] The third service quality information is used to establish the third service quality flow.

[0101] The third service quality information includes a service quality indicator in the first service quality information.

[0102] The third service quality information includes service quality parameters associated with the service quality indicator in the first service quality information; or

[0103] The third service quality information includes a packet filter rule in the first service quality information.

[0104] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the first service quality information includes a first service quality flow identifier, the second service quality information includes a second service quality flow identifier, and the third service quality information includes a third service quality flow identifier. The processing unit is configured to determine the third service quality information according to the first service quality information and the second service quality information, including: in a case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, the processing unit determines that the identifier of the third service quality flow is the identifier of the first service quality flow or the identifier of the second service quality flow.

[0105] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are same, the processing unit, configured to determine the identifier of the third service quality flow as the identifier of the first service quality flow or the identifier of the second service quality flow, comprises: in a case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are same and a second condition is satisfied, the processing unit determines the identifier of the third service quality flow as the identifier of the first service quality flow or the identifier of the second service quality flow; wherein the second condition comprises any one of the following:

[0106] the types of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow are both non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are both standardized service quality indicators, and the first service quality indicator and the second service quality indicator are same; or

[0107] the types of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow are both non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are both non-standardized service quality indicators, the first service quality indicator and the second service quality indicator are same, and service quality parameters associated with the first service quality indicator and service quality parameters associated with the second service quality indicator are same.

[0108] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the third service quality information satisfies at least one of the following:

[0109] the third service quality information is used for modifying service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow;

[0110] the third service quality information indicates a rule operation in the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow;

[0111] the third service quality information comprises packet filtering information contained in the first service quality information; or

[0112] the third service quality information comprises an identifier of the third service quality flow.

[0113] In a possible implementation form of the fourth aspect, the first service quality information comprises a first service quality flow identifier, the second service quality information comprises a second service quality flow identifier, the third service quality information comprises a third service quality flow identifier, and the processing unit is configured to determine the third service quality information according to the first service quality information and the second service quality information, including: in a case that the first service quality flow identifier is different from the second service quality flow identifier, the processing unit determines the third service quality flow identifier as the first service quality flow identifier.

[0114] In a possible implementation form of the fourth aspect, in a case that the first service quality flow identifier is different from the second service quality flow identifier, the processing unit is configured to determine the third service quality flow identifier as the first service quality flow identifier, including: in a case that the first service quality flow identifier is different from the second service quality flow identifier and a third condition is satisfied, the processing unit determines the third service quality flow identifier as the first service quality flow identifier; wherein the third condition comprises any one of:

[0115] the type of the first service quality flow is GBR;

[0116] the type of the second service quality flow is GBR;

[0117] the type of the first service quality flow is non-GBR, and the first service quality indicator is different from the second service quality indicator (optionally, for the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information, both of the service quality indicators can be standardized service quality indicators, or both of the service quality indicators can be non-standardized service quality indicators, or one of the service quality indicators is a standardized service quality indicator and the other is a non-standardized service quality indicator) ; or

[0118] the type of the first service quality flow is non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are non-standardized service quality indicators, and the service quality parameter associated with the first service quality indicator is different from the service quality parameter associated with the second service quality indicator.

[0119] In a possible implementation form of the fourth aspect, the first service quality information comprises a first service quality flow identifier, the second service quality information comprises a second service quality flow identifier, and the third service quality information comprises a third service quality flow identifier, and the processing unit is configured to determine the third service quality information according to the first service quality information and the second service quality information, comprising: in a case where the first service quality flow identifier is different from the second service quality flow identifier, the processing unit determines the third service quality flow identifier as the second service quality flow identifier.

[0120] In a possible implementation form of the fourth aspect, in a case where the first service quality flow identifier is different from the second service quality flow identifier, the processing unit is configured to determine the third service quality flow identifier as the second service quality flow identifier, comprising: in a case where the first service quality flow identifier is different from the second service quality flow identifier and a fourth condition is satisfied, the processing unit determines the third service quality flow identifier as the second service quality flow identifier; wherein the fourth condition comprises any one of the following:

[0121] the type of the first service quality flow is non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information is the same as the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information and is a standardized service quality indicator; or

[0122] the type of the first service quality flow is non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information is the same as the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information and is a non-standardized service quality indicator, and a service quality parameter associated with the first service quality indicator is the same as a service quality parameter associated with the second service quality indicator.

[0123] In a possible implementation form of the fourth aspect, the third service quality information satisfies at least one of the following:

[0124] the third service quality information is used to modify service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow;

[0125] the third service quality information indicates a rule operation in the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow;

[0126] the third service quality information comprises packet filtering information contained in the first service quality information; or

[0127] the third service quality information comprises an identifier of the third service quality flow.

[0128] In a possible implementation form of the fourth aspect, the first session corresponds to a session management network element different from a session management network element corresponding to the second session.

[0129] In a possible implementation form of the fourth aspect, the first communication device is a session management network element corresponding to the first session, and the processing unit obtaining the first quality of service information comprises: the processing unit receiving the first quality of service information from a session management network element corresponding to the second session.

[0130] The fifth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which is a second communication device, and the device comprises a transceiver unit; the transceiver unit is configured to send first quality of service information, the first quality of service information corresponding to a first quality of service flow, the first quality of service flow being used for transmission of first data between a first user plane network element and a second user plane network element, the first data being data of a first session of a terminal device.

[0131] The sixth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which is a third communication device, and the device comprises a transceiver unit; the transceiver unit is configured to receive third quality of service information, the third quality of service information corresponding to a third quality of service flow, the third quality of service flow being used for transmission of first data through a tunnel between a first user plane network element and an access network device. The first data is data of a first session of a terminal device, and the tunnel is also used for transmission of second data, the second data being data of a second session of the terminal device.

[0132] The seventh aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a communication device, comprising at least one processor, the at least one processor being configured to execute computer programs or instructions to enable the device to implement the method of any one of the first aspect to the third aspect and any possible implementation form thereof.

[0133] Optionally, the at least one memory is coupled with the memory, and the memory is configured to store the computer programs or instructions.

[0134] Optionally, the communication device comprises the memory.

[0135] The eighth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, comprising at least one logic circuit and an input and output interface; the logic circuit is configured to execute the method of any one of the first aspect to the third aspect and any possible implementation form thereof.

[0136] The ninth aspect of the present application provides a communication system, comprising the first communication device.

[0137] Optionally, the communication system further comprises a second communication device and / or a third communication device.

[0138] The tenth aspect of the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, which is configured to store one or more computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor performs the method in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect and any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0139] The eleventh aspect of the present application provides a computer program product (or computer program), and when a computer program in the computer program product is executed by a processor, the processor performs the method in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect and any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0140] The twelfth aspect of the present application provides a chip or chip system, which includes at least one processor configured to support a communication apparatus to perform the method in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect and any possible implementation manner thereof. For example, the chip can be a baseband chip, a modem chip, an SoC chip (such as an SoC chip including a modem core), a SIP chip, or a communication module, etc.

[0141] In a possible design, the chip or chip system can further include a memory configured to store necessary program instructions and data of the communication apparatus. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices. Optionally, the chip system further includes an interface circuit configured to provide program instructions and / or data for the at least one processor.

[0142] The technical effects brought by any one of the fourth aspect to the twelfth aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought by any one of the first aspect to the third aspect and any different design manner thereof, which will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0143] FIGS. 1a and 1b are some schematic diagrams of a communication system provided by the present application;

[0144] FIGS. 2a and 2b are some schematic diagrams of a communication system provided by the present application;

[0145] FIGS. 3 and 4 are some schematic diagrams of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0146] FIGS. 5 to 7 are some schematic diagrams of a communication apparatus provided by the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0147] Exemplarily, FIG. 1a is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication network provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication system can include a terminal device, a (radio) access network ((R)AN), a core network, and a data network (DN). The parts of the communication system are explained below.

[0148] (1) Terminal device (or terminal, user terminal, user equipment (UE), etc.): can be a wireless terminal device capable of communicating with a network device, which can be a device providing voice and / or data to a user, or a handheld device with wireless connection function, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem.

[0149] The terminal device can communicate with one or more core networks or the Internet via an access network (AN). The terminal device can be a mobile terminal device, such as a mobile phone (or called "cellular" phone, mobile phone), computer or data card, which can be portable, pocket-sized, handheld, built-in or vehicle-mounted. For example, the terminal device can be a personal communication service (PCS) phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a Pad, a computer with wireless transceiver function, etc. The terminal device can also be called a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile station (MS), a remote station, an access point (AP), a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user agent, a customer premises equipment (CPE), a mobile terminal (MT), etc. The terminal device can be a wearable device, and the terminal device can also be a terminal device in a 5th generation (5G) communication system or a terminal device in a future evolved network, etc.

[0150] In addition, the terminal device involved in the present application can be widely applied in various scenarios, for example, device to device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X), 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 transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal device.

[0151] (2) (wireless) access network: including at least one access network device, which can also be referred to as a network device, for example, the network device can be a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) for accessing the terminal device to the wireless network, which can be referred to as a wireless access network device, and generally can also be referred to as a base station. At present, some examples of RAN devices are: new generation base station (generation Node B, gNodeB, gNB), transmission reception point (transmission reception point, TRP), evolved Node B (evolved Node B, eNB), radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), Node B (Node B, NB), base station controller (base station controller, BSC), base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), home base station (for example, home evolved Node B, or home Node B, HNB), baseband unit (baseband unit, BBU), or wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, Wi-Fi) access point (access point, AP), etc. In addition, in one network structure, the network device can include a centralized unit (centralized unit, CU) node and / or a distributed unit (distributed unit, DU) node.

[0152] Optionally, the RAN node can also be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, or a radio controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU).

[0153] In another possible scenario, a terminal device is assisted by multiple RAN nodes to implement wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of a base station. For example, the RAN node can be a CU, a DU, a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a radio frequency remote unit (RRU), an active antenna processing unit (AAU), a radio head (RH), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0154] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN) system, the CU can also be referred to as an O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be referred to as an O-DU, the CU-CP can also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are taken as examples for description in this application. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0155] The communication between the access network device and the terminal device follows a certain protocol layer structure. The protocol layer can include a control plane protocol layer and a user plane protocol layer. The control plane protocol layer can include at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, or a physical (PHY) layer, etc. The user plane protocol layer can include at least one of a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, or a physical layer, etc.

[0156] For the correspondence relationship between the network elements in the ORAN system and the protocol layer functions that can be implemented by the network elements, refer to Table 1 below.

[0157] Table 1

[0158] (3) Core network: The core network includes at least one core network device, which can also be referred to as a core network network element. The core network network element can be used to complete functions such as registration, connection, and session management.

[0159] Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 1a, the control plane of the core network can include functional network elements such as a network slice selection function (NSSF), a network exposure function (NEF), a network repository function (NRF), a policy control function (PCF), a unified data management (UDM), an application function (AF), an edge application server discovery function (EASDF), a network slice specific authentication and authorization function (NSSAAF), an authentication server function (AUSF), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a service communication proxy (SCP), a network slice admission control function (NSACF), and the like. The user plane of the core network can include functional network elements such as a user plane function (UPF) and the like.

[0160] It should be understood that the above functions can be deployed in network elements, devices, entities, network functions (NFs), and the like, without limitation. Similarly, the core network elements involved in the present application (such as a session management network element, a user plane network element, and the like) can be replaced by core network entities, core network devices, core network NFs, and the like.

[0161] It should be noted that the above functional entities are only names, and the names themselves do not constitute a limitation on the entities. For example, the session management function entity can also be replaced by "session management function" or other names. Moreover, the session management function entity can also correspond to an entity that includes functions other than the session management function. The user plane function entity can also be replaced by "user plane function" or other names, and the user plane function entity can also correspond to an entity that includes functions other than the user plane function. A unified description is made here, and the following will not be repeated.

[0162] It can be understood that the above functions can be network elements in hardware devices, software functions running on special hardware, or a combination of hardware and software, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

[0163] Optionally, the data network is used to provide operator services, Internet access services, or third-party services, etc.

[0164] It can be understood that the network device can also be other devices that provide wireless communication functions for terminal devices. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form of the network device.

[0165] In the present application, the device for implementing the function of the network device can be a network device, or a device capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a processor, a chip or a chip system, or a logic module or software implementation capable of implementing all or part of the function of the network device.

[0166] (4) The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "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 cases of A alone, A and B together, and B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, "at least one of A, B, and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC. In addition, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers "first", "second", etc. mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the order, time sequence, priority or importance of the multiple objects.

[0167] (5) In embodiments of the present application, “sending” and “receiving” represent the direction of signal transmission. For example, “sending information to XX” can be understood as the destination of the information being XX, which can include direct sending or indirect sending between other units or modules. “Receiving information from YY” can be understood as the source of the information being YY, which can include direct reception from YY or indirect reception from YY through other units or modules. “Sending” can also be understood as the “output” of the chip interface, and “receiving” can also be understood as the “input” of the chip interface.

[0168] In other words, sending and receiving can be between devices, such as wired transmission or wireless transmission between network devices and terminal devices, or within devices, such as between components, modules, chips, software modules or hardware modules within a device through a bus, wire or interface.

[0169] It can be understood that the information may be processed between the source and the destination, such as encoding and modulation, but the destination can understand the effective information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be similarly understood and will not be repeated here.

[0170] (6) In embodiments of the present application, “indication” can include direct indication and indirect indication, and can also include explicit indication and implicit indication. The information indicated by a certain information (indication information as described below) is referred to as to-be-indicated information. In the implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the to-be-indicated information, for example, but not limited to, the to-be-indicated information can be directly indicated, such as the to-be-indicated information itself or the index of the to-be-indicated information. The to-be-indicated information can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where the other information and the to-be-indicated information have an association relationship. The to-be-indicated information can also be indicated only by a part, and the other part of the to-be-indicated information is known or agreed in advance. For example, the arrangement order of each information can be used to indicate a specific information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. The present application does not limit the specific way of indication. It can be understood that for the sender of the indication information, the indication information can be used to indicate the to-be-indicated information, and for the receiver of the indication information, the indication information can be used to determine the to-be-indicated information.

[0171] (7) QoS guarantee mechanism: In a communication system, the QoS guarantee mechanism includes QoS flows supporting guaranteed bit rate (GBR) and non-GBR, and also supports inference class QoS, etc. In a PDU session, QoS Flow can be the minimum granularity of differentiated QoS.

[0172] For example, taking the 5G system shown in Figure 1b as an example, the PDU session between the UE, RAN, and UPF includes the radio bearer (RB) between the UE and RAN, and the next-generation-user plane tunnel (NG-U Tunnel) between the RAN and UPF. The communication interface between the RAN and UPF can be an N3 interface, and correspondingly, the data transmission channel (or transmission tunnel) between the RAN and UPF can be called an N3 tunnel.

[0173] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 1b, QFIs can be used to identify QoS flows, and each QFI is unique within a PDU session (or, more accurately, unique within the NG-U tunnel). This means a PDU session can have multiple (e.g., 64 or fewer) QoS flows, but each QoS flow has a different QFI. Additionally, within a PDU session, user plane functions receiving data (or packets, service flows, etc.) with the same QFI use the same traffic forwarding processing method (e.g., scheduling). At the configuration granularity, a PDU session can contain one or more radio bearers; each radio bearer can correspond to one or more QoS flows. Furthermore, the QFIs of QoS flows in different sessions may be the same or different. QoS configuration can be at the QoS flow level, as shown in Figure 1b, where different QoS flows correspond to different QoS configurations. Moreover, in 5G systems, the QoS policies corresponding to QoS flows are managed by the SMF network element. For example, the SMF network element is responsible for QoS control; when establishing a PDU session, the SMF network element configures the corresponding QoS parameters for the UPF network element, AN, and UE. For example, QoS policies can be pre-configured on SMF network elements, issued to SMF by PCF network elements, or added or modified through PDU session establishment and modification.

[0174] It should be understood that the session management network element can obtain the QoS policy of a certain QoS flow through local configuration, PCF configuration or other means, and the session management network element can generate / obtain / determine the QoS configuration information of the QoS flow based on the QoS policy of the QoS flow.

[0175] Generally, the QoS configuration information for a QoS flow includes the following three parts:

[0176] QoS profiles on the AN side: These configurations can be provided to the AN by the SMF network element or pre-configured in the AN;

[0177] QoS rules and / or QoS flow descriptions on the UE side: These rules and descriptions can be provided by the SMF network element to the UE, or derived by the UE through a reflective QoS mechanism;

[0178] Packet detection rules (PDRs) and / or QoS enforcement rules (QERs) on the UPF side: These rules can be provided by the SMF network element to the UPF network element.

[0179] The UE, the AN, and the UPF provide corresponding network service quality guarantees for data packets in a QoS flow according to the QoS flow descriptions, the QoS configuration, and the QERs.

[0180] Optionally, for uplink data, the UE matches the QoS rules and the data packets, and carries the QFI corresponding to the matched QoS rule in the data packet. The UE transmits the data packet to the AN through the RB corresponding to the QFI. The AN transmits the data packet to the UPF according to the QoS flow indicated by the QFI, and provides network service quality guarantee for the transmission of the data packet according to the QoS configuration file corresponding to the QFI. The UPF receives the data packet, matches the corresponding QoS flow according to the PDR (for example, the PDR contains the QFI, and the UPF can match the QoS flow corresponding to the QFI of the data packet; for another example, the PDR contains an SDF filter, and the UPF can match the QoS flow corresponding to the source address and the destination address of the data packet), and transmits the data packet from the corresponding QoS flow to another UPF. The UPF provides network service quality guarantee for the transmission of the data packet according to the QER corresponding to the matched PDR.

[0181] Optionally, for downlink data (such as data sent to the UE), the UPF network element matches the data packet according to the PDR, carries the QFI in the QER corresponding to the matched PDR in the data packet, and provides network service quality guarantee for the transmission of the data packet according to the QER corresponding to the matched PDR. The AN receives the data packet, matches the corresponding QoS flow according to the QFI and the configuration file corresponding to the QFI, and transmits the data packet from the corresponding RB to the UE.

[0182] Optionally, if a data packet does not match any QoS rule or PDR, the data packet will be discarded by the UE, the AN, or the UPF network element.

[0183] Optionally, the UE can match the data packet according to the data packet filter set in the QoS rule.

[0184] Optionally, the UPF can match the packet according to the traffic data flow filter in the PDR.

[0185] Optionally, the feature information about a certain QoS flow sent by the SMF network element to the AN is called "QoS profile", which includes the content described in Table 2.

[0186] Table 2

[0187] The above-mentioned QoS profile, QoS rule and QoS description will be further described below.

[0188] QoS Profile: Whether a QoS flow is "GBR" or "Non-GBR" depends on its QoS profile. The QoS parameters contained in the QoS profile of a QoS flow include:

[0189] 1. The QoS parameters contained in the QoS profile of each QoS flow: 5QI, ARP;

[0190] 2. The QoS profile of each Non-GBR QoS flow may also contain parameters: reflective QoS attribute (RQA), aggregate maximum bit rate (AMBR);

[0191] 3. The QoS profile of each GBR QoS flow also contains parameters: guaranteed flow bit rate (GFBR), maximum flow bit rate (MFBR);

[0192] 4. The QoS profile of each GBR QoS flow may also contain: notification control, maximum packet loss rate;

[0193] QoS Rules: used for UE to perform classification and marking of uplink user plane data traffic. That is, UE can associate uplink data and QoS flow according to QoS rules. These QoS rules can be provided by network equipment (such as session management network element) to UE (for example, configured to UE through signaling in PDU session establishment / modification process), or pre-configured on UE, or implicitly derived by UE using reflective QoS mechanism. QoS rules have the following characteristics:

[0194] 1. A QoS rule contains: QFI of associated QoS flow, packet filter set (PFS), priority and rule operation. Rule operation indicates to add / modify / delete a QoS rule. If the rule operation is to modify the QoS rule, it can further indicate to add packet filter or replace packet filter set.

[0195] 2. One QoS flow can have multiple QoS rules.

[0196] 3. Each PDU session is configured with one default QoS rule, and the default QoS rule is associated with one QoS flow.

[0197] QoS flow descriptions: contains one or more QoS flow descriptions, each QoS flow description includes QFI, rule operation and QoS parameters. Rule operation indicates to add / modify / delete a QoS flow description. QoS parameters include one or more parameters in Table 2, such as 5QI, GFBR, MFBR, AMBR, etc.

[0198] Packet detection rule (PDR): contains one or more service data flow filters (SDF filters), QER IDs and QFIs. Among them, QER ID is used to identify the QER corresponding to PDR, and QFI is the identifier of the QoS flow matched with the PDR. One PDR matches one QoS flow, and one QoS flow can match one or more PDRs (where different PDRs correspond to different SDF filters).

[0199] QoS enforcement rule (QER): each QER is identified by QER ID, and QER includes QFI and QoS parameters, wherein QFI is the identifier of the QoS flow corresponding to QER, and QoS parameters include one or more parameters in Table 2, such as 5QI, GFBR, MFBR, AMBR, etc.

[0200] 5QI is a scalar, which is used to index a 5G QoS characteristic. 5QI can be standardized, pre-configured or dynamically defined, and the content of 5G QoS characteristic is shown in Table 3.

[0201] Table 3

[0202] It should be noted that the schemes provided in the present application (for example, the schemes in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 below) can be applied to one or more communication systems, 4G, 5G (or NR) or future network communication systems. For example, the quality of service information mentioned below can include at least one of the following: QFI, any one or more parameters in Table 2, any one or more parameters in Table 3. The quality of service information mentioned below can include at least one of the following: QoS policy / configuration on the SMF / PCF side, QoS configuration on the AN side, QoS rules and QoS flow description on the UE side, PDR and QER on the UPF side. The quality of service parameter mentioned below can include any one or more parameters in Table 2, and / or, any one or more parameters in Table 3.

[0203] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station can also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem containing the functions of the base station. The control subsystem containing the functions of the base station herein can be a control center in the application scenarios of smart grid, industrial control, intelligent transportation, smart city, etc. The functions of the terminal device can also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal device, or by a device containing the functions of the terminal device.

[0204] In a communication network (for example, the network shown in FIG. 1a or FIG. 1b), the communication signals transmitted between different communication devices can be used to carry data. In this way, the communication devices can obtain corresponding network services through data. For example, in the NR scenario, the communication network can provide network services for the terminal device through data transmission of the PDU session.

[0205] For example, in order to meet the quality of service requirements of different services, the session management network element can configure quality of service information for the quality of service flow in the session, so that the access network device and the user plane network element in the network can realize data transmission of different services in the session through the quality of service information. Among them, the access network device and the user plane network element can transmit data of different sessions through different tunnels (such as N3 tunnels), but in future communication networks, the same tunnel between the access network device and the user plane network element may be used to transmit data of different sessions, and in this case, the existing quality of service information configuration method may cause the quality of data transmission to decrease.

[0206] In the following, some examples will be described with the terminal device as an example of UE.

[0207] As an example, as shown in the scenario of FIG. 2a, the UE can establish multiple sessions in FIG. 2a. For example, the UE establishes a session (e.g., a public network session) of a first network domain through network elements (e.g., AMF, SMF1, UPF1 in the figure) of a public network, so that the UE can transmit data packets of the public network session between the RAN, UPF1 and DN1; thereafter, the UE can also establish a session (e.g., a private network session) of a second network domain based on network elements (e.g., SMF2, UPF2 in the figure) of a private network, so that the UE can transmit data packets of the private network session between the RAN, UPF2 and DN2, wherein the UPF1 shunts the traffic of the private network session to the private network UPF (i.e., UPF2), thereby realizing the user to access the public network service and the private network service at the same time.

[0208] In the process shown in FIG. 2a, SMF1 can configure the quality of service information of the quality of service flow in the public network session based on the policy indicated by the PCF, and allocate an identifier of the quality of service flow that is unique within the public network session to each quality of service flow, to guarantee the network quality of service of the public network session. SMF2 can configure the quality of service information of the quality of service flow in the private network session based on the policy indicated by the PCF, and allocate an identifier of the quality of service flow that is unique within the private network session to each quality of service flow, to guarantee the network quality of service of the private network session. The configuration processes of the quality of service information of the two quality of service flows are independent of each other. However, in the case that the data packets of the two quality of service flows are transmitted through the same transmission channel (e.g., N3 tunnel) between the RAN and the UPF, the above configuration method may no longer be applicable.

[0209] For example, the identifiers of the quality of service flows in different sessions may conflict (denoted as problem 1). For example, for different quality of service flows of the same UE, since the configuration processes of the two quality of service flows of the UE by SMF1 and SMF2 are independent of each other, it is possible that the identifiers of the quality of service flows configured for the quality of service flows of one session and the quality of service flows of another session are the same, which conflicts, causing the network device (e.g., UPF, RAN) to be unable to distinguish different quality of service requirements based on the quality of service identifier when transmitting the data packets of the two different quality of service flows, thereby affecting the data transmission performance.

[0210] For example, different Quality of Service (QoS) flows may have the same QoS requirements but different QoS flow identifiers (referred to as Problem 2). For instance, two QoS flows in different sessions of the same UE may have the same QoS requirements. However, since SMF1 and SMF2 configure QoS information for these two QoS flows independently, they may configure different QoS flow identifiers, resulting in two QoS flow identifiers corresponding to the same QoS requirements. Since the total number of QoS flow identifiers a terminal device can use is limited (e.g., 64, 128, etc.), this situation causes the UE to be able to transmit data packets with fewer QoS requirements. In other words, this reduces the types of services the UE can obtain, affecting the UE's service experience.

[0211] As another example, as shown in Figure 2b, in a communication network, the S-SMF (or S-SM) can act as a service session management network element, managing one or more sessions of a terminal device (these sessions may correspond to one or more network domains, each network domain being used to transmit data from at least one session). It supports selecting different service SMFs (e.g., session management network elements serving public network services, session management network elements serving local services (e.g., L-SMF), session management network elements serving private network services, or anchor session management network elements (e.g., A-SMF), etc.) to establish connections between the terminal device and one or more network domains (e.g., public network, campus network, private network, subnet, etc.). Furthermore, in Figure 2b, the S-UPF (or S-UP) acts as a service user plane network element, supporting the distribution of user data streams to UPFs in different network domains. Data packets from one or more sessions of the same terminal device are transmitted through the same transmission channel (e.g., N3 tunnel) between the RAN and the UPF.

[0212] In the process shown in Figure 2b, although one or more sessions of the same terminal device can be managed through S-SMF, the current S-SMF is mainly used for the selection of different service SMFs. The service quality information of one or more sessions of the same terminal device still needs to be configured through the corresponding service SMF. The configuration process of service quality information of service quality flow in each session is also independent of each other, and the above-mentioned problems 1 and 2 still exist.

[0213] Therefore, in communication networks, when the same transmission tunnel is used to transmit data from different sessions, how to configure quality of service information to ensure data transmission quality is a technical problem that urgently needs to be solved.

[0214] To address the aforementioned problems, this application provides a communication method and related apparatus, which will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0215] Referring to FIG. 3, an implementation of a communication method provided by the present application is shown, which includes the following steps.

[0216] It should be noted that, in the following, the first communication device and other communication devices (e.g., the second communication device, the third communication device, etc.) in FIG. 3 are taken as an example to illustrate the execution subject of the interaction, but the present application does not limit the execution subject of the interaction. For example, the communication device can be a communication device, or a chip, a baseband chip, a modem chip, a system on chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core, a system in package (SIP) chip, a communication module, a chip system, a processor, a logic module or software, etc. in the communication device. Optionally, the communication device can be a terminal device or a network device (e.g., an access network device, an access network element, a core network element, or a core network device, etc.).

[0217] S301. The first communication device obtains first quality of service information. The first quality of service information corresponds to a first quality of service flow, and the first quality of service flow is used for transmission of first data between a first user plane network element and a second user plane network element, and the first data is data of a first session of a terminal device.

[0218] S302. The first communication device determines third quality of service information according to the first quality of service information and second quality of service information. The second quality of service information corresponds to a second quality of service flow, and the second quality of service flow is used for transmission of second data through a tunnel between the first user plane network element and an access network device, and the second data is data of a second session of the terminal device.

[0219] S303. The first communication device sends the third quality of service information, and correspondingly, the third communication device receives the third quality of service information. The third quality of service information corresponds to a third quality of service flow, and the third quality of service flow is used for transmission of the first data through the tunnel.

[0220] The first communication device is configured to manage the first session and the second session of the terminal device, and can be a session management network element, or a part of the session management network element (e.g., a chip), or a logic module or software that implements all or part of the functions of the session management network element. For example, the first communication device can be the SMF1 in FIG. 2a or the S-SMF in FIG. 2b. The first communication device can also be configured to manage other sessions of the terminal device in addition to the first session and the second session, support selecting a session management network element (e.g., a session management network element serving public network services, a session management network element serving local services (e.g., an L-SMF), or a session management network element serving private network services, or an anchor session management network element (e.g., an A-SMF), etc.) for the sessions of the terminal device, and enable establishing connections of the terminal device to different network domains (public networks, campus networks, private networks, or subnetworks, etc.). For example, the first communication device can be an intermediate session management network element (e.g., an I-SMF that supports managing or controlling one or more sessions of the terminal device); or the first communication device can be a session management network element (e.g., an SMF or an L-SMF) that supports managing or controlling the first session and the second session of the terminal device.

[0221] In this application, a session (e.g., a first session, a second session, etc.) can be a bearer in LTE, a PDU session in 5G, or other forms defined in future communication networks, which are not limited herein.

[0222] For example, the session involved in this application can be a public network session, a campus session, a local session, a private network session, or other sessions, which are not limited herein.

[0223] In this application, in one or more data streams transmitted by different communication devices, a same data stream that obtains a same quality of service network service guarantee can be transmitted in a service quality stream described above, i.e., data packets (or data messages) transmitted in a same service quality stream can obtain a same or similar quality of service network service guarantee. Generally, data packets (or data messages) transmitted in different service quality streams can obtain different quality of service network service guarantees.

[0224] In addition, the service quality stream can be an EPS bearer in LTE, a QoS Flow in NR, or other forms defined in future communication networks, which are not limited herein.

[0225] Similarly, the identifier of the service quality stream described below can be an EBI in LTE, a QFI in NR, or other forms defined in future communication networks, which are not limited herein.

[0226] Similarly, the service quality identifier described later can be QCI in LTE, 5QI in NR, or other forms of implementation defined by future communication networks, which are not limited here.

[0227] For example, if the scheme in FIG. 3 is applied to the case of an NR system, the service quality flow and the related implementation process described above can refer to the implementation process of the QoS guarantee mechanism in the scenario shown in FIG. 1b.

[0228] It should be noted that in the scheme shown in FIG. 3, the second session of the terminal device can include one or more sessions other than the first session of the terminal device. Correspondingly, the second service quality flow in the second session can include any service quality flow in any of the one or more sessions. In other words, the determination basis of the first communication device for determining the third service quality information can include the service quality information of the service quality flow other than the first service quality flow of the first session.

[0229] Optionally, the one or more sessions included in the second session can be an established session of the terminal device, or can be a session of the terminal device that has not been established (for example, the second session has been initiated by a certain SMF, but has not been established), which is not limited here. For example, the first session can be a session of the first network domain in FIG. 2a, and the second session can be a session of the second network domain in FIG. 2a. For another example, the first session can be a session of the second network domain in FIG. 2a, and the second session can be a session of the first network domain in FIG. 2a. The first session and the second session can be any two sessions in one or more network domains in FIG. 2b.

[0230] In a possible implementation, the process in which the first communication device obtains the first service quality information includes that the first communication device receives the first service quality information from a second communication device. The second communication device can be a second session management network element for managing the first session, that is, a second session management network element corresponding to the first session. The second communication device can also be a part of the second session management network element (for example, a chip), or a logic module or software that implements all or part of the function of the second session management network element.

[0231] Optionally, the session management network element corresponding to the first session and the session management network element corresponding to the second session are the same session management network element, so that the above scheme can be applied to the scenario in which the same session management network element manages different sessions of the same terminal device, and the influence between the service quality information of the service quality flows of different sessions is comprehensively considered to guarantee the data transmission quality. It should be understood that in this case, the first communication device can obtain the first service quality information based on a locally preconfigured policy (or a policy configured by a PCF network element or other network element).

[0232] In the scheme shown in FIG. 3, in step S301, taking the device sending the first service quality information to the first communication device as an example, the second communication device can be a session management network element (such as a session management network element serving a public network service, a session management network element serving a local service (for example, L-SMF), or a session management network element serving a private network service, etc.) corresponding to the first session, for managing the first session. For example, the above-mentioned session management network element can be an intermediate session management network element (I-SMF) supporting management or control of the first session of the terminal device, or can be a session management network element (SMF) supporting management or control of the first session of the terminal device. For example, in the case where the first communication device is SMF1 in FIG. 2a, the second communication device can be SMF2 in FIG. 2a; or in the case where the first communication device can be S-SMF in FIG. 2b, the second communication device can be an SMF in any one of the one or more network domains in FIG. 2b.

[0233] For example, the first service quality information can be carried in a message sent by the second communication device to the first communication device, and the message can be used to establish or modify the first session. For example, the message can be a request message or a response message, such as:

[0234] Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Response;

[0235] Nsmf_PDUSession_Create Response;

[0236] Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext Request;

[0237] Nsmf_PDUSession_Update Request.

[0238] Optionally, in addition to the above implementation, the first service quality information can also be carried in other messages defined by future communication networks and sent by the second communication device to the first communication device, which is not limited here.

[0239] It should be noted that, as described in step S301, the first service quality flow corresponding to the first service quality information obtained by the first communication device in step S301 is used for transmission of first data between the first user plane network element and the second user plane network element, and the first data is data of the first session of the terminal device.

[0240] For example, in the case that the first data is downlink data, the transmission path of the first data can include a transmission path between the second user plane network element and the first user plane network element, a transmission path between the first user plane network element and the access network element, and a transmission path between the access network element and the terminal device.

[0241] For example, in the case that the first data is uplink data, the transmission path of the first data can include a transmission path between the terminal device and the access network element, a transmission path between the access network element and the first user plane network element, and a transmission path between the first user plane network element and the second user plane network element.

[0242] For example, the first user plane network element can be the UPF1 in FIG. 2a and the second user plane network element can be the UPF2 in FIG. 2a. Alternatively, the first user plane network element can be the S-UPF1 in FIG. 2b and the second user plane network element can be any UPF in one or more network domains in FIG. 2b.

[0243] In the scheme shown in FIG. 3, in step S303, the third communication device receiving the third service quality information sent by the first communication device is taken as an example, which can be a terminal device, an access network device, a first user plane network element, etc. The first user plane can be an S-UPF, a UL CL, etc.

[0244] For example, in the case that the third communication device is a terminal device, the third service quality information can be carried in a non-access stratum (NAS) message. Optionally, the NAS message can be a session modification instruction message (such as a PDU session modification command message), or other forms defined by future communication networks, which are not limited herein. For example, the third service quality information includes a QoS rule and / or a QoS flow description, etc.

[0245] For example, in the case that the third communication device is an access network device, the third service quality information can be carried in a session resource modification request message (such as a PDU session resource modification request message), or other forms defined by future communication networks, which are not limited herein. For example, the third service quality information includes a QoS configuration.

[0246] For example, in the case that the third communication device is a first user plane network element, the third quality of service information can be carried in a packet forwarding control protocol session modification request message, or other forms defined by future communication networks, which are not limited herein. For example, the third quality of service information includes one or more of a create PDR, an update PDR, a create QER, and an update QER.

[0247] Optionally, the message (for example, a request message or a response message of an SM context) sent by the second communication device to the first communication device can be used to indicate that the quality of service information corresponding to the first quality of service flow is established, re-established, or modified as the first quality of service information. Similarly, the message (for example, a session modification instruction message, a session resource modification request message, or a packet forwarding control protocol session modification request message) sent by the first communication device to the third communication device can be used to indicate that the quality of service information corresponding to the third quality of service flow is established, re-established, or modified as the third quality of service information.

[0248] It should be noted that after receiving the third quality of service information, the third communication device can perform data processing through the above-mentioned "(6) QoS guarantee mechanism", which can be referred to the above description and will not be repeated here.

[0249] Based on the scheme shown in FIG. 3, after the first communication device obtains the first quality of service information corresponding to the first quality of service flow in step S301, the first communication device determines the third quality of service information according to the first quality of service information and the second quality of service information in step S302. Thereafter, the first communication device can send the third quality of service information corresponding to the third quality of service flow in step S303, and the third quality of service flow is used for transmission of the first data through the tunnel. In other words, the first communication device determines the quality of service information corresponding to the quality of service flow in another session of the terminal device corresponding to the same transmission tunnel based on the quality of service information corresponding to the quality of service flow in one session of the terminal device, so that the quality of service information in the one session can be used as one of the determination bases of the quality of service information in the other session. Therefore, in the case that data in different sessions of the same terminal device is transmitted through the same transmission tunnel, the first communication device can consider the influence of different quality of service flows in other sessions in the configuration process of the quality of service information of the quality of service flow in one session, so as to guarantee the quality of data transmission.

[0250] In addition, in the case that data of different sessions of the same terminal device is transmitted through the same transmission tunnel, compared with the implementation manner that the quality of service information of different sessions is configured independently, in the above scheme, since the influence between the quality of service information of different quality of service flows of different sessions is comprehensively considered in the process of configuring the quality of service information of the quality of service flow of a certain session, the configuration efficiency of the quality of service information can be improved, and the data transmission performance can be improved.

[0251] It should be noted that in the scheme shown in FIG. 3, the third quality of service information can be implemented in multiple ways (for ease of reference below, the multiple examples corresponding to the third quality of service information are denoted as implementation ①).

[0252] For example, the third quality of service information includes an identifier of the third quality of service flow.

[0253] For another example, the third quality of service information includes a QoS rule, and the QoS rule includes an identifier of the third quality of service flow.

[0254] For another example, the third quality of service information includes a QoS flow description, and the QoS flow description includes an identifier of the third quality of service flow.

[0255] For another example, the third quality of service information includes a QoS configuration, and the QoS configuration includes an identifier of the third quality of service flow.

[0256] For example, the third service quality information includes one or more of a create PDR, an update PDR, a create QER, and an update QER. The PDR and the QER can include a QFI mapping rule, i.e., the UPF receives a data packet, matches the data packet according to the PDR, and modifies the identifier of the service quality flow corresponding to the data packet according to the QER corresponding to the matched PDR. For example, when the PDR is used to match data sent from the terminal device or the access network device, the PDR includes the identifier of the third service quality flow, and the corresponding QER includes the identifier of the first service quality flow. The UPF receives a data packet carrying the identifier of the third service quality flow, matches the corresponding PDR, and modifies the identifier of the third service quality flow corresponding to the data packet according to the QER corresponding to the matched PDR to the identifier of the first service quality flow. For example, for a downlink PDR, i.e., as shown in FIG. 2a, when the UPF1 receives first data sent from the UPF2, or as shown in FIG. 2b, when the S-UPF receives first data sent from the UPF, the PDR includes the identifier of the first service quality flow, and the corresponding QER includes the identifier of the third service quality flow. The UPF receives a data packet carrying the identifier of the first service quality flow, matches the corresponding PDR, and modifies the identifier of the first service quality flow corresponding to the data packet according to the QER corresponding to the matched PDR to the identifier of the third service quality flow.

[0257] It should be noted that in the scheme shown in FIG. 3, after the first communication device determines the third service quality information in step S302, the first communication device can maintain / keep / save the mapping relationship between the first service quality flow and the third service quality flow in the first session. If the first communication device subsequently receives an indication or request for modifying / updating / adjusting / deleting the first service quality flow, the first communication device can perform corresponding modification / update / adjustment / deletion, etc., on the third service quality flow based on the mapping relationship, so as to meet the requirement of the indication or request, and avoid or reduce the situation that the service quality of some network services cannot be guaranteed due to configuration errors.

[0258] In a possible implementation of the method shown in FIG. 3, the service quality information corresponding to any service quality flow can include the identifier of the service quality flow, e.g., the first service quality information includes the identifier of the first service quality flow, the second service quality information includes the identifier of the second service quality flow, and the third service quality information includes the identifier of the third service quality flow. Correspondingly, in step S302, the third service quality information determined by the first communication device can include the identifier of the third service quality flow, which will be described exemplarily in combination with some implementation examples.

[0259] In implementation one, in the implementation of step S302, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, the first communication device determines the third service quality flow identifier as an identifier different from the first service quality flow identifier.

[0260] In implementation one, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, the first communication device can determine the third service quality flow identifier as an identifier different from the first service quality flow identifier (or the first communication device can determine the third service quality flow identifier as an identifier different from the second service quality flow identifier), in this way, the possible traffic conflict caused by the first data and the second data using the same service quality flow identifier in the same transmission tunnel can be avoided or reduced, so as to improve the data transmission performance.

[0261] In a possible implementation of implementation one, in the implementation of step S302, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, and the first condition is met, the first communication device determines the third service quality flow identifier as an identifier different from the first service quality flow identifier; wherein the first condition includes any of the following:

[0262] The resource type of the first service quality flow is GBR;

[0263] The resource type of the second service quality flow is GBR;

[0264] The resource types of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow are both non-GBR, the first service quality indicator is different from the second service quality indicator (optionally, for the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information, the two service quality indicators can both be standardized service quality indicators, or the two service quality indicators can both be non-standardized service quality indicators, or one of the two service quality indicators is a standardized service quality indicator and the other is a non-standardized service quality indicator); or

[0265] The resource types of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow are both non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are both non-standardized service quality indicators, and the service quality parameter associated with the first service quality indicator is different from the service quality parameter associated with the second service quality indicator.

[0266] Specifically, in the case that the identity of the first service quality flow is the same as the identity of the second service quality flow, if the first condition is satisfied, the first communication device can determine that the use of the same identity for the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow will result in at least one service quality flow failing to obtain the required network service quality guarantee. For example, in the case that data of different sessions of the same terminal device are transmitted through the same transmission tunnel, and different service quality flows in the different sessions require different network service qualities, if one or more session management network elements respectively and independently determine that the different service quality flows correspond to the same service quality flow identity, a conflict will occur, resulting in the communication device being unable to provide different network service quality guarantees based on the service quality flow identity when transmitting data packets of the different service quality flows, and further affecting data transmission performance.

[0267] In the above solution, the first communication device can determine the identity of the third service quality flow to be an identity different from the identity of the first service quality flow (for example, the first communication device determines the identity of the third service quality flow from one of one or more identities that are not currently allocated (or free), and the first communication device can determine the identities of the third service quality flows that have been allocated or used according to the saved mapping relationship between the first service quality flow and the third service quality flow, and further determine the identities of the third service quality flows that are not allocated or free), in this way, the conflict caused by the use of the same identity for the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow can be avoided, so as to guarantee the network service quality required by each service quality flow.

[0268] Optionally, in the first implementation, the third service quality information sent by the first communication device in step S303 satisfies at least one of the following modes A to D.

[0269] Mode A. The third service quality information is used to establish (or add) the third service quality flow. For example, the third service quality information includes a QoS rule, and the rule operation in the QoS rule indicates the addition of a QoS rule. For example, the third service quality information includes a QoS flow description, and the rule operation in the QoS flow description indicates the addition of a QoS flow description. For example, the third service quality information includes a QoS configuration, and the QoS configuration is a QoS flow addition or modification request item. For example, the third service quality information includes a create PDR and a create QER.

[0270] For example, the third QoS information is configured to indicate (e.g. the receiver of the third QoS information determines that the third QoS flow identified by the third QoS information contained in the third QoS information is currently not in use) that the third QoS flow identified by the third QoS information contained in the third QoS information is currently not in use, such that the receiver of the third QoS information is able to establish the third QoS flow based on the third QoS information.

[0271] For example, the message / signaling carrying the third QoS information is configured to indicate (e.g. the message implicitly indicates the function by the message name / transport resource / transport interface, for another example, the message explicitly indicates the function by one or more bits of indication information) that the receiver of the third QoS information is able to establish the third QoS flow based on the message / signaling. For example, the message can be the session modification instruction message, the session resource modification request message, or the packet forwarding control protocol session modification request message, etc.

[0272] For example, the third QoS information includes the QoS indicator in the first QoS information. For example, the third QoS information includes the QoS flow description, and the QoS flow description includes the 5QI in the first QoS information. For example, the third QoS information includes the QoS configuration, and the QoS configuration includes the 5QI in the first QoS information. For example, the third QoS information includes the create QER, and the create QER includes the 5QI in the first QoS information.

[0273] For example, the third QoS information includes the QoS indicator associated QoS parameter in the first QoS information. For example, the QoS indicator associated QoS parameter includes one or more parameters in Table 2, one or more parameters in Table 3. For example, the third QoS information includes the QoS flow description, and the QoS flow description includes the 5QI associated QoS parameter in the first QoS information. For example, the third QoS information includes the QoS configuration, and the QoS configuration includes the 5QI associated QoS parameter in the first QoS information. For example, the third QoS information includes the create QER, and the create QER includes the 5QI associated QoS parameter in the first QoS information.

[0274] In an example, the third service quality information comprises a QoS rule, and the QoS rule comprises a PFS, and the PFS comprises the packet filter rule in the first service quality information. In an example, the third service quality information comprises a create PDR, and the create PDR comprises an SDF filter, and the SDF filter is the packet filter rule in the first service quality information.

[0275] Therefore, the third service quality information can satisfy at least one of the above, so that the third communication device can establish (or add) the third service quality flow based on at least one of the above, to guarantee the network service quality required by the third service quality flow.

[0276] For example, through the manner A, the third communication device can explicitly need to establish the third service quality flow, to transmit the first data through the established third service quality flow, and provide quality of service guarantee for the transmission of the first data through the third service quality information.

[0277] For another example, through at least one of the manner B, the manner C and the manner D, the third communication device can provide quality of service guarantee for the transmission of the first data based on at least one of the service quality indicator specified by the third service quality information, the service quality parameter associated with the service quality indicator, and the packet filter rule.

[0278] In the implementation process of the step S302, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, the first communication device determines that the identifier of the third service quality flow is the identifier of the first service quality flow or the identifier of the second service quality flow.

[0279] In the implementation manner II, the service quality information corresponding to any service quality flow can comprise the service quality flow identifier of the any service quality flow, and accordingly, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, the first communication device can determine that the identifier of the third service quality flow is the identifier of the first service quality flow (or the first communication device can determine that the identifier of the third service quality flow is the identifier of the second service quality flow), in this way, the first data and the second data transmitted through the same transmission tunnel can use the same service quality flow identifier, so as to reduce the maintenance / storage overhead of a large number of service quality flow identifiers.

[0280] In a possible implementation of the implementation two, in the implementation of the step S302, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, and the second condition is satisfied, the first communication device determines that the identifier of the third service quality flow is the identifier of the first service quality flow or the identifier of the second service quality flow; wherein the second condition includes any of the following:

[0281] the types of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow are both non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are both standardized service quality indicators, and the first service quality indicator and the second service quality indicator are the same; or

[0282] the types of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow are both non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are both non-standardized service quality indicators, the first service quality indicator and the second service quality indicator are the same, and the service quality parameter associated with the first service quality indicator and the service quality parameter associated with the second service quality indicator are the same.

[0283] Specifically, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, if the second condition is satisfied, the first communication device can determine that using the same identifier for the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow will not cause the two service quality flows to fail to obtain the required network service quality. For example, in the case that the data of different sessions of the same terminal device are transmitted through the same transmission tunnel, and different service quality flows in the different sessions require the same network service quality, if one or more session management network elements respectively and independently determine that the different service quality flows correspond to different service quality flow identifiers, the number of used service quality flow identifiers will increase, causing unnecessary repetition. Generally, the number of service quality flow identifiers allocated for the same terminal device is limited (for example, 64, 128), and the unnecessary repetition can occupy a large number of service quality flow identifiers, causing the establishment of other service quality flows of the terminal device to fail due to the inability to allocate new service quality flow identifiers, which can cause the corresponding service data of the other service quality flows to fail to be transmitted, or the corresponding service data of the other service quality flows to fail to obtain network service quality guarantee or to obtain degraded network service quality guarantee, thereby affecting the data transmission performance.

[0284] In the above solution, the first communication device can determine the identity of the third QoS flow as the identity of the first QoS flow or the identity of the second QoS flow. In this way, the number of identities of different QoS flows of the same terminal device can be reduced, so as to reduce the complexity of configuration and the maintenance / storage overhead of configuration of different QoS flows of the same terminal device. In addition, the number of identities of different QoS flows of the same terminal device can be limited (e.g. 64, 128, etc.), and the above solution can reduce the configuration of unnecessary repeated identities, and can avoid or reduce the situation that the number of identities of different QoS flows of the same terminal device is not enough to allocate a new identity of a QoS flow to the terminal device.

[0285] Optionally, in the second implementation, the third QoS information sent by the first communication device in step S303 satisfies at least one of the following modes E to H.

[0286] Mode E. The third QoS information is used to modify the QoS rule information corresponding to the second QoS flow. For example, the third QoS information includes a QoS rule, and the rule operation in the QoS rule indicates to modify the QoS rule. For example, the third QoS information includes a QoS flow description, and the rule operation in the QoS flow description indicates to modify a QoS flow description. For example, the third QoS information includes a QoS configuration, and the QoS configuration is a QoS flow add or modify request item. For example, the third QoS information includes an update PDR and / or an update QER. For example, the first QoS information includes a first Session-AMBR, the second QoS information includes a second Session-AMBR, and the third QoS information includes a third Session-AMBR, the third Session-AMBR is the larger one of the first Session-AMBR and the second Session-AMBR, or the third Session-AMBR is the sum of the first Session-AMBR and the second Session-AMBR. For example, the first QoS information includes a first UE-AMBR, the second QoS information includes a second UE-AMBR, and the third QoS information includes a third UE-AMBR, the third UE-AMBR is the larger one of the first UE-AMBR and the second UE-AMBR, or the third UE-AMBR is the sum of the first UE-AMBR and the second UE-AMBR.

[0287] For example, the third service quality information is configured to indicate a function (e.g., the third service quality information carries one or more bits of indication information to indicate the function), such that a receiver of the third service quality information is able to modify the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow based on the third service quality information.

[0288] For example, the third service quality information is configured to indicate a function (e.g., the third service quality information carries one or more bits of indication information to indicate the function), such that a receiver of the third service quality information is able to modify the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow based on the third service quality information.

[0289] For example, the third service quality information is configured to indicate a function (e.g., the third service quality information carries one or more bits of indication information to indicate the function), such that a receiver of the third service quality information is able to modify the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow based on the third service quality information.

[0290] For example, the third service quality information is configured to indicate a function (e.g., the third service quality information carries one or more bits of indication information to indicate the function), such that a receiver of the third service quality information is able to modify the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow based on the third service quality information.

[0291] For example, the third service quality information is configured to indicate a function (e.g., the third service quality information carries one or more bits of indication information to indicate the function), such that a receiver of the third service quality information is able to modify the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow based on the third service quality information.

[0292] For example, the third service quality information is configured to indicate a function (e.g., the third service quality information carries one or more bits of indication information to indicate the function), such that a receiver of the third service quality information is able to modify the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow based on the third service quality information.

[0293] For example, the third service quality information is configured to indicate a function (e.g., the third service quality information carries one or more bits of indication information to indicate the function), such that a receiver of the third service quality information is able to modify the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow based on the third service quality information.

[0294] For another example, the third communication device is capable of obtaining the modified quality of service rule based on at least one of the manner F, the manner G and the manner H, to transmit the first data by the modified quality of service rule.

[0295] In the implementation of the step S302, in the case that the first quality of service flow identifier and the second quality of service flow identifier are different, the first communication device determines the third quality of service flow identifier as the first quality of service flow identifier.

[0296] In the implementation of the third implementation, the quality of service information corresponding to any quality of service flow can include the quality of service flow identifier of the any quality of service flow, and correspondingly, in the case that the first quality of service flow identifier and the second quality of service flow identifier are different, the first communication device can determine the third quality of service flow identifier as the first quality of service flow identifier. In this way, the first data and the second data transmitted in the same transmission tunnel can use different quality of service flow identifiers to guarantee different quality of service, so as to improve the data transmission performance.

[0297] In a possible implementation of the third implementation, in the implementation of the step S302, in the case that the first quality of service flow identifier and the second quality of service flow identifier are different and the third condition is met, the first communication device determines the third quality of service flow identifier as the first quality of service flow identifier; wherein the third condition includes any of the following:

[0298] The type of the first quality of service flow is GBR;

[0299] The type of the second quality of service flow is GBR;

[0300] The type of the first quality of service flow is non-GBR, and the first quality of service indicator is different from the second quality of service indicator (optionally, for the first quality of service indicator in the first quality of service information and the second quality of service indicator in the second quality of service information, the two quality of service indicators can be standardized quality of service indicators, or the two quality of service indicators can be non-standardized quality of service indicators, or one of the two quality of service indicators is a standardized quality of service indicator and the other is a non-standardized quality of service indicator); or

[0301] The type of the first quality of service flow is non-GBR, the first quality of service indicator in the first quality of service information and the second quality of service indicator in the second quality of service information are non-standardized quality of service indicators, and the quality of service parameter associated with the first quality of service indicator is different from the quality of service parameter associated with the second quality of service indicator.

[0302] Thus, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different, if the third condition is satisfied, the first communication device can determine that the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow use the same identifier, which will result in that at least one service quality flow cannot obtain the required network service quality. For this purpose, the first communication device can determine the third service quality flow identifier as the first service quality flow identifier, in this way, the required network service quality of each service quality flow can be realized through the identifier of different service quality flows, and the configuration complexity can be reduced.

[0303] It can be understood that in the third implementation manner, one or more information in the service quality rule, the rule operation of the service quality rule, the packet filtering information, the service quality indicator, and the service quality parameter associated with the service quality indicator contained in the third service quality information can be determined using the information content contained in the first service quality information, so as to guarantee the service quality of the data transmission of the first data corresponding to the first service quality information.

[0304] In the fourth implementation manner, in the implementation of the step S302, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different, the first communication device determines the third service quality flow identifier as the second service quality flow identifier.

[0305] In the fourth implementation manner, the service quality information corresponding to any service quality flow can include the service quality flow identifier of the any service quality flow, and correspondingly, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different, the first communication device can determine the third service quality flow identifier as the second service quality flow identifier, in this way, the first data and the second data transmitted in the same transmission tunnel can use the same service quality flow identifier, so as to reduce the maintenance / storage overhead of a large number of service quality flow identifiers.

[0306] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth implementation manner, in the implementation of the step S302, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different and the fourth condition is satisfied, the first communication device determines the third service quality flow identifier as the second service quality flow identifier; wherein the fourth condition includes any of the following:

[0307] the type of the first service quality flow is non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are the same and are standardized service quality indicators; or

[0308] The type of the first service quality flow is non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information is same as the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information and is a non-standardized service quality indicator, and the service quality parameter associated with the first service quality indicator is same as the service quality parameter associated with the second service quality indicator.

[0309] In particular, in the case that the first service quality flow identifier is different from the second service quality flow identifier, if the fourth condition is satisfied, the first communication device can determine that using the same identifier for the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow will not cause the two service quality flows to fail to obtain the required network service quality. To this end, the first communication device can determine that the identifier of the third service quality flow is the identifier of the second service quality flow, in this way, the number of identifiers of different service quality flows of the same terminal device can be reduced, so as to reduce the complexity of configuration and the maintenance overhead of configuration of different service quality flows of the same terminal device.

[0310] In addition, the number of identifiers of different service quality flows of the same terminal device can be limited (for example, 64, 128, etc.), and through the above scheme, unnecessary repeated configuration of identifiers can be reduced, and the situation that the number of identifiers of different service quality flows of the same terminal device is not enough to allocate a new identifier for the terminal device can be avoided.

[0311] Optionally, in the fourth implementation manner, the third service quality information sent by the first communication device in step S303 satisfies at least one of the above manners E, F, G and H, so that the third communication device can establish / modify / update the third service quality flow based on the at least one, to guarantee the required network service quality of the third service quality flow.

[0312] In order to facilitate understanding of the above scheme, the following will be described in an exemplary manner with the first communication device being the S-SMF in FIG. 2b, the second communication device being the SMF in any network domain in the one or more network domains in FIG. 2b, the first user plane network element being the S-UPF, and the second user plane network element being the UPF, as an example.

[0313] Step 0: Establish a PDU session A between the terminal device and the network device.

[0314] It should be understood that the PDU session A is an example of the second session described above, and the QoS related information involved in the following PDU session A can be included in the second service quality information described above.

[0315] In addition, in the PDU session A, a certain QoS flow is created (for example, the corresponding bearer of the QoS flow can be a default bearer (hereinafter referred to as a default bearer 1) in the PDU session A, and the QFI is "2"). Optionally, the PDU session A also creates another QoS flow (for example, the corresponding bearer of the QoS flow is a dedicated bearer (hereinafter referred to as a dedicated bearer 1) in the PDU session A, and the QFI is "3").

[0316] As an example, through the process of step 0 shown in FIG. 4, after receiving / generating / obtaining the downlink data of the PDU session A of the terminal device, the S-UPF can send the downlink data of the PDU session A to the RAN through the N3 tunnel, and the RAN can send the downlink data of the PDU session A to the terminal device.

[0317] As another example, through the process of step 0 shown in FIG. 4, after generating / obtaining the uplink data of the PDU session A of the terminal device, the terminal device can send the uplink data of the PDU session A to the RAN, and the RAN can send the uplink data of the PDU session A to the S-UPF through the N3 tunnel.

[0318] The transmission process of the uplink / downlink data of the PDU session A can be guaranteed by the configuration information of the QoS flow with QFI 2 or 3 in the PDU session A, and the configuration information of the QoS flow can include PDR and / or QER of the UPF network element, QoS profile of the RAN, QoS rule of the terminal device, etc.

[0319] In the following process, the S-SMF performs step 1a and step 1b, or the S-SMF performs step 1c.

[0320] Step 1a: The S-SMF sends a session establishment request message to the SMF to request to establish the PDU session B.

[0321] It should be understood that the PDU session B is an implementation example of the first session described above, and the implementation process and technical effects can be referred to the description above.

[0322] Optionally, the S-SMF can select the SMF based on a preconfigured or other device (for example, PCF) configured policy, and then send the above-mentioned session request establishment message to the SMF in step 1a.

[0323] Step 1b: The SMF sends a session establishment response message to the S-SMF to indicate the response corresponding to the request to establish the PDU session B.

[0324] Step 1c: The SMF sends a session modification request message to the S-SMF to indicate the request to modify the PDU session B.

[0325] It should be understood that step 1b or step 1c is an example implementation of the foregoing step S301, and the session establishment response message or the session modification request message can be used to carry the first quality of service information in the foregoing step S301.

[0326] Here, it is assumed that the SMF sets three QoS flows in the PDU session B to QFI 5, 3, and 4, respectively. The QoS flow corresponding to QFI 5 can be a default bearer (hereinafter referred to as bearer 2) in the PDU session B, and the QoS flows corresponding to QFI 3 and 4 can be dedicated bearers (hereinafter referred to as bearer 2 and bearer 3, respectively) in the PDU session B. In other words, the session establishment response message in step 1b and the session modification request message in step 1c both request / instruct to establish three QoS flows with QFI 5, 3, and 4 for the PDU session B.

[0327] Step 2: The S-SMF determines the QFI of the PDU session B according to the implementation processes of the foregoing implementation mode one and implementation mode two.

[0328] It should be understood that step 2 is an example implementation of the foregoing step S302, and the specific implementation process and technical effects can be referred to the foregoing description.

[0329] Optionally, the S-SMF can maintain / keep / save a QFI mapping table to facilitate subsequent modification / update / adjustment / deletion of the three QoS flows in the PDU session B.

[0330] As an example, in step 2, it is assumed that the PDU session A has created a dedicated bearer 1 (for example, QFI=3) corresponding to a certain QoS flow, and the PDU session B requests to establish / modify a dedicated bearer 2 (QFI=3) corresponding to a certain QoS flow. The following processing is performed.

[0331] ① If the dedicated bearer 1 and / or the dedicated bearer 2 is a GBR type, the S-SMF reassigns a QFI for the dedicated bearer 2. For example, the QFI of the dedicated bearer 2 is mapped or modified to 10.

[0332] ② If the dedicated bearer 1 and the dedicated bearer 2 are non-GBR types, but the 5QI and / or the QoS parameter of the two dedicated bearers are different, the S-SMF reassigns a QFI for the dedicated bearer 2. For example, the QFI of the dedicated bearer 2 is modified or mapped to 10.

[0333] ③ If the dedicated bearer 1 and the dedicated bearer 2 are both non-GBR types, and the 5QI of the two dedicated bearers are both standard 5QI and the same, or the 5QI of the two dedicated bearers are both non-standard 5QI but the QoS parameter is the same, the S-SMF determines that the QFI of the dedicated bearer 2 remains unchanged (i.e., QFI=3).

[0334] As another example, in step 2, assuming PDU session A has created a certain QoS flow corresponding to the implicit 1 (for example, QFI = 2), PDU session B requests to establish / modify a certain QoS flow corresponding to the implicit 2 (QFI = 5), the implicit corresponding to the two QoS flows is of the non-GBR type, and the 5QI corresponding to the two QoS flows is the same standard 5QI (or the 5QI corresponding to the two QoS flows is a non-standard 5QI and the QoS parameters are the same), the S-SMF determines to reassign QFI for implicit 2. Exemplarily, the QFI of implicit 2 is mapped to 2.

[0335] As another example, in step 2, assuming PDU session A has created a certain QoS flow corresponding to the implicit 1 (for example, QFI = 2), PDU session B requests to establish / modify a certain QoS flow corresponding to the implicit 2 (QFI = 5), the implicit corresponding to the two QoS flows is of the non-GBR type, and the 5QI corresponding to the two QoS flows is the same standard 5QI (or the 5QI corresponding to the two QoS flows is a non-standard 5QI and the QoS parameters are the same), the S-SMF determines to reassign QFI for implicit 2. Exemplarily, the QFI of implicit 2 is mapped to 2.

[0336] Step 3a: The S-SMF sends a request message to the RAN (or sends it to the RAN through the AM / MM / AMF) for requesting to add or modify a QoS flow in PDU session B, and carries the QFI determined in step 2.

[0337] Step 3b: The RAN sends a request message to the terminal device for requesting to add or modify a QoS flow in PDU session B, and carries the QFI determined in step 2.

[0338] It should be understood that step 3a, step 3b or subsequent step 4a are an example of the implementation of the foregoing step S303, and the messages in these steps can contain the third quality of service information in the foregoing step S303. The implementation process and technical effects can be referred to the foregoing description.

[0339] Step 3c: The terminal device replies that the addition or modification is completed.

[0340] Step 3d: The RAN sends a response to the addition or modification request.

[0341] Step 4a: The S-SMF sends a request message to the S-UPF. The message can be used to indicate to add or modify a QoS flow, and carries the QFI mapping rule (which can be referred to the foregoing implementation ①).

[0342] Step 4b: The S-UPF replies that the addition or modification is successful.

[0343] Step 5a: If steps 1a-1b are performed, the S-SMF sends a session modification request or notification to the SMF indicating the QoS Flow setup is successful.

[0344] Step 5b: If step 1c is performed, the S-SMF sends a session modification response to the SMF indicating the QoS Flow setup is successful.

[0345] Step 6a: The SMF sends a modification or establishment request to the UPF, carrying the newly added QoS Flow (i.e. Overload 2, Dedicated 2, Dedicated 3), and carrying the QFI before mapping (i.e. the QFI carried in the message in step 1b or step 1c, or understood as the first Quality of Service Flow Identifier).

[0346] Step 6b: The UPF sends a modification or establishment response.

[0347] It should be noted that the tunnel between the S-UPF and the RAN can be an N3 tunnel, and through the process shown in FIG. 4, different communication devices can transmit data of the terminal device through the N3 tunnel.

[0348] As an example, after receiving / generating / obtaining the downlink data of the PDU session B of the terminal device, the UPF can send the downlink data of the PDU session B to the RAN through the N3 tunnel between the S-UPF and the RAN, and the RAN can send the downlink data of the PDU session B to the terminal device.

[0349] As another example, after generating / obtaining the uplink data of the PDU session B of the terminal device, the terminal device can send the uplink data of the PDU session B to the RAN, and the RAN can send the uplink data of the PDU session B to the UPF through the N3 tunnel between the S-UPF and the RAN.

[0350] Among them, the transmission process of the uplink / downlink data of the PDU session B can be guaranteed through the configuration information of the QoS flow with QFI 10 or 3 or 2 (depending on the implementation of step 2) in the PDU session A, and the configuration information of the QoS flow can include PDR and / or QER of the UPF network element, QoS profile of the RAN, QoS rule of the terminal device, etc.

[0351] Therefore, through the above process, in the case that the data of the PDU session A and the PDU session B of the same terminal device are transmitted through the N3 tunnel between the S-UPF and the RAN, compared with the implementation manner of independently configuring the quality of service information of different sessions, in the above scheme, since the influence between the quality of service information of the quality of service flow of the PDU session A and the quality of service information of the quality of service flow of the PDU session B is comprehensively considered in the configuration process of the quality of service information of the quality of service flow of the PDU session B, the configuration efficiency of the quality of service information can be improved, and the data transmission performance is improved, so that the data of the PDU session A and the data of the PDU session B transmitted through the N3 tunnel between the S-UPF and the RAN can obtain corresponding network quality of service guarantee.

[0352] For example, in the case that the S-SMF determines to map or modify the QFI of the dedicated 2 to 10, map the QFI of the implicit 2 to 2, map the QFI of the dedicated 3 to 3, and the like in step 2, the conflict caused by using the same identifier for the PDU session A and the PDU session B can be avoided to guarantee the network quality of service required by each quality of service flow.

[0353] For another example, in the case that the S-SMF determines that the QFI of the dedicated 2 remains unchanged in step 2, the unnecessary repeated identifier configuration in the PDU session A and the PDU session B is reduced, and the case that the number of identifiers of different quality of service flows of the same terminal device is not enough to allocate a new quality of service flow identifier for the terminal device can be avoided or reduced.

[0354] Optionally, for the dual-domain private network scenario of 5G, the S-SMF in FIG. 4 can be replaced by an SMF, the S-UPF can be replaced by an UPF, the SMF can be replaced by a private network SMF, and the UPF can be replaced by a private network UPF.

[0355] Referring to FIG. 5, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus 500, which can realize the functions of the first communication apparatus (or the second communication apparatus, the third communication apparatus) in the above method embodiments, and thus can also realize the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus 500 can be the first communication apparatus (or the second communication apparatus, the third communication apparatus), or an integrated circuit or element etc. inside the first communication apparatus (or the second communication apparatus, the third communication apparatus), such as a chip, a baseband chip, a modem chip, an SoC chip (such as an SoC chip containing a modem core), a SIP chip, a communication module, a chip system, a processor, etc.

[0356] In a possible implementation, when the apparatus 500 is configured to perform the method performed by the first communication apparatus in any of the preceding embodiments, the apparatus 500 includes a processing unit 501 and a transceiver 502. The processing unit 501 is configured to obtain first quality of service information, the first quality of service information corresponding to a first quality of service flow, the first quality of service flow being used for transmission of first data between a first user plane network element and a second user plane network element, the first data being data of a first session of a terminal device; and determine third quality of service information according to the first quality of service information and second quality of service information, the second quality of service information corresponding to a second quality of service flow, the second quality of service flow being used for transmission of second data through a tunnel between the first user plane network element and an access network device, the second data being data of a second session of the terminal device. The transceiver 502 is configured to send the third quality of service information, the third quality of service information corresponding to a third quality of service flow, the third quality of service flow being used for transmission of the first data through the tunnel.

[0357] In a possible implementation, when the apparatus 500 is configured to perform the method performed by the second communication apparatus in any of the preceding embodiments, the apparatus 500 includes a transceiver 502. The transceiver 502 is configured to send first quality of service information, the first quality of service information corresponding to a first quality of service flow, the first quality of service flow being used for transmission of first data between a first user plane network element and a second user plane network element, the first data being data of a first session of a terminal device.

[0358] In a possible implementation, when the apparatus 500 is configured to perform the method performed by the third communication apparatus in any of the preceding embodiments, the apparatus 500 includes a transceiver 502. The transceiver 502 is configured to receive third quality of service information, the third quality of service information corresponding to a third quality of service flow, the third quality of service flow being used for transmission of first data through a tunnel between a first user plane network element and an access network device. The first data is data of a first session of a terminal device, and the tunnel is also used for transmission of second data, the second data being data of a second session of the terminal device.

[0359] It should be noted that the information execution process and the like of the units of the communication apparatus 500 are described in the method embodiments of the preceding embodiments of the present application, which will not be described here.

[0360] Referring to FIG. 6, another schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus 600 provided in the present application is shown. The communication apparatus 600 includes a logic circuit 601 and an input / output interface 602. The communication apparatus 600 can be a chip or an integrated circuit.

[0361] The transceiver unit 502 shown in FIG. 5 can be a communication interface, which can be an input / output interface 602 in FIG. 6, and the input / output interface 602 can include an input interface and an output interface. Alternatively, the communication interface can be a transceiver circuit, which can include an input interface circuit and an output interface circuit.

[0362] Optionally, the logic circuit 601 is configured to obtain first quality of service information, the first quality of service information corresponding to a first quality of service flow, the first quality of service flow being used for transmission of first data between the first user plane network element and the second user plane network element, the first data being data of a first session of the terminal device; and the logic circuit 601 is further configured to determine third quality of service information according to the first quality of service information and second quality of service information, the second quality of service information corresponding to a second quality of service flow, the second quality of service flow being used for transmission of second data through a tunnel between the first user plane network element and the access network device, the second data being data of a second session of the terminal device; and the input / output interface 602 is configured to send the third quality of service information, the third quality of service information corresponding to a third quality of service flow, the third quality of service flow being used for transmission of the first data through the tunnel.

[0363] Optionally, the input / output interface 602 is configured to send first quality of service information, the first quality of service information corresponding to a first quality of service flow, the first quality of service flow being used for transmission of first data between the first user plane network element and the second user plane network element, the first data being data of a first session of the terminal device.

[0364] Optionally, the input / output interface 602 is configured to receive third quality of service information, the third quality of service information corresponding to a third quality of service flow, the third quality of service flow being used for transmission of first data through a tunnel between the first user plane network element and the access network device. The first data is data of a first session of the terminal device, and the tunnel is also used for transmission of second data, the second data being data of a second session of the terminal device.

[0365] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 501 shown in FIG. 5 can be the logic circuit 601 in FIG. 6.

[0366] Optionally, the logic circuit 601 can be a processing apparatus, and the functions of the processing apparatus can be partially or entirely implemented through software.

[0367] Optionally, the processing apparatus can include a memory and a processor, where the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the corresponding processing and / or steps in any one of the method embodiments.

[0368] Optionally, the processing apparatus can only include a processor. The memory for storing the computer program is located outside the processing apparatus, and the processor is connected with the memory through circuit / wire to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory. Among them, the memory and the processor can be integrated together, or can also be physically independent of each other.

[0369] Optionally, the processing apparatus can be one or more chips, or one or more integrated circuits. For example, the processing apparatus can be one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), system on chips (SoC), central processor units (CPU), network processors (NP), digital signal processors (DSP), micro controller units (MCU), programmable logic devices (PLD) or other integrated chips, or any combination of the above chips or processors, etc.

[0370] Please refer to FIG. 7, which is a structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus involved in the above embodiments provided by the embodiments of the present application. The communication apparatus can be the first communication apparatus, the second communication apparatus or the third communication apparatus in the above method embodiments, or can be a chip or a system on chip in the first communication apparatus, the second communication apparatus or the third communication apparatus. The structure of the communication apparatus can refer to the structure shown in FIG. 7.

[0371] The communication apparatus includes at least one processor 711. Further, the communication apparatus can also include at least one memory 712.

[0372] The memory is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The memory 712 can exist independently and be connected with the processor 711.

[0373] Optionally, the memory 712 can be integrated with the processor 711, for example, integrated in a chip. The memory 712 is used to store program codes for implementing the schemes of the embodiments of the present application.

[0374] The processor 711 is used to read the program codes in the memory 712 to realize the related functions of the first communication apparatus, the second communication apparatus or the third communication apparatus in the above method embodiments.

[0375] Figure 7 only shows one memory and one processor. In an actual first communication device, second communication device or third communication device, there can be multiple processors and multiple memories. The memory can also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, etc. The memory can be a storage element on the same chip as the processor, i.e. an on-chip storage element, or an independent storage element, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0376] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer readable storage medium for storing one or more computer execution instructions, when the computer execution instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the method described in the possible implementation manners of the first communication device, second communication device or third communication device in the foregoing embodiments.

[0377] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product (or computer program), when the computer program product is executed by the processor, the processor executes the method of the possible implementation manners of the first communication device, second communication device or third communication device.

[0378] The embodiments of the present application further provide a chip system, which includes at least one processor for supporting the communication device to implement the functions involved in the possible implementation manners of the communication device. Optionally, the chip system further includes an interface circuit, which provides program instructions and / or data for the at least one processor. In a possible design, the chip system can further include a memory, which is used to store necessary program instructions and data of the communication device. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices, and the communication device can be the first communication device, second communication device or third communication device in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0379] The embodiments of the present application further provide a communication system, and the network system architecture includes the first communication device in any of the foregoing embodiments.

[0380] Optionally, the communication system further includes a second communication device and / or a third communication device.

[0381] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other manners. For example, the described device embodiments are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There can be another division manner for the actual implementation, for example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections between different units, or the among different units, can be indirect couplings or communication connections through some interfaces, devices or units, and can be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0382] The units described as separated components can or can not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units can or can not be physical units, i.e., can be located in one place, or can be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purposes of the embodiments.

[0383] In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present application can be integrated in a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically as a separate unit, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware, or in the form of a software functional unit. When the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the present application essentially or substantially contributes to the technical field or has a contribution, or the whole or part of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. The foregoing storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), magnetic disk or optical disk, and various other media that can store program codes.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: obtaining first service quality information, the first service quality information corresponding to a first service quality flow, the first service quality flow being used for transmission of first data between a first user plane network element and a second user plane network element, the first data being data of a first session of a terminal device; determining third service quality information according to the first service quality information and second service quality information, the second service quality information corresponding to a second service quality flow, the second service quality flow being used for transmission of second data through a tunnel between the first user plane network element and an access network device, the second data being data of a second session of the terminal device; sending the third service quality information, the third service quality information corresponding to a third service quality flow, the third service quality flow being used for transmission of the first data through the tunnel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first service quality information comprises a first service quality flow identifier, the second service quality information comprises a second service quality flow identifier, and the third service quality information comprises a third service quality flow identifier. The determining of the third service quality information according to the first service quality information and the second service quality information comprises: in a case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same, determining the third service quality flow identifier as an identifier different from the first service quality flow identifier.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The determining of the third service quality flow identifier as an identifier different from the first service quality flow identifier in the case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same comprises: in a case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are the same and a first condition is met, determining the third service quality flow identifier as an identifier different from the first service quality flow identifier. The first condition comprises any one of the following: a resource type of the first service quality flow is a guaranteed bit rate (GBR); a resource type of the second service quality flow is a GBR; resource types of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow are both non-GBR, and a first service quality indicator is different from a second service quality indicator; or resource types of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow are both non-GBR, and a first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and a second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are both non-standardized service quality indicators, and a service quality parameter associated with the first service quality indicator is different from a service quality parameter associated with the second service quality indicator.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The third service quality information is used for establishing the third service quality flow, and the third service quality information comprises a service quality indicator in the first service quality information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The third service quality information further comprises at least one of the following pieces of information: a service quality parameter associated with the service quality indicator in the first service quality information; or a packet filtering rule in the first service quality information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first service quality information comprises a first service quality flow identifier, the second service quality information comprises a second service quality flow identifier, the third service quality information comprises a third service quality flow identifier, and the determining the third service quality information according to the first service quality information and the second service quality information comprises: In a case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are identical, determining the identifier of the third service quality flow as the identifier of the first service quality flow or the identifier of the second service quality flow.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The determining the identifier of the third service quality flow as the identifier of the first service quality flow or the identifier of the second service quality flow in the case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are identical comprises: In a case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are identical and a second condition is satisfied, determining the identifier of the third service quality flow as the identifier of the first service quality flow or the identifier of the second service quality flow. The second condition comprises any one of the following: The types of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow are both non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are both standardized service quality indicators, and the first service quality indicator is identical to the second service quality indicator; or The types of the first service quality flow and the second service quality flow are both non-GBR, the first service quality indicator in the first service quality information and the second service quality indicator in the second service quality information are both non-standardized service quality indicators, the first service quality indicator is identical to the second service quality indicator, and a service quality parameter associated with the first service quality indicator is identical to a service quality parameter associated with the second service quality indicator.

8. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, The third service quality information is used for modifying service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow, and the third service quality information indicates a rule operation in the service quality rule information corresponding to the second service quality flow.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The third service quality information comprises packet filtering information contained in the first service quality information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first service quality information comprises a first service quality flow identifier, the second service quality information comprises a second service quality flow identifier, the third service quality information comprises a third service quality flow identifier, and the determining the third service quality information according to the first service quality information and the second service quality information comprises: In a case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different, determining the identifier of the third service quality flow as the identifier of the first service quality flow.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, The determining the identifier of the third service quality flow as the identifier of the first service quality flow in the case where the first service quality flow identifier and the second service quality flow identifier are different comprises: determining the third QoS flow identifier as the first QoS flow identifier when the first QoS flow identifier and the second QoS flow identifier are different and a third condition is met; wherein the third condition comprises any of the following: the first QoS flow is of a GBR type; the second QoS flow is of a GBR type; the first QoS flow is of a non-GBR type and the first QoS indicator is different from the second QoS indicator; or the first QoS flow is of a non-GBR type, the first QoS indicator and the second QoS indicator in the first QoS information and the second QoS information are non-standardized QoS indicators, and the first QoS indicator is associated with QoS parameters different from QoS parameters associated with the second QoS indicator.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein, the first QoS information comprises a first QoS flow identifier, the second QoS information comprises a second QoS flow identifier, and the third QoS information comprises a third QoS flow identifier, and the determining the third QoS information according to the first QoS information and the second QoS information comprises: determining the third QoS flow identifier as the second QoS flow identifier when the first QoS flow identifier and the second QoS flow identifier are different.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, the determining the third QoS flow identifier as the second QoS flow identifier when the first QoS flow identifier and the second QoS flow identifier are different comprises: determining the third QoS flow identifier as the second QoS flow identifier when the first QoS flow identifier and the second QoS flow identifier are different and a fourth condition is met; wherein the fourth condition comprises any of the following: the first QoS flow is of a non-GBR type, the first QoS indicator in the first QoS information is the same as the second QoS indicator in the second QoS information and is a standardized QoS indicator; or the first QoS flow is of a non-GBR type, the first QoS indicator in the first QoS information is the same as the second QoS indicator in the second QoS information and is a non-standardized QoS indicator, and the first QoS indicator is associated with QoS parameters the same as QoS parameters associated with the second QoS indicator.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, the third QoS information is used to modify QoS rule information corresponding to the second QoS flow, and the third QoS information indicates a rule operation in the QoS rule information corresponding to the second QoS flow.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, the third QoS information comprises packet filtering information contained in the first QoS information.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that, the method is applied to a first session management network element, the first session management network element is configured to manage the first session and the second session, and the obtaining the first QoS information comprises: receiving the first quality of service information from a second session management network element, the second session management network element being configured to manage the first session.

17. A communications device, characterized by comprising means for performing the method of any of claims 1 to 16.

18. A communications device, characterized by comprising at least one processor configured to execute computer programs or instructions to implement the method of any of claims 1 to 16.

19. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, the computer readable storage medium has stored therein computer programs or instructions which, when executed by the communication device, implement the method of any of claims 1 to 16.

20. A computer program product, characterised in that, comprising computer programs or instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement the method of any of claims 1 to 16.

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