Information transmission method, data processing method, and related communication apparatus

Abstract

The embodiments of the present application disclose an information transmission method. The method designs an RAN-based paging mechanism targeting a terminal serving as a reader. In the method, even if a first terminal serving as a target reader is in a non-connected state, an RAN, by means of a paging message targeted at the first terminal serving as the target reader, can still enable the first terminal serving as the target reader to initiate a connection establishment request, so as to establish a connection with the RAN, and thereby receive a service instruction and execute a service operation on an Internet of Things device. In this way, when an Internet of Things functional entity performs service transmission, the Internet of Things functional entity does not need to interact with a core network element, such as an AMF, in such a manner that requires a first terminal serving as a target reader to be in a connected state before sending a service request to an RAN; rather, the Internet of Things functional entity directly sends the service request to the RAN, and the RAN then enables the first terminal to receive the service request, thereby reducing or even avoiding signaling interaction between the Internet of Things functional entity and the AMF or other core network element, and thus reducing signaling overhead and improving information transmission efficiency.

Description

Information transmission method, data processing method and related communication device

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202411096589.X, filed on August 09, 2024, and entitled "Information transmission method, data processing method and related communication device", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the technical field of Internet of Things, in particular to an information transmission method, a data processing method and a related communication device. BACKGROUND

[0003] In the Internet of Things technology such as ambient IoT (A-IoT), a service operator such as a server can send a service request to an Internet of Things function entity such as an ambient IoT management function (AIoTMF) entity through a core network to instruct a terminal as a reader to perform a service operation on an Internet of Things device.

[0004] After receiving the service request, the Internet of Things function entity can send a service instruction to a core network element such as an access and mobility management function (AMF) of the service terminal, and then the AMF sends the service instruction to the terminal through a non-access-stratum (NAS) message; or the Internet of Things function entity can also inquire the connection state of the terminal after sending a service instruction to the RAN (radio access network, RAN), and then the RAN sends the service instruction to the terminal to instruct the terminal as a reader to perform a service operation on an Internet of Things device.

[0005] It can be seen that in the interaction process of the Internet of Things function entity sending a service instruction to a terminal as a reader, signaling interaction with the core network element such as the AMF is often required, resulting in large signaling overhead and low information transmission efficiency. SUMMARY

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present application provides an information transmission method, which can reduce or even avoid the interaction between the Internet of Things function entity and the core network element in the service transmission process, thereby reducing the signaling overhead and improving the information transmission efficiency. The present application also provides corresponding devices, equipment, computer readable storage media and computer program products, etc.

[0007] In a first aspect, a method for information transmission is provided. In the method, a RAN receives first information from an IoT function entity, the first information indicating a service operation on an IoT device; and the RAN sends a paging message including identification information indicating a terminal including the first terminal, in a case where the first terminal as a target reader is in an unconnected state.

[0008] In the first aspect, a paging mechanism of the RAN for a terminal as a reader is designed. In the method, even if the first terminal as a target reader is in an unconnected state, the first terminal as a target reader can still initiate a connection establishment request to establish a connection with the RAN through a paging message for the first terminal as a target reader, so as to receive a service instruction and perform a service operation on an IoT device.

[0009] In this way, when the IoT function entity performs service transmission, it does not need to perform signaling interaction with a core network element such as an AMF, so that the first terminal as a target reader can send a service request to the RAN after being in a connected state, and the RAN can make the first terminal receive the service request, thereby reducing or even avoiding signaling interaction between the IoT function entity and the core network element such as the AMF, reducing signaling overhead, and improving information transmission efficiency.

[0010] In addition, the paging mechanism in the first aspect is different from the existing paging mechanism. In the traditional paging mechanism, a terminal identifier such as a temporary identifier of a terminal is usually carried to page a specific terminal, and the first terminal as a target reader cannot be paged and initiate connection establishment through one paging. However, in some embodiments of the present application, the RAN can page the first terminal as a target reader and initiate connection establishment through one paging by carrying a special identifier such as a first identifier, which is more efficient in paging, thereby improving information interaction efficiency.

[0011] In some scenarios, the RAN acts as a reader, the IoT function entity can send a service instruction to the RAN, usually without signaling interaction with a core network element such as an AMF. It can be seen that in the first aspect, the terminal acts as a reader, and the IoT function entity transmits services in the same way. That is, the first aspect can enable the IoT function entity to adopt the same service transmission mode (i.e., send a service instruction to the RAN) when facing two types of readers: a terminal as a reader and a RAN as a reader, and can ensure the reliability of service transmission (i.e., through the paging mechanism of the RAN for the terminal as a reader, the first terminal as a target reader in the non-connected state is found and connected to receive the service instruction, ensuring the execution of the business operation) while reducing information interaction with the AMF and other core network elements. In addition, the first aspect is basically consistent with the service instruction issuing mode when the RAN acts as a reader, so it can maximize the compatibility of the two different reader forms through a set of architecture solutions.

[0012] In many scenarios of the first aspect, since the signaling interaction between the IoT function entity and the AMF and other core network elements can be avoided, the AMF and other core network elements can be deployed in the park without the IoT function entity, which facilitates the reduction of deployment costs of the IoT.

[0013] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the identification information includes one or more of the following information: target reader identification, target reader group identification, first identification, target location information, and the first identification indicates any terminal with reader capability.

[0014] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, when the RAN determines that the first terminal as a target reader is in a non-connected state, after sending the paging message, the RAN further includes: receiving a connection establishment request from the first terminal, the connection establishment request being used to request to establish a connection between the first terminal and the RAN; and when the RAN establishes a connection with the first terminal, sending second information to the first terminal, the second information indicating the first terminal to perform a service operation.

[0015] The paging mechanism of this possible implementation manner is different from the existing paging mechanism. In the traditional paging mechanism, the terminal identification such as the temporary identification of the terminal is usually carried to page a specific terminal, and the first terminal as a target reader cannot be paged and connection establishment is initiated through one paging. In this possible implementation manner, the RAN can page the first terminal as a target reader and initiate connection establishment through one paging by carrying a special identification such as the first identification, which is more efficient, thereby improving the information interaction efficiency.

[0016] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving, by the RAN, third information, the third information including one or more of a reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, and location information where the first terminal is located, the second identifier indicating that the terminal has a reader capability; and determining, by the RAN, the first terminal as the target reader according to the third information.

[0017] In the possible implementation, the third information can be from various sources, and the RAN can receive the third information at various times. For example, the RAN can determine the first terminal as the target reader according to the third information after receiving the first information and before sending the paging message, or the RAN can receive the third information and determine the first terminal as the target reader according to the third information after the first terminal initiates a connection establishment request to the RAN according to the paging message.

[0018] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first information further includes reader information indicating the target reader performing the service operation, the reader information including one or more of a target reader identifier, a target reader group identifier, the first identifier, and target location information, the first identifier in the reader information indicating any terminal having a reader capability.

[0019] In the possible implementation, the service requester can send a service request carrying the reader information to the IoT function entity, so that the IoT function entity determines the reader information of the target reader performing the service operation. Based on this, the first information can carry the reader information indicating the target reader performing the service operation, so that the RAN learns the reader indicated by the service requester to perform the service operation according to the reader information.

[0020] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, determining, by the RAN, the first terminal as the target reader according to the third information includes: determining, by the RAN, the first terminal as the target reader based on the third information matching the reader information.

[0021] In the possible implementation, if one or more of the following conditions are met, the third information is considered to match the reader information, and the first terminal is determined as the target reader: the reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal in the third information matches the target reader identifier in the first information; the reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal in the third information matches the target reader group identifier in the first information; the first identifier is carried in both the third information and the first information; and the location information where the first terminal is located is located in the target location indicated by the target location information in the first information.

[0022] The second aspect of the present application provides an information transmission method. In the method, a first terminal receives a paging message, the paging message comprising identification information, the identification information comprising one or more of the following information: target reader identification, target reader group identification, first identification, target location information, the first identification indicating any terminal with reader capability; the first terminal initiates a connection establishment request to a RAN according to the paging message, the connection establishment request being used to request to establish a connection between the first terminal and the RAN.

[0023] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, before the first terminal receives the paging message, the method further comprises: the first terminal receives fourth information, the fourth information comprising one or more of the following information corresponding to the first terminal: reader identification, reader group identification, second identification, and location information, the second identification indicating that the terminal has reader capability; the first terminal initiates the connection establishment request to the RAN according to the paging message, comprising: the first terminal initiates the connection establishment request to the RAN according to the paging message based on that the fourth information matches the identification information.

[0024] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, after the connection between the first terminal and the RAN is established, the method further comprises: the first terminal receives fifth information from the RAN, the fifth information indicating to perform a business operation on an Internet of Things device.

[0025] The third aspect of the present application provides a data processing method. In the method, a first network device determines a first terminal as a reader; the first network device manages a connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in a connected state.

[0026] In the third aspect, after the first terminal is determined as a reader, the first network device can manage the connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in a connected state.

[0027] In this way, when an Internet of Things function entity performs a business transmission, the Internet of Things function entity can directly send a business request to the first terminal through the RAN, without sending the business request to the first terminal through an AMF or the like core network element, thereby reducing or even avoiding signaling interaction between the Internet of Things function entity and the AMF or the like core network element, reducing signaling overhead, improving information transmission efficiency, and in many cases, only deploying the Internet of Things function entity in a park without deploying the AMF or the like core network element, thereby facilitating reduction of deployment cost of the Internet of Things.

[0028] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, when the first network device is a RAN, the first network device determines the first terminal as a reader, comprising: the RAN receives sixth information from an AMF, the sixth information indicating that the first terminal is a reader.

[0029] In some examples of the possible implementation, the AMF can authorize the first terminal as a reader according to one or more of the following: the reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal received from the first terminal in the registration procedure of the first terminal, the reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal, the second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, the location information in which the first terminal is located, and / or the subscription data about the first terminal received from a unified data management (UDM).

[0030] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, when the first network device is a RAN, the first network device managing the connection state of the first terminal to make the first terminal in the connected state includes: when the first terminal is disconnected with the RAN, the RAN initiating paging for the first terminal to make the first terminal establish a connection with the RAN.

[0031] In the possible implementation, when the first network device is the RAN, one way of managing the connection state of the first terminal can be that the RAN discovers that the connection of the first terminal is interrupted, and then initiates paging to make the first terminal establish a connection with the RAN.

[0032] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, when the first network device is a RAN, the first network device managing the connection state of the first terminal to make the first terminal in the connected state includes: the RAN setting a connection state parameter of the first terminal to a target state to make the first terminal maintain the connection with the RAN.

[0033] In the possible implementation, when the first network device is the RAN, one way of managing the connection state of the first terminal can be to set a parameter of a non-connected state such as an RRC Inactive timer, so that the first terminal tries not to enter a non-connected state such as an RRC Inactive state, thereby ensuring that the first terminal does not enter an RRC idle state.

[0034] In a possible implementation form of the third aspect, when the first network device is the AMF, the first network device determining the first terminal as the reader comprises: the AMF determining the first terminal as the reader according to seventh information from the first terminal and / or subscription data from the UDM, the seventh information indicating that the first terminal is the reader.

[0035] In a possible implementation form of the third aspect, when the first network device is the AMF, the first network device managing the connection state of the first terminal to make the first terminal in the connected state comprises: when receiving a release request from a RAN serving the first terminal, the AMF rejecting the release request, the release request being used to request releasing the connection between the first terminal and the AMF.

[0036] In this possible implementation form, when the first network device is the AMF, one way of managing the connection state of the first terminal can be that the AMF rejects the first terminal entering the CM-idle state.

[0037] In a possible implementation form of the third aspect, when the first network device is the AMF, the first network device managing the connection state of the first terminal to make the first terminal in the connected state comprises: after disconnecting the connection between the first terminal and the AMF, the AMF sending a paging message to the RAN, the paging message indicating paging the first terminal to make the first terminal establish the connection with the AMF.

[0038] In this possible implementation form, when the first network device is the AMF, one way of managing the connection state of the first terminal can be that after the first terminal enters the CM-idle state, the AMF triggers paging to make the first terminal establish the connection with the AMF.

[0039] In a possible implementation form of the third aspect, when the first network device is the IoT function entity, the first network device determining the first terminal as the reader comprises: the IoT function entity sending a subscription request to the UDM or the AMF, the subscription request indicating subscribing to state information of the first terminal as the reader, the state information comprising information of one or more states of a registration state and a connection state; and the IoT function entity receiving first state notification from the UDM or the AMF, the first state notification indicating that the first terminal as the reader is in the registered state and / or the connected state.

[0040] In this possible implementation form, the subscription request can be only for the first terminal (i.e. only subscribing to the state information of the first terminal), or can be for all terminals as the reader, the all terminals as the reader including the first terminal.

[0041] In a possible implementation form of the third aspect, when the first network device is the UDM, the first network device determines that the first terminal is the reader, including: the UDM determines that the first terminal is the reader according to subscription data of the first terminal, eighth information from the AMF, or ninth information from a service requester, the eighth information indicating that the first terminal is authorized to be the reader, and the ninth information indicating that the first terminal is the reader.

[0042] In an example of the possible implementation form, the UDM can subscribe to the state information of the first terminal as the reader from the AMF, and then the IoT function entity can subscribe to the state information of the first terminal as the reader from the UDM. In this case, the IoT function entity can receive the second state notification from the UDM. Alternatively, in another example, if the IoT function entity obtains the AMF information (for example, the AMF ID) serving the first terminal as the reader, the IoT function entity can also subscribe to the state information of the first terminal as the reader from the AMF. In this case, the IoT function entity receives the second state notification from the AMF.

[0043] In this way, the state management of the terminal can be implemented by subscribing to the state information of the terminal through the AMF before the service arrives, so that the first terminal as the reader remains in the connected state, thereby reducing the signaling overhead during service transmission and improving the transmission efficiency during service transmission.

[0044] In a possible implementation form of the third aspect, when the first network device is the UDM, the first network device determines that the first terminal is the reader, including: the UDM determines that the first terminal is the reader according to subscription data of the first terminal, eighth information from the AMF, or ninth information from a service requester, the eighth information indicating that the first terminal is authorized to be the reader, and the ninth information indicating that the first terminal is the reader.

[0045] In a possible implementation form of the third aspect, when the first network device is the UDM, the first network device determines that the first terminal is the reader, including: the UDM determines that the first terminal is the reader according to subscription data of the first terminal, eighth information from the AMF, or ninth information from a service requester, the eighth information indicating that the first terminal is authorized to be the reader, and the ninth information indicating that the first terminal is the reader.

[0046] In this way, the state management of the terminal can be implemented by subscribing to the state information of the terminal through the UDM before the service arrives, so that the first terminal as the reader remains in the connected state, thereby reducing the signaling overhead during service transmission and improving the transmission efficiency during service transmission.

[0047] In a possible implementation form of the third aspect, the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal to make the first terminal in the connected state, comprising: the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal to make the first terminal in the connected state in a case that the first network device determines that the first terminal is located at the first location, the current time is located at the specified time period, and / or the first network device receives target mode information sent by the first terminal, the target mode information indicating that the first terminal is in a mode capable of being a reader.

[0048] In this possible implementation form, after determining that the first terminal is a reader, the first network device can consider that the connection state of the first terminal needs to be managed in a case that the first network device determines that the first terminal is located at the first location, the current time is located at the specified time period, and / or the first network device receives target mode information sent by the first terminal, so as to start the function of managing the connection state of the first terminal, thereby starting the function only when needed and reducing unnecessary energy consumption.

[0049] The fourth aspect of the present application provides a communication device. The device has the function of implementing the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation forms of the first aspect, or the function of implementing the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible implementation forms of the second aspect, or the function of implementing the method of the third aspect or any one of the possible implementation forms of the third aspect. The function can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions, such as a sending module, a processing module, or a receiving module.

[0050] The fifth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which comprises a processor and an interface circuit. The interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor, or send signals from the processor to other communication devices. The processor is used to implement the function of the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation forms of the first aspect, or the function of the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible implementation forms of the second aspect, or the function of the method of the third aspect or any one of the possible implementation forms of the third aspect, through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

[0051] The sixth aspect of the present application provides a computer readable storage medium storing one or more computer execution instructions. When the computer execution instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation forms of the first aspect, or the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible implementation forms of the second aspect, or the method of the third aspect or any one of the possible implementation forms of the third aspect.

[0052] The seventh aspect of the present application provides a computer program product storing one or more computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or the method of the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0053] The eighth aspect of the present application provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting the communication device to implement the functions involved in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or implement the functions involved in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or implement the functions of the method of the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect. In a possible design, the chip system can further include a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0054] The technical effects brought by the fourth aspect to the eighth aspect or any possible implementation thereof can be referred to the technical effects brought by the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, which will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0055] FIG. 1 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG. 2 is an exemplary schematic diagram of an information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG. 3 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a flow according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG. 4 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a data processing method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG. 5 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a flow according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG. 6 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a flow according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG. 7 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG. 8 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG. 9 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG. 10 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0065] The embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The terms used in the implementation part of the present application are only used to explain the specific embodiments of the present application, and are not intended to limit the present application.

[0066] Those skilled in the art can know that the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems as the technology develops and new scenarios appear.

[0067] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. The "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after it. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items. The terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of the present application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and do not necessarily describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, and this is only a distinguishing way used in the description of the embodiments of the present application to describe the objects with the same properties. In addition, the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that the process, method, system, product or equipment containing a series of units does not have to be limited to those units, but can include other units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or equipment.

[0068] First, the concepts involved in the present application are introduced.

[0069] 1. Ambient Internet of Things (A-IoT)

[0070] The ambient Internet of Things is also called ambient power-enabled Internet of Things (ambient power-enabled IoT) or passive Internet of Things (P-IoT). The nodes included in the ambient Internet of Things can include some passive nodes. The passive nodes do not have or depend on power supply devices such as batteries, but obtain energy from the environment to support data sensing, transmission and distributed computing. The way in which the passive nodes obtain energy is not limited here, and exemplary passive nodes can obtain energy through solar energy, radio frequency, wind energy, water energy or tidal energy. In addition, the passive nodes can also store the obtained energy.

[0071] IoT Device, reader, IoT Function, business requestor (e.g. application function (AF)) etc. can be included in the architecture of the environmental IoT.

[0072] The IoT Device can be in the form of a sensor, a tag, or any other terminal, which is not limited herein. The reader can be an access network device, such as a base station, a pole station, a micro base station, a macro station, etc. Alternatively, the reader can be a terminal device, such as a mobile phone, an IoT device, a handheld reader, etc.

[0073] It can be seen that in the architecture of the environmental IoT, the communication between the IoT Device and the reader is often involved.

[0074] 2. Reader

[0075] The reader interacts with the IoT Device (e.g. a tag) via radio frequency signals or wireless signals. It should be understood that the name of the reader is not limited in the present application, and the reader can also be named as a reader-writer or any other name. The reader herein can have the functions involved in the reader in the present application, such as the functions of performing business operations (e.g. obtaining tag information, inventory operations, read operations, write operations, invalidation operations, or message interaction operations with the tag, etc.) on the IoT Device (e.g. a tag), obtaining charging-related information and / or charging information, and sending charging information to a converged charging function (CHF).

[0076] In a possible implementation, the reader can send a service request from a service operator such as a server or an application function to the tag, or the reader can send a message from the tag to the service operator. In a possible implementation, the reader can obtain information stored in a specified tag according to a service request issued by the service operator. For example, if the service request indicates to perform an inventory operation (or can be referred to as a stock operation), the reader obtains identification information of the tag, which can be a unique identifier of the tag or a temporary identifier of the tag. If the service request indicates to perform a read operation, the reader reads data in a storage space of the tag. Exemplarily, in some application scenarios in which information stored in the tag needs to be rewritten, the reader can also have a write function. For example, if the service request indicates to perform a write operation, the reader writes data into the storage space of the tag. In addition, the reader can also perform an invalidation operation on the tag. After the invalidation operation is performed, the tag is invalidated and cannot be subjected to service operations such as obtaining tag information, inventory operation, read operation, message interaction with the tag, or write operation. In a possible implementation, the tag invalidated and cannot be subjected to obtaining tag information can be understood as that after the tag is invalidated, the reader cannot obtain tag information of the invalidated tag. In another possible implementation, the tag invalidated and cannot be subjected to message interaction with the tag can be understood as that after the tag is invalidated, the reader cannot interact with the invalidated tag. The form of the reader can be various, for example, the reader can be a terminal (for example, can be a user equipment (UE)), or can be a RAN, a pole station, an eNodeB, a gNodeB, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, and the like, and the form of the reader is not limited in this application.

[0077] The working mode of the reader can be as follows: one is that when the tag enters the effective recognition range of the reader, the tag receives the radio frequency signal sent by the reader, and sends information stored in the chip by means of inductive current (corresponding to a passive tag, or corresponding to a passive communication / backscatter communication mode); the other is that the tag can store part of electric energy by means of solar energy and the like, so as to actively send a signal of a certain frequency (such a tag can be referred to as a semi-passive or semi-active tag), and the reader receives and decodes the information and sends the information to a central information system for relevant data processing.

[0078] The reader and the Internet of Things device can be widely applied in various application fields, for example, can be applied to collection, query and management of warehouses, transportation and materials in a logistics process, and can also be applied to management of fixed assets in application scenarios such as libraries, museums and the like, which have large assets or valuable goods. The specific application field of the reader and the Internet of Things device is not limited in this application.

[0079] 3. Connection state of terminal

[0080] In this application, the connection state of terminal is used to describe whether the terminal is connected with the network.

[0081] Taking the 5G mobile communication system as an example, the connection between the terminal and the network mainly involves two connection states: the connection management state (CM state) of the terminal corresponding to the core network, and the radio resource control state (RRC state) of the terminal corresponding to the access network.

[0082] Among them, the CM state includes CM connected state (CM-CONNECTED) and CM idle state (CM-IDLE), and the RRC state includes RRC connected state (RRC-CONNECTED), RRC Inactive state and RRC idle state (RRC-IDLE).

[0083] The conversion of the CM state of the terminal is introduced below.

[0084] When the terminal establishes an RRC connection with the RAN, the terminal enters the RRC connected state (RRC_CONNECTED). At this time, the terminal maintains an AN signaling connection with the RAN. When the terminal sends an initial NAS message to the AMF of the core network through the RAN (i.e., sends the NAS message through the RRCSetupComplete message), the terminal enters the RRC_CONNECTED CM-CONNECTED.

[0085] When the terminal releases the AN signaling connection with the RAN and disconnects the RRC connection, it enters the RRC-IDLE state, and at this time the terminal also enters the CM-IDLE state.

[0086] Correspondingly, the AMF also performs CM state management on the terminal.

[0087] Among them, when the RAN serving the terminal establishes an N2 context with the AMF (for example, when the terminal initiates a registration request, the AMF establishes an N2 context with the RAN through a security authentication process), the AMF considers that the terminal enters the CM connected state.

[0088] When the RAN and the AMF release the N2 context of the terminal under certain circumstances (for example, the terminal releases the AN connection with the RAN), the AMF considers that the terminal enters the CM idle state.

[0089] The RRC Inactive state is a new RRC state added in 5G, and the purpose is to enable the terminal to quickly recover to the RRC connected state without re-accessing. The RRC Inactive state is similar to the RRC idle state, and the terminal can only receive the contents of the common search space (such as paging, broadcast, 5G core network paging, etc.), can perform cell reselection, and the principle of cell reselection is the same as that of the RRC idle state.

[0090] However, unlike the RRC idle state, when the terminal is in the RRC Inactive state, the CM state of the terminal is still in the CM connected state (CM-CONNECTED).

[0091] It can be understood that when the CM state of the terminal is in the CM connected state, the RRC state of the terminal can be in the RRC connected state or the RRC Inactive state, that is, entering the RRC Inactive state does not cause the CM state to enter the CM idle state; and when the CM state of the terminal is in the CM idle state, the RRC state of the terminal is in the RRC idle state, that is, entering the RRC idle state causes the CM state to enter the CM idle state.

[0092] It can be seen that keeping the CM state of the terminal in the CM connected state cannot make the RRC state of the terminal enter the RRC idle state, but can enter the RRC Inactive state.

[0093] In this application, the connection state of the terminal includes the connected state and the non-connected state. In the 5G mobile communication system, the terminal in the non-connected state can be in one or more of the RRC idle state, the RRC Inactive state, and the CM idle state, and the terminal in the connected state can be in the RRC connected state and / or the CM connected state. In other types of communication systems (such as future communication systems), other states can also be used to describe the connected state and the non-connected state of the terminal, which is not limited here.

[0094] The communication system related to the embodiments of the present application is introduced below.

[0095] The specific type of the communication system can have multiple cases, which is not limited here. Exemplarily, the communication system can be applied to a 5G mobile communication system, and can also be applied to a 4G mobile communication system, a 6G mobile communication system, or other types of communication systems.

[0096] The communication system can include an IoT function entity, a RAN, and a terminal, and in addition, can include one or more of core network elements such as an AMF (access and mobility management function, AMF), a UDM (unified data management, UDM), etc. FIG. 1 illustrates only an exemplary communication system, and a communication system in other possible scenarios can include different devices from those illustrated in FIG. 1, and can include more or fewer devices than those illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0097] Hereinafter, each device that the communication system can involve will be described respectively.

[0098] 1. RAN

[0099] The RAN is an access device through which a terminal accesses a communication system in a wireless manner. The RAN can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next generation NodeB in a 6th generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The RAN can also be a module or unit that performs part of the functions of a base station, for example, it can be a central unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU). The CU performs the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also perform the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). The DU performs the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also perform part or all of the functions of the physical layer. For specific descriptions of the various protocol layers, reference can be made to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). The RAN can be a macro base station, a micro base station, or an indoor station, and can also be a relay node or a donor node, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the RAN. For ease of description, the following describes the base station as an example of the RAN.

[0100] 2. Terminal

[0101] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiving function, which can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. The terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely applied to various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, remote medical treatment, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiving function, wearable device, vehicle, airplane, ship, robot, mechanical arm, smart home device, etc. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form of the terminal.

[0102] In embodiments of the present application, the terminal can have the ability of a reader and can perform business operations on the IOT device.

[0103] 3. IoT function entity

[0104] The IoT function entity can be considered as an entity responsible for IOT management function or ambient IOT management function. Exemplarily, the IoT function entity can have one or more of the following capabilities: transmission of business data of the IOT device, management of the IOT device, security process of the IOT device, business operation according to the indication of the business requestor, indication of the reader to perform IOT business operation, etc.

[0105] The name of the IoT function entity can have various forms, for example, the IoT function entity can be an ambient IOT function entity (AIoTF), an ambient IOT management function (AIoTMF), an IOT device management function (IDMF), an IOT management function (IMF), a tag management function (TMF), etc. The naming of the IoT function entity is not limited in the present application, which can be other names.

[0106] 4. Business requestor

[0107] The business requestor can also be referred to as an operation requestor or a third party.

[0108] In the embodiments of the present application, the service requester can be understood as a device that sends a service request to request to perform a service operation, for example, the service requester can be a server, a passive Internet of Things server (P-IoT server), an application function or a device requesting a service. The service requester can correspond to a specified user, for example, the specified user can include an enterprise, a tenant, a third party or a company, without limitation. Wherein, the service requester corresponding to the specified user can be understood as that the service requester belongs to the specified user and is managed by the specified user.

[0109] 5、access and mobility management function (AMF)

[0110] The access and mobility management function can be referred to as AMF, AMF device, AMF entity, AMF network element, mobility management device, mobility management network element, mobility management entity, etc., which is a kind of core network device. The AMF can be used for access control and mobility management of terminal, in actual application, the AMF can include the AMF in the mobility management entity (MME) in the network framework in long term evolution (LTE), also adds access management function, specifically can be responsible for terminal registration, mobility management, tracking area update process, reachability detection, session management network element selection, mobile state conversion management, etc. For example, in 5G network, the access and mobility management function network element can be AMF network element, the AMF network element can provide Namf service, wherein the Namf service can include the transmission of N1 and / or N2 information through AMF, also can include subscribing to AMF state change notification. In future communication, such as 6G, the access and mobility management function network element can still be AMF network element, or have other names. In the present application, in order to facilitate description, the access and mobility management function is referred to as AMF, in other communication systems, the access and mobility management function can also be other names, which is not limited in the present application.

[0111] 6、unified data management (UDM)

[0112] The unified data management can also be referred to as UDM, a UDM device, a UDM network element, a data management device, a UDM entity, etc. The unified data management is used to process one or more of terminal identification, access authentication, registration, and mobility management. In a 5G communication system, the unified data management can be a unified data management (UDM) or a UDM device. In future communication systems, the UDM can also have other names. In the embodiments of the present application, for the sake of description, the unified data management is referred to as UDM. In other communication systems, the unified data management can also have other names, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The UDM can be a core network device. The UDM can be a control plane device.

[0113] In addition, in some examples, the communication system can also include one or more of existing or subsequently developed network elements such as a user plane (user plane function, UPF) network element (also referred to as a user plane device), a session management function (session management function, SMF) (also referred to as a session management device), a user database (user data repository, UDR) (also referred to as a user database device, a user database entity, a user database network element), a policy control device (such as a policy control function, policy control function, PCF), etc. The present application will not be listed one by one.

[0114] The following will take the example of the example communication system shown in FIG. 1 to exemplarily introduce the interaction process that can be involved in the communication system.

[0115] As shown in the example of FIG. 1, in the example communication system, the Internet of Things function entity can receive a service request from a service requester.

[0116] The service requester can send the service request to the Internet of Things function entity in various ways, which are not limited herein.

[0117] In some examples, the service requester can directly send the service request to the Internet of Things function entity.

[0118] In some examples, the service requester can send the service request to the IoT function entity through a control plane device. Exemplarily, the control plane device can be a network exposure function (NEF), a session management function (SMF), a policy control function (PCF), a unified data management (UDM), a network slice-specific and stand-alone non-public network (SNPN) authentication and authorization function (NSSAAF). As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the service requester can send the service request to the IoT function entity through the NEF.

[0119] In addition, in some examples, the service requester can also send the service request to the IoT function entity through a user plane channel. For example, the service requester can send the service request to the IoT function entity through a user plane function (UPF) and an SMF.

[0120] After receiving the service request, the IoT function entity can send the service request to the reader. Based on different forms of the reader in the actual application scenario, the IoT function entity can send the service request to the reader in different ways, that is, different forms of the reader correspond to different communication system architectures respectively.

[0121] As shown in the example of FIG. 1, different forms of the reader correspond to different communication system architectures respectively.

[0122] The following describes the way in which the IoT function entity sends the service request to the reader, taking the reader as a RAN and the reader as a terminal as examples respectively.

[0123] In the example shown in FIG. 1, when the RAN is the reader, the IoT function entity (for example, AIoT MF) can have a direct communication interface (for example, an AIoT NG interface protocol (NGAP) interface) with the RAN.

[0124] In this way, after the IoT function entity obtains a service request (e.g., an inventory request) from a service requester through the NEF or the like, the IoT function entity can select a RAN corresponding to the service request based on interaction with the UDM, and then send a service instruction to the RAN as a reader RAN to instruct the RAN to perform a service operation as a reader.

[0125] When the reader is a terminal, the terminal itself can access the network as a 3GPP UE, and thus there is an AMF serving the terminal.

[0126] The IoT function entity has the capability to process service requests from service requesters and the function of performing service request authorization. In order to be compatible with scenarios in which the reader is a terminal and the reader is a RAN, the IoT function entity can have two possible ways to send a service request to a terminal as a reader: one is that the IoT function entity sends a service instruction corresponding to the service request through the AMF serving the terminal, e.g., the IoT function entity sends a service instruction to the AMF serving the terminal, and the AMF sends the service instruction to the terminal through a NAS message of the terminal; the other is that the IoT function entity directly sends a service instruction through the RAN serving the terminal.

[0127] In the two possible ways, the first way requires the IoT function entity to communicate with the AMF serving the terminal each time, and requires the IoT function entity to select a specific terminal as a reader in advance, so that the AMF can determine which terminals as readers need to be sent a service instruction. In the second way, when sending a service instruction, the IoT function entity only needs to send a service instruction to the RAN, and the RAN can determine which terminals as readers receive the service instruction. However, in the second way, the IoT function entity can directly send a service instruction to the RAN only when the connection state of the terminal is in the RRC Inactive state or the RRC connected state and in the CM connected state. If the terminal is in the CM idle state, the IoT function entity directly sends a service instruction to the RAN without sensing the connection state of the terminal, which may result in a situation in which the service instruction cannot be sent to the terminal as a reader. Therefore, in order to avoid this situation, the IoT function entity needs to inquire the connection state of the terminal from the AMF before sending a service instruction each time, and then send the service instruction to the RAN. That is, the IoT function entity cannot interact according to the above possible second way, in other words, the IoT function entity cannot directly send a service instruction to the RAN without interacting with the core network device, but needs to increase additional signaling overhead (increase signaling between the IoT function entity and the AMF) before sending a service instruction to the RAN.

[0128] It can be seen that in many scenarios, the IoT function entity needs to interact with the core network element such as the AMF in the interaction process of sending a service instruction to the terminal as a reader, resulting in large signaling overhead and low information transmission efficiency.

[0129] Based on this, the embodiments of the present application propose a management scheme for the connection state of the terminal, so that the interaction between the IoT function entity and the core network element such as the AMF is reduced or even avoided in the service transmission process, thereby reducing the signaling overhead and improving the information transmission efficiency.

[0130] Specifically, the embodiments of the present application can include two management schemes for the connection state of the terminal, which will be introduced below through two embodiments.

[0131] Embodiment one:

[0132] In the embodiments of the present application, a paging mechanism of the RAN for the terminal as a reader is designed. In this scheme, even if the first terminal as a target reader is in a non-connected state such as an RRC Inactive state or an RRC idle state, the first terminal as a target reader can still initiate a connection establishment request through a paging message for the first terminal as a target reader to establish a connection with the RAN, thereby receiving a service instruction and performing a service operation on the IoT device.

[0133] As shown in FIG. 2, based on the above communication system, the information transmission method of the embodiments of the present application includes steps 201-202, and in some examples, 203-206 are also included.

[0134] Step 201, the RAN receives first information from the IoT function entity.

[0135] The first information indicates a service operation on an IoT device.

[0136] In the embodiments of the present application, the IoT function entity can send the first information to the RAN based on a service request from a service requester. The way in which the service requester sends the service request to the IoT function entity can refer to the related introduction of the way in which the service requester sends the service request to the IoT function entity in the example shown in FIG. 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0137] The first information indicates a service operation on an IoT device. The number of the IoT device can be one or multiple, which is not limited here.

[0138] The specific type and content of the service operation can be various, which is not limited here. Illustratively, the service operation can include one or more of the following operations:

[0139] (1) Inventory operation: also called as stocktaking operation. When instructed to perform inventory operation, the reader acquires the identification information of the Internet of Things device; the identification information can be the unique identifier of the Internet of Things device, or the temporary identifier of the Internet of Things device. In addition, in some examples, the inventory operation can also include the inventory operation of all Internet of Things devices, that is, acquiring the identification of the Internet of Things device within the coverage of the reader. It can be understood that a specific naming can be used to distinguish the above-mentioned inventory operation, for example, called as all Internet of Things device inventory operation or called as non-limited inventory operation; or when the identification range of the Internet of Things device in the above-mentioned inventory operation is not limited, that is, it can be understood that the inventory operation is to acquire the identification of the Internet of Things device within the coverage of the reader.

[0140] (2) Read operation: data reading of the Internet of Things device. The Internet of Things device can have storage function, and its storage space can store data. If the business request party requests to perform read operation on the Internet of Things device, a business request indicating to perform read operation on the Internet of Things device can be sent to the network, the network sends read instruction to the reader, the reader sends read operation to the Internet of Things device, reads data from the storage space of the Internet of Things device, and sends the data to the business request party through the network.

[0141] (3) Write operation: data writing of the Internet of Things device. The business request party can send write instruction to the reader, and the reader performs write operation on the Internet of Things device according to the write instruction, and writes data to the storage space of the Internet of Things device. Alternatively, if the business request party requests to perform write operation on the Internet of Things device, a business request indicating to perform write operation on the Internet of Things device can be sent to the network, the network sends write instruction to the reader, the reader sends write instruction to the Internet of Things device, reads data from the storage space of the Internet of Things device, and sends the data to the business request party through the network.

[0142] (4) Disable or kill operation: disabling the Internet of Things device. The business request party can send a business request indicating to disable the Internet of Things device to the network, and the network sends disable instruction to the reader, which can include the identification information of the Internet of Things device (i.e. the identification of the Internet of Things device to be disabled). The reader performs disable operation on the Internet of Things device according to the disable instruction, and after the disable operation is completed, the Internet of Things device will be disabled and can no longer be inventoried or executed other operations.

[0143] (5) Acquiring the information of the IoT device. In one possible implementation, the reader acquires or receives the information of the IoT device sent by the IoT device. The reader sends the information of the IoT device to the service requester or the core network device. In one possible implementation, before the reader acquires the information of the IoT device sent by the IoT device, the reader can receive a service instruction and send the service instruction to the IoT device; the service instruction can come from the service requester or the core network device, which is not limited in the present application. Exemplarily, the information of the IoT device can include the identification information of the IoT device and / or the information stored by the IoT device.

[0144] (6) Message interaction operation with the IoT device. In one possible implementation, the reader sends a message from the service requester to the IoT device. In another possible implementation, the reader receives a message sent by the IoT device and sends the message from the IoT device to the service requester. In yet another possible implementation, before receiving the message sent by the IoT device, the reader can interact with the IoT device in the message, for example, interact with the IoT device in a random number.

[0145] (7) Sending a playload to the IoT device. In one possible implementation, the service requester can send a playload to the IoT device through the reader. After receiving the playload from the service requester, the reader sends the playload to the IoT device. In another possible implementation, the core network device can send a playload to the IoT device through the reader. After receiving the playload from the core network device, the reader sends the playload to the IoT device. Exemplarily, the playload can be an instruction sent by the core network device or the service requester to the IoT device, data written by the core network device or the service requester to the IoT device, application layer information sent by the core network device or the service requester to the IoT device, etc., or the playload can also be other information related to the IoT device, which is not limited in the present application.

[0146] (8) Positioning operation: positioning the IoT device or acquiring the position information of the IoT device. In one possible implementation, the acquired position information can include one or more of coordinate value, latitude and longitude, cell identification, tracking area identification, network identification, etc. In one possible implementation, the positioning operation can include that the IoT device sends a signal for performing positioning, the reader receives the signal to perform positioning or sends the signal to a functional device (for example, a location management function (LMF)) performing position calculation after receiving the signal, to perform position calculation.

[0147] It can be understood that the service operation indicated by the first information can include a combination of one or more of the above service operations, or other operations that exist or are subsequently developed, which are not limited herein. For example, in one example, the service operation indicated by the first information can include an inventory operation; and in another example, the service operation indicated by the first information can include a plurality of operations performed in sequence, such as an inventory operation and a subsequent operation (such as one or more of a read operation, a write operation, etc.) on the Internet of Things device inventoried by the inventory operation.

[0148] In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, when the first information indicates performing a service operation on an Internet of Things device, the first information can carry information of the Internet of Things device or can not carry information of the Internet of Things device. For example, the service operation is an inventory operation, indicating to inventory the Internet of Things devices within the coverage of the RAN, that is, to obtain the identities of the Internet of Things devices within the coverage of the RAN, and the first information does not carry information of the Internet of Things device. Or, the service operation is an operation after the inventory operation, and the first information can carry the identity of the Internet of Things device and other information of the Internet of Things device to point to a specific Internet of Things device, for example, after the inventory operation, the service operation can be a write operation or a read operation on the specified Internet of Things device.

[0149] In step 202, the RAN sends a paging message in a case where the first terminal as the target reader is in the non-connected state.

[0150] The paging message includes identification information, and the terminal indicated by the identification information includes the first terminal.

[0151] In the embodiment of the present application, the target reader is used to perform a service operation on an Internet of Things device, at this time, the Internet of Things device can be considered as a tag, and the target reader can be considered as a reader corresponding to the Internet of Things device.

[0152] The target reader and the first terminal as the target reader can have various cases.

[0153] In some examples, the target reader can be a reader-capable terminal. In this example, the target reader can be represented without the identity of the target reader; or the target reader can be represented by a first identity, which indicates any reader-capable terminal as the target reader. For example, the application request does not carry the information of the target reader in the service request sent by the AMF, and any reader-capable terminal is indicated as the target reader. Based on this, the first information sent by the AMF to the RAN can carry the first terminal to indicate any reader-capable terminal as the target reader; or the first information sent by the AMF to the RAN can not carry the information of the target reader, and any reader-capable terminal is indicated as the target reader. In this example, the first terminal as the target reader can be a reader-capable terminal. In the embodiments of the present application, reader-capable can mean that the terminal can implement the function of the reader; in addition, reader-capable can also mean that the terminal can play the role of the reader, for example, if a terminal is in a mode capable of playing the role of the reader, it means that the terminal can play the role of the reader and can implement the function of the reader. In this example, the first identity can be preconfigured in the RAN.

[0154] In other examples, the target reader can be described by the identity of the target reader, such as the identity of the target reader and / or the identity of the target reader group.

[0155] For example, the reader identity can be referred to as reader ID, which is used to uniquely identify the reader, that is, different readers correspond to different reader IDs, and different terminals as readers correspond to different reader IDs. For example, the reader ID corresponding to terminal A as the reader is different from the reader ID corresponding to terminal B as the reader, that is, terminal A and terminal B are different readers. In the embodiments of the present application, the identity of the target reader corresponding to the target reader is the target reader ID, and the terminal corresponding to the target reader ID is the first terminal as the target reader. It should be noted that the target reader can correspond to one or more target reader identities (i.e., one or more target reader IDs), and the terminal corresponding to the one or more target reader identities is one or more first terminals as the target reader.

[0156] Further, exemplary, the reader group identifier can be referred to as a target ID, one reader group identifier (i.e., one target ID) uniquely identifies one reader group, and one reader group contains one or more readers. The target reader can correspond to one or more target reader group identifiers (i.e., one or more target IDs), and the readers contained in the one or more target reader group identifiers are the target readers, and the one or more groups corresponding to the one or more target reader group identifiers are the terminals as the target readers.

[0157] The target reader identifier and / or the target reader group identifier can be allocated by the AMF or the UDM, preconfigured in the UDM, or provided by the service requester.

[0158] In yet some examples, the target reader can be described by target location information, which is used to indicate that the terminal located at the target location described by the target location information is the target reader.

[0159] In the embodiments of the present application, the number of the first terminals can be one or more. When the number of the first terminals is more than one, the types of the different first terminals can be the same or different.

[0160] After receiving the first information, the RAN can determine that the connection state of the first terminal as the target reader is in the connected state or the non-connected state.

[0161] For the RAN, the terminal in the non-connected state can mean that the terminal is in the RRC idle state or the RRC Inactive state.

[0162] The first terminal as the target reader in the non-connected state can have multiple cases.

[0163] For example, when the number of the first terminals is more than one, the first terminal as the target reader in the non-connected state can mean that there is a first terminal in the non-connected state in the multiple first terminals as the target reader. Or, when the RAN requires the number of the terminals as the target reader to be greater than a specified number based on the first information, the first terminal as the target reader in the non-connected state can mean that the number of the first terminals in the connected state is not greater than the specified number. Or, the first terminal as the target reader in the non-connected state can mean that one or more first terminals as the target reader are all in the non-connected state.

[0164] It can be seen that the RAN in determining the first terminal as the target reader in the non-connected state can mean that the RAN determines that there is no first terminal as the target reader in the connected state, or the RAN determines that there is not enough number of the first terminal as the target reader in the connected state.

[0165] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, in step 202, the RAN can have determined which terminal or terminals are the first terminals acting as target readers, or can not have determined which terminal or terminals are the first terminals acting as target readers, which is not limited herein.

[0166] For example, in an example, the RAN can determine that the terminals in the connected state are not the first terminals acting as target readers (for example, none of the terminals in the connected state has the capability of acting as a reader), and thus determine that the first terminals acting as target readers are in the non-connected state. In this example, the RAN has not determined which terminal or terminals are the first terminals acting as target readers.

[0167] Alternatively, the RAN can determine that the number of terminals acting as target readers among the terminals in the connected state does not satisfy a specified condition (for example, is not greater than a specified number), in other words, the RAN can determine that there are not enough number of first terminals acting as target readers in the connected state, and thus determine that the first terminals acting as target readers are in the non-connected state. In this example, the RAN can have determined part of the first terminals acting as target readers that have been in the connected state among the plurality of first terminals acting as target readers, but has not determined another part of the first terminals acting as target readers that are not in the connected state.

[0168] Alternatively, before step 202, the method can further include the following steps: the RAN receives third information, the third information including one or more of a reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, and location information where the first terminal is located, the second identifier indicating that the terminal has the capability of acting as a reader; and the RAN determines the first terminal acting as a target reader according to the third information.

[0169] In this example, the third information can be from a core network device such as an AMF. For example, the AMF can authorize the first terminal as a reader according to one or more of the following received from the first terminal in a registration procedure of the first terminal: a reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, location information in which the first terminal is located, and / or subscription data about the first terminal received from a UDM. Then, the AMF can send the third information to the RAN. In this example, when the second identifier corresponding to the first terminal is included in the third information, the second identifier corresponding to the first terminal can indicate that the first terminal has a reader capability, that is, the second identifier corresponding to the first terminal can be considered as the reader capability information of the first terminal. The second identifier can be the same as the first identifier described above, for example, can be a specific value in a specified field, or can be different. In this example, the first identifier can be considered to match the second identifier. For example, the third information received by the RAN includes the second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, indicating that the first terminal has a reader capability, and the first information can carry the first identifier, indicating that the target reader is a terminal with a reader capability. Then, the second identifier in the third information can be considered to match the first identifier in the first information, so as to determine that the first terminal is the target reader.

[0170] In this example, the RAN receives the third information when the first terminal is in a connected state. Then, the RAN receives the first information after the first terminal is switched from the connected state to an unconnected state (for example, RRC Inactive or RRC idle state). Subsequently, the RAN can determine that the first terminal is the target reader according to the third information, and determine that the first terminal is in the unconnected state.

[0171] For example, the first information further includes reader information of the target reader performing the service operation, and the reader information includes one or more of the following: a target reader identifier, a target reader group identifier, the first identifier, and target location information. The first identifier in the reader information indicates any terminal with a reader capability.

[0172] In this example, the service requester can send a service request carrying the reader information to the Internet of Things function entity, so that the Internet of Things function entity determines the reader information of the target reader performing the service operation. Based on this, the first information can carry the reader information of the target reader performing the service operation, so that the RAN can learn the reader indicated by the service requester to perform the service operation according to the reader information.

[0173] In this way, the RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader based on the third information matching the reader information. For example, if one or more of the following conditions are met, it can be considered that the third information matches the reader information, and thus the first terminal is determined as the target reader: the reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal in the third information matches the target reader identifier in the first information; the reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal in the third information matches the target reader group identifier in the first information; the third information and the first information both carry the first identifier; the location information of the first terminal is located in the target location indicated by the target location information in the first information.

[0174] After determining that the first terminal as the target reader is in the non-connected state, the RAN can send a paging message. In an example, the identification information included in the paging message can carry a reader message for describing the target reader, so that the terminal receiving the paging message can determine itself as the first terminal as the target reader by matching the reader message, and thus respond to the paging message, receive a service instruction in the future, and perform a service operation. Alternatively, in another example, the identification information included in the paging message is used to instruct the terminals in the coverage range of the RAN to be paged, so that the terminals in the coverage range of the RAN respond to the paging message and establish a connection with the RAN, and then the RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader from the terminals that have established a connection with the RAN.

[0175] In step 203, the first terminal receives the paging message.

[0176] In some examples, the paging message includes identification information, and the identification information includes one or more of the following information: a target reader identifier, a target reader group identifier, a first identifier, and target location information, the first identifier indicating any terminal with reader capability.

[0177] In this way, the first terminal can determine itself as the target reader according to the identification information carried in the paging message.

[0178] For example, before step 203 is performed, the method further includes: before the first terminal receives the paging message, the method further includes:

[0179] The first terminal receives fourth information, and the fourth information includes one or more of the following information: a reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, and location information of the first terminal.

[0180] After step 203, the first terminal can match the fourth information with the identification information. If the fourth information matches the identification information (e.g., the reader identification corresponding to the first terminal matches the target reader identification, the reader group identification corresponding to the first terminal matches the target reader group identification, etc.), the first terminal can determine that it needs to respond to the paging message, or can determine that the first terminal is the target reader.

[0181] In some examples, the identification information included in the paging message is used to indicate paging the terminals within the coverage of the RAN, so that the terminals within the coverage of the RAN respond to the paging message and establish connection with the RAN, and then the RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader from the terminals that have established connection with the RAN.

[0182] In some examples, the identification information included in the paging message is used to indicate paging the terminals within the coverage of the RAN, so that the terminals within the coverage of the RAN respond to the paging message and establish connection with the RAN, and then the RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader from the terminals that have established connection with the RAN.

[0183] In some examples, the first terminal can determine that it is the target reader according to the paging message, and then initiate the connection establishment request to the RAN. For example, the first terminal initiates the connection establishment request to the RAN according to the paging message based on the fourth information matching the identification information.

[0184] The connection establishment request is used to request to establish the connection between the first terminal and the RAN.

[0185] In some examples, the first terminal can determine that it is the target reader according to the paging message, and then initiate the connection establishment request to the RAN. For example, the first terminal initiates the connection establishment request to the RAN according to the paging message based on the fourth information matching the identification information.

[0186] In some examples, the identification information included in the paging message is used to indicate paging the terminals within the coverage of the RAN, so that the terminals within the coverage of the RAN respond to the paging message and establish connection with the RAN, and then the RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader from the terminals that have established connection with the RAN.

[0187] In some examples, the first terminal can be determined as the target reader by the RAN after step 204.

[0188] In some embodiments, after step 204, the method further comprises:

[0189] The RAN receives third information, the third information comprising one or more of a reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, and location information in which the first terminal is located, the second identifier indicating that the terminal has a reader capability.

[0190] The RAN determines the first terminal as a target reader according to the third information.

[0191] In the embodiments of the present application, the source of the third information and the timing of the RAN receiving the third information can be various, which is not limited here.

[0192] In this example, after the first terminal receives the paging message, it can register in response to the paging message. In the registration process of the first terminal, the RAN can receive the third message from the first terminal, AMF or UDM, etc., so as to determine the first terminal as a target reader according to the third information.

[0193] As can be seen from the above example, the RAN can determine the first terminal as a target reader after step 201 and before step 202, or it can also determine the first terminal as a target reader after step 204.

[0194] In addition, after establishing the connection between the first terminal and the RAN, the method further comprises step 205: the first terminal receives fifth information from the RAN, the fifth information indicating performing a business operation on the Internet of Things device.

[0195] In this way, the first terminal can perform step 206: performing a business operation on the Internet of Things device in the presence of the Internet of Things device.

[0196] Next, an exemplary specific implementation manner of the embodiments of the present application will be introduced through a specific example. It can be understood that the specific example is only an exemplary introduction to the embodiments of the present application, and is not limited.

[0197] As shown in FIG. 3, in this specific example, the business request of the business requestor can be an inventory request, and the business requestor can be an AF.

[0198] The specific example can include steps 31-319.

[0199] Step 31. The AF can indicate the first terminal as a target reader to the UDM through the NEF, etc.

[0200] In a possible implementation, the AF sends an identifier of the first terminal, such as a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI) or a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI), and can also send reader information indicating a target reader. The reader information can include one or more of the following: target ID(s), the first identifier, time information, target location information, and the first identifier in the reader information indicates any terminal with reader capability. The target ID(s) can be used to indicate a target reader group to which the first terminal as a target reader belongs. One target reader group can include one or more readers. The target reader group identifier sent in this step can include one reader group or multiple reader groups. The time information can indicate a time (such as one or more of a start time, a duration, and an end time) during which the first terminal functions as a reader. The target location information indicates a location range (such as one or more of geographic location information, coordinate value information, cell identifier information, and tracking area identifier information) of the first terminal as a reader.

[0201] In a possible implementation, the AF sends information indicating the first terminal as a target reader to the NEF through an Nnef_ParameterProvision Create / Update Request. If the AF provides a GPSI, the NEF can obtain the corresponding SUPI according to the GPSI, and sends the SUPI of the first terminal, the first identifier, and / or target ID(s) to the UDM through an Nudm_ParameterProvision Create / Update Request. If the AF is a trusted AF, the AF can directly send information indicating the first terminal as a target reader to the UDM. For example, the AF can send the SUPI / GPSI of the first terminal, the first identifier, and / or target ID(s) to the UDM through an Nudm_ParameterProvision Create / Update Request.

[0202] Step 32. The first terminal sends a registration request message to the RAN. The registration request message can carry a registration type and an identifier of the first terminal (a subscription concealed identifier (SUCI) or a 5G globally unique temporary identifier (5G-GUTI) or a permanent equipment identifier (PEI)).

[0203] The registration type can be one of the following:

[0204] Initial registration: a registration procedure initiated when the terminal is in a deregistered state;

[0205] Mobility registration update: a registration procedure initiated when the terminal needs to initiate a registration procedure due to mobility;

[0206] Periodic registration update: a registration procedure initiated when the terminal is in a registered state and a periodic registration update timer expires;

[0207] Emergency registration: a registration procedure initiated when the terminal is in a service-restricted state.

[0208] In the scenario of the embodiments of the present application, the registration type is usually initial registration, mobility registration update or periodic registration update. For the identifier of the first terminal, when the first terminal has a valid 5G-GUTI (a temporary identity identifier, assigned by the AMF serving it), the 5G-GUTI is carried in the registration request; if the first terminal has no valid 5G-GUTI, the SUCI is carried; in emergency registration, if the first terminal has no valid 5G-GUTI and no SUPI (i.e. no SUCI, SUCI is encrypted SUPI), the PEI is carried.

[0209] Optionally, the first terminal can include first indication information (which can be understood as reader capability information) in the registration request message, for indicating that the terminal device has the capability of being a reader. In a possible implementation, the first terminal can include a first identifier (for example, reader capable indication) in the registration request message, or a newly added information element (for example, a newly added preferred network behavior in the information element of Preferred Network Behaviour) can be used as the first identifier, for indicating that the terminal device has the capability of being a reader. The newly added information element can be used for indicating whether to support the capability of being a reader (for example, whether support reader capability) or whether to activate the target mode capable of being a reader (whether activate reader mode). The RAN selects a suitable AMF; and the RAN sends the registration request message sent by the UE to the AMF.

[0210] Step 33. The first terminal performs a security procedure with the AMF, the AUSF, and the UDM, and completes bidirectional authentication (verification) between the first terminal and the network.

[0211] Step 34. The AMF registers as the service AMF of the first terminal to the UDM. In a possible implementation, the AMF sends an Nudm_UECM Registration message to the UDM, where the identifier (AMF ID) of the AMF is included.

[0212] Step 35. The AMF interacts with the UDM to obtain the subscription data of the first terminal. The subscription data sent by the UDM to the AMF can include the first identifier (for indicating the capability of being a reader) and / or target ID(s).

[0213] Step 36. The AMF can authorize the first terminal as a reader according to the reader capability information from the first terminal and / or the subscription data of the UDM. The reader capability information can include the first identifier.

[0214] In a possible implementation, the AMF allocates a reader identifier (reader ID) for the first terminal authorized as a reader by interacting with the UDM. In a possible implementation, the reader identifier can be allocated by the AMF or allocated by the UDM; or can be preconfigured in the UDM or provided by the AF.

[0215] In a possible implementation, in step 37a, after obtaining the reader ID, the AMF sends the SUPI of the first terminal and the reader ID of the first terminal (as the reader ID corresponding to the first terminal) to the IoT function entity to indicate that the first terminal is a reader. In a possible implementation, in step 37b, the AMF further sends information indicating that the first terminal is a reader to the RAN, and optionally, the information includes the reader ID and / or the target ID(s). For example, the AMF can send the context information of the first terminal to the RAN, and the context information includes information indicating that the UE is a reader, for example, the reader ID and / or the target ID(s) of the first terminal. In this way, the IoT function entity and the RAN both know the reader ID corresponding to the first terminal, and in subsequent applications, the reader ID information corresponding to the terminal can be used to let the RAN know which terminals need to be selected as readers to receive the service instruction.

[0216] Step 38. The AMF sends a registration accept message to the first terminal through the RAN. Optionally, the AMF can send the target ID(s) corresponding to the first terminal or the reader ID corresponding to the first terminal to the first terminal. Subsequently, when the IoT function entity wants the terminal corresponding to a specific target ID to receive the service instruction, the RAN can send a paging through the target ID(s).

[0217] Steps 39a-39d. Optionally, the first terminal disconnects the AN connection with the RAN and enters the RRC idle state, and the RAN triggers a context release procedure. The RAN sends an N2 UE context release request to the AMF, the AMF sends an N2 UE context release command to the RAN, and the RAN sends an N2 UE context release complete to the AMF.

[0218] Step 310. The AF sends an inventory request indicating to perform an inventory operation to the IoT function entity.

[0219] For example, the AF sends a inventory request to the NEF, the inventory request can include the identity of the AF; optionally, the AF can also send the identity information of the first terminal as the target reader (e.g. the GPSI of the first terminal), or the target location information that needs to perform the inventory operation, or the target ID(s) of the target reader. The NEF selects the Internet of Things function entity according to the configuration, for example, according to one or more of the AF identity, the GPSI (or SUPI), the target location information, the target ID(s), selects the Internet of Things function entity; or when the AF provides the GPSI information, the NEF obtains the corresponding SUPI information according to the GPSI, and selects the Internet of Things function entity according to the SUPI (for example, selects the Internet of Things function entity according to the number segment of the SUPI); the NEF sends a service request message to the Internet of Things function entity, the service request message includes the AF identity; if the AF provides the GPSI or SUPI information of the first terminal in step 310, the NEF also sends the SUPI of the first terminal to the Internet of Things function entity. If the AF sends the target location information to the NEF, the NEF sends the target location information to the Internet of Things function entity; if the AF provides the target ID(s) of the target reader, the NEF sends the target ID(s) of the target reader to the Internet of Things function entity.

[0220] In a possible implementation, if the Internet of Things function entity receives the SUPI in step 310, the Internet of Things function entity interacts with the UDM to obtain the Reader ID information corresponding to the SUPI, or in step 37a, the Internet of Things function entity obtains the reader ID information corresponding to the SUPI through the AMF. In another possible implementation, if the Internet of Things function entity receives the target ID(s) or the target location information in step 310, the Internet of Things function entity selects the RAN according to the target ID(s) or the target location information. The Internet of Things function entity sends one or more of the reader ID, the target ID(s) or the target location information to the RAN. For example, the Internet of Things function entity sends (for example, through the AIoT NGAP message) the inventory request to the selected RAN, which includes the reader information indicating the target reader, for example, one or more of the reader ID, the target ID(s) or the target location information.

[0221] The RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader according to the inventory request sent by the Internet of Things function entity.

[0222] In one possible implementation, if the IoT function entity sends a reader ID (i.e. target reader identification), the RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader according to the reader ID, for example, retrieves the context of each terminal, and determines the terminal as the first terminal as the target reader when the reader / writer identification contained in the context of the terminal is the same as the target reader identification from the IoT function entity.

[0223] In another possible implementation, if the IoT function entity sends a target ID (i.e. target reader group identification), the RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader according to the target ID, for example, retrieves the context of each terminal, and determines the terminal as the first terminal as the target reader when the target ID contained in the context of the terminal is the same as the target ID from the IoT function entity.

[0224] In another possible implementation, if the IoT function entity sends target location information, the RAN determines the terminal with reader capability located in the target location indicated by the target location information as the first terminal according to the target location information.

[0225] In one possible implementation, in steps 39a-39d, part of the terminals as the reader enter the idle state, resulting in that the RAN does not store the context information. When the RAN considers that there is no suitable first terminal as the target reader or there are not enough first terminals as the target reader, in step 311a, the RAN determines that the first terminal as the target reader is in the non-connected state according to the inventory request sent by the IoT function entity.

[0226] In step 311b, the RAN can trigger paging of the first terminal as the target reader. The RAN sends a paging message, which can contain reader information indicating the target reader, such as containing one or more of the first identity, reader ID, target ID(s), or target location information. The paging message containing the reader ID can be used to indicate the terminal with the reader identity of the reader ID to initiate connection establishment. The paging message containing the target ID can be used to indicate the terminal belonging to the reader group indicated by the target ID to initiate connection establishment. The paging message containing the first identity can be used to indicate the terminal authorized as a reader to initiate connection establishment. If the target location information is sent by the IoT function entity, the paging message can contain the target location information to indicate the terminal located in the target location indicated by the target location information to initiate connection establishment. If the paging message contains one or more of the first identity, reader ID, target ID, and target location information, the terminal matching the one or more parameters initiates connection establishment. In an example, the application request sent by the AMF does not carry the information of the target reader, which can indicate any terminal with reader capability as the target reader. The inventory request sent by the AMF to the RAN can carry the first identity to indicate any terminal with reader capability as the target reader. Alternatively, the inventory request sent by the AMF to the RAN can not carry the information of the target reader, which indicates any terminal with reader capability as the target reader. In this example, the paging message broadcasted by the RAN can carry the first identity to indicate the terminal with reader capability to initiate connection establishment in response to the paging message.

[0227] Step 312. The terminal belonging to the terminal indicated by the paging message of step 311b initiates connection establishment, initiates a service request to the AMF through the RAN, and the AMF establishes an N2 UE context with the RAN.

[0228] Step 313. The RAN learns that the terminal belongs to the first terminal as the target reader indicated in step 310. For example, the RAN can determine this by the target location information, reader ID, or target ID in the reader information.

[0229] Step 314. The RAN sends (e.g., through an RRC message) an inventory request to the first terminal.

[0230] Step 315. The first terminal interacts with the IoT device to complete the random access procedure of the IoT device.

[0231] Step 316. The IoT device sends the IoT device identity (Device ID) to the first terminal, for example, the IoT device sends a Device to Reader message (D2R message) to the first terminal, in which the IoT device identity is included.

[0232] Step 317. The first terminal sends (for example, through an RRC message) the information from the IoT device, for example, the IoT device identity, to the RAN.

[0233] Step 318. The RAN sends (for example, through an AIoT NGAP message) the information from the IoT device, for example, the IoT device identity, to the IoT function entity.

[0234] Step 319. The IoT function entity sends a response message to the AF through the NEF, including the information of the IoT device, for example, the IoT device identity.

[0235] As can be seen, in the embodiments of the present application, a paging mechanism for the terminal acting as a reader is designed in the RAN. In this scheme, even if the first terminal acting as a target reader is in an unconnected state, the first terminal acting as a target reader can still initiate a connection establishment request through a paging message for the first terminal acting as a target reader to establish a connection with the RAN, so as to receive a service instruction and perform a service operation on the IoT device.

[0236] In this way, when the IoT function entity transmits a service, it does not need to perform signaling interaction with the core network element such as the AMF, so that the first terminal acting as a target reader can send a service request to the RAN after being in a connected state, and the RAN can make the first terminal receive the service request, reducing or even avoiding signaling interaction between the IoT function entity and the core network element such as the AMF, thereby reducing signaling overhead and improving information transmission efficiency.

[0237] In addition, the paging mechanism in the embodiments of the present application is different from the existing paging mechanism. In the traditional paging mechanism, a temporary identity such as TMSI of the terminal is usually carried to page a specific terminal, and the first terminal acting as a target reader cannot be paged and initiate connection establishment through one paging, while in some embodiments of the present application, the RAN can page the first terminal acting as a target reader and initiate connection establishment through one paging by carrying a special identity such as the first identity, which is more efficient in paging, thereby improving information interaction efficiency.

[0238] And in some scenarios, when the RAN is as a reader, the IoT function entity can send a service instruction to the RAN, usually without signaling interaction with a core network element such as an AMF, it can be seen that in the embodiment of the application, the terminal as a reader, the IoT function entity service transmission mode is the same, that is, the scheme of the embodiment of the application can make the IoT function entity cabinet when facing two types of readers of the terminal as a reader and the RAN as a reader, can adopt the same service transmission mode (that is, all send service instructions to the RAN), and can reduce the information interaction with the AMF and other core network elements to ensure the reliability of service transmission (that is, through the paging mechanism of the RAN for the terminal as a reader, the first terminal as a target reader in the non-connected state is found and connected to receive the service instruction, and the execution of the business operation is guaranteed). In addition, the scheme of the embodiment of the application is basically consistent with the service instruction issuing mode when the RAN is as a reader, so it can maximize the compatibility of the two different reader forms through a set of architecture scheme.

[0239] And in many scenarios of the embodiment of the application, since the signaling interaction between the IoT function entity and the AMF and other core network elements can be avoided, the AMF and other core network elements can be deployed in the park without deploying the AMF and other core network elements, thereby facilitating the reduction of the deployment cost of the IoT.

[0240] Embodiment two:

[0241] In the embodiment of the application, the connection state of the first terminal as a reader can be managed by the first network device, so that the first terminal is in a connected state. In this way, during the service transmission process, since the first terminal as the target reader corresponding to the IoT device is in a connected state, the IoT function entity can directly send a service instruction to the RAN to instruct the first terminal to perform a business operation, thereby reducing or even avoiding the signaling interaction between the IoT function entity and the AMF and other core network elements, thereby reducing signaling overhead and improving information transmission efficiency.

[0242] As shown in FIG. 4, the data processing method of the embodiment of the application includes steps 401-402.

[0243] Step 401, the first network device determines that the first terminal is as a reader.

[0244] In the embodiment of the application, the specific type of the first network device is not limited here, for example, the first network device can be a RAN, or a core network element such as an AMF or a UDM, or a network element such as an IoT function entity.

[0245] The following exemplary describes the manner in which the first network device determines the first terminal as a reader when the first network device is a network device of different types.

[0246] 1. The first network device is a RAN.

[0247] Specifically, in some embodiments, when the first network device is a RAN, step 401 includes:

[0248] The RAN receives sixth information from the AMF, the sixth information indicating that the first terminal is a reader.

[0249] In some examples, the sixth information can come from the AMF. For example, the AMF can authorize the first terminal as a reader according to one or more of the following: the reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal, the reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal, the second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, the location information in which the first terminal is located, received from the first terminal in the registration procedure of the first terminal, and / or the subscription data about the first terminal received from the UDM; after authorizing the first terminal as a reader, the AMF can send the sixth information to the RAN to indicate that the first terminal is a reader. In one possible implementation, the sixth information can include one or more of the following: the identifier of the first terminal (e.g., the GPSI or SUPI of the first terminal), the reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal, the reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal, the second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, the location information in which the first terminal is located, the time information as a reader, and the location information as a reader. The time information as a reader indicates that the terminal can be a reader when the time is within the specified time period indicated by the time information. The location information as a reader indicates that the terminal is a reader when the terminal is located in a specific location (e.g., within a specific location area range).

[0250] 2. The first network device is an AMF.

[0251] Specifically, in some embodiments, when the first network device is an AMF, step 401 includes:

[0252] The AMF determines the first terminal as a reader according to the seventh information from the first terminal and / or the subscription data from the UDM, the seventh information indicating that the first terminal is a reader.

[0253] For example, the AMF can receive the seventh information from the first terminal in the registration procedure of the first terminal, or receive the subscription data of the first terminal from the UDM as the seventh information. In a possible implementation, the seventh information can include one or more of the identity of the first terminal, the reader identity corresponding to the first terminal, the reader group identity corresponding to the first terminal, the second identity corresponding to the first terminal, the location information where the first terminal is located, the time information as a reader, and the location information as a reader.

[0254] 3. The first network device is an IoT function entity.

[0255] Specifically, in some embodiments, when the first network device is an IoT function entity, step 401 includes:

[0256] The IoT function entity sends a subscription request to the UDM or the AMF, and the subscription request indicates subscription of state information of the first terminal as a reader, and the state information includes information of one or more of a registration state and a connection state.

[0257] The IoT function entity receives a first state notification from the UDM or the AMF, and the first state notification indicates that the first terminal as a reader is in a registered state and / or a connected state.

[0258] In the embodiments of the present application, the IoT function entity can subscribe to the state information of the first terminal as a reader from the UDM or the AMF.

[0259] For example, in an example, the UDM can subscribe to the state information of the first terminal as a reader from the AMF, and then the IoT function entity can subscribe to the state information of the first terminal as a reader from the UDM. Alternatively, in another example, if the IoT function entity obtains the AMF information (such as the AMF ID) serving the first terminal as a reader, the IoT function entity can also subscribe to the state information of the first terminal as a reader from the AMF.

[0260] The subscription request can carry information of the first terminal as a reader, such as one or more of the reader identity corresponding to the first terminal, the reader group identity corresponding to the first terminal, the second identity corresponding to the first terminal, and the location information where the first terminal is located. Alternatively, the subscription request can not carry information of the first terminal as a reader, and after the first terminal completes registration and / or connection establishment, the IoT function entity determines the first terminal as a reader and determines that the first terminal as a reader is in a registered state and / or a connected state through the received first state information.

[0261] It can be understood that the subscription request can be only for the first terminal (that is, only subscribe to the state information of the first terminal) or for all terminals as readers, including the first terminal.

[0262] 4. The first network device is a UDM.

[0263] Specifically, in some embodiments, when the first network device is a UDM, step 401 includes:

[0264] The UDM determines the first terminal as a reader according to the subscription data of the first terminal, eighth information from the AMF, or ninth information from the service requester, the eighth information indicating that the first terminal is authorized as a reader, and the ninth information indicating that the first terminal is a reader.

[0265] In the embodiments of the present application, the UDM can obtain the subscription data of the first terminal through the registration process of the first terminal, or can receive the eighth information from the AMF after the AMF authorizes the first terminal as a reader, or can be indicated in the service request sent by the service requester that the first terminal is a reader, so that the UDM can receive the ninth information such as the service request from the service requester to determine the first terminal as a reader.

[0266] The subscription data, the eighth information or the ninth information can include one or more of the identifier of the first terminal, the reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal, the reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal, the second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, the location information where the first terminal is located, the time information as a reader, and the location information as a reader.

[0267] In the embodiments of the present application, when the first terminal is determined as a reader, the reader can be a general reader, indicating that the first terminal has the capability of a reader, or the first terminal can be determined as a specific reader, for example, as a target reader of Internet of Things device, and the target reader is described by a target reader identifier, a target reader group identifier, and target location information.

[0268] Step 402, the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in a connected state.

[0269] In the embodiments of the present application, the timing of the first network device managing the connection state of the first terminal can have multiple cases.

[0270] In some embodiments, the first network device can start the function of managing the connection state of the first terminal based on the pre-device configuration, etc., to manage the connection state of the first terminal.

[0271] In some embodiments, the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in the connected state, including:

[0272] In some embodiments, the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in the connected state, including:

[0273] In some embodiments, the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in the connected state, including:

[0274] In some embodiments, the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in the connected state, including:

[0275] In some embodiments, the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in the connected state, including:

[0276] In some embodiments, the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in the connected state, including:

[0277] In some embodiments, the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in the connected state, including:

[0278] In some embodiments, the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in the connected state, including:

[0279] In some embodiments, the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in the connected state, including:

[0280] Then, after step 402, one or more of the following steps can also be performed:

[0281] The RAN receives a first service instruction from the IoT function entity, the first service instruction instructing to perform a specified service operation on the IoT device, the specified service operation can include one or more of the following operations: an inventory operation, a read operation, a write operation, an invalidation operation, a message interaction operation with the IoT device, sending a load to the IoT device, a positioning operation;

[0282] The RAN sends a second service instruction to the first terminal as a reader, the second service instruction instructing the first terminal to perform a specified service operation;

[0283] The first terminal receives the second service instruction;

[0284] The first terminal performs the specified service operation on the IoT device according to the second service instruction.

[0285] It can be seen that, in the embodiments of the present application, since the first terminal is in the connected state before the transmission of the service request of the service requester, the IoT function entity can directly send a service instruction to the RAN during the service transmission process, and the RAN directly sends a service instruction to the first terminal to instruct the first terminal to perform a specified service operation, without the need for the IoT function entity to interact with the core network element such as the AMF during the service transmission process, so that the service transmission efficiency is higher.

[0286] Next, the specific manner in which the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal to make the first terminal in the connected state is exemplarily introduced.

[0287] In the embodiments of the present application, the specific manner in which the first network device manages the connection state of the first terminal can include one or more of the following manners:

[0288] Manner 1: The RAN and / or the AMF can maintain and keep the connected state of the first terminal through a flow mechanism to manage the connection state of the first terminal.

[0289] Manner 2: The IoT function entity and / or the UDM can manage the connection state of the first terminal by subscribing to the state information of the first terminal.

[0290] Next, the above manners are introduced respectively.

[0291] Manner 1: The RAN or the AMF can maintain and keep the connected state of the first terminal through a flow mechanism to manage the connection state of the first terminal.

[0292] Since the connection state of the first terminal can include an RRC state with the access network and a CM state with the core network, the RAN and / or the AMF can maintain and keep the connection state of the first terminal through a procedure mechanism to manage the connection state of the first terminal.

[0293] The procedure mechanism adopted by the first network device is different when the first network device is the RAN or the AMF, which will be introduced below.

[0294] 1) The first network device is the RAN.

[0295] When the first network device is the RAN, managing the connection state of the first terminal can include any of the following ways:

[0296] A. The RAN discovers a connection interruption and initiates paging.

[0297] Specifically, in some embodiments, when the first network device is the RAN, step 402 includes:

[0298] When the first terminal is disconnected from the RAN, the RAN initiates paging for the first terminal to establish a connection between the first terminal and the RAN.

[0299] As can be seen, in the embodiments of the present application, after the first terminal is disconnected from the RAN and enters the RRC idle state, the RAN can trigger paging to trigger the first terminal to establish a connection with the RAN, thereby recovering to the RRC connected state, so that the first terminal can maintain the connected state.

[0300] B. The first terminal is prevented from entering the RRC Inactive state as much as possible, thereby ensuring that the first terminal does not enter the RRC idle state.

[0301] Specifically, in some embodiments, when the first network device is the RAN, step 402 includes:

[0302] The RAN sets the connection state parameter of the first terminal to a target state to keep the connection between the first terminal and the RAN.

[0303] For example, the connection state parameter can be a non-connected state parameter such as the RRC Inactive timer, so that the time for triggering the first terminal to enter the non-connected state is as long as possible, thereby reducing the time for the first terminal to enter the RRC Inactive state, or even avoiding the first terminal from entering the RRC Inactive state, so that the first terminal remains in the connected state. In this example, setting the connection state parameter of the first terminal to the target state can be setting the value of the RRC Inactive timer to the maximum value that can be set.

[0304] 2) The first network device is the AMF.

[0305] When the first network device is an AMF, managing the connection state of the first terminal can include any of the following manners:

[0306] A. The AMF rejects the first terminal entering the CM idle state.

[0307] Specifically, in some embodiments, when the first network device is an AMF, step 402 includes:

[0308] When receiving a release request from a RAN serving the first terminal, the AMF rejects the release request, the release request being used to request releasing the connection between the first terminal and the AMF.

[0309] In the embodiments of the present application, after the first terminal enters the RRC idle state, the RAN sends an N2 UE context release request to the AMF to request releasing the connection between the first terminal and the AMF. At this time, the AMF rejects releasing the N2 context to reject the manner of entering the CM idle state of the first terminal, and indicates to the RAN that the first terminal needs to be paged, so that the first terminal enters the RRC connected state and keeps the CM connected state.

[0310] B. After the first terminal enters the CM idle state, the AMF triggers paging.

[0311] Specifically, in some embodiments, when the first network device is an AMF, step 402 includes:

[0312] After disconnecting the connection between the first terminal and the AMF, the AMF sends a paging message to the RAN, the paging message indicating paging the first terminal to make the first terminal establish a connection with the AMF.

[0313] In the embodiments of the present application, after the first terminal enters the RRC idle state, the RAN sends an N2 UE context release request to the AMF to request releasing the connection between the first terminal and the AMF. At this time, the AMF can send an N2 UE context release command to the RAN, and send an N2 UE context release complete command to the RAN, and then initiate a paging message to the RAN, the paging message carrying an identity (such as a temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI)) of the first terminal, to make the first terminal establish a connection with the AMF in a paging manner and enter the connected state.

[0314] Below, an example of a specific implementation of the present example is introduced through a specific example. It can be understood that the specific example is only an example of introducing the embodiments of the present application, and is not limited.

[0315] As shown in FIG. 5, in the specific example, the service request of the service requester can be an inventory request, and the service requester can be an AF.

[0316] The specific example can include steps 51-520.

[0317] Step 51. The AF can indicate the first terminal as a target reader to the UDM through NEF or the like.

[0318] In a possible implementation, the AF sends the terminal identifier such as GPSI or SUPI of the first terminal, and can also send reader information. The reader information can include one or more of the following information: first identifier, time information as a reader, and location information as a reader. The time information as a reader indicates that the terminal can be a reader when the time is within the specified time period indicated by the time information. The location information as a reader indicates that the terminal is a reader when the terminal is located at a specific location (for example, within a specific location area range).

[0319] In a possible implementation, the AF sends information indicating the first terminal as a target reader to the NEF through Nnef_ParameterProvision Create / Update Request. If the AF provides GPSI, the NEF can obtain the corresponding SUPI according to the GPSI, and send the SUPI of the first terminal, the first identifier, and / or target ID(s) to the UDM through Nudm_ParameterProvision Create / Update Request. If the AF is a trusted AF, the AF can directly send information indicating the first terminal as a target reader to the UDM. For example, the AF can send the SUPI / GPSI of the first terminal, the first identifier, one or more of the time information as a reader, and the location information as a reader to the UDM through Nudm_ParameterProvision Create / Update Request.

[0320] Step 52. The first terminal sends a registration request message to the RAN. The registration request message can carry the registration type (Registration Type) and the identifier information (SUCI or 5G-GUTI or PEI) of the first terminal.

[0321] The registration type can be as follows:

[0322] Initial registration: registration procedure initiated when the terminal is in the deregistered state;

[0323] Mobility registration update: registration procedure initiated when the terminal needs to initiate due to mobility;

[0324] Periodic registration update: registration procedure initiated when the terminal is in the registered state due to the periodic registration update timer expiring;

[0325] Emergency registration: registration procedure initiated when the terminal is in the service-restricted state.

[0326] In the scenario of the embodiments of the application, the registration type is usually initial registration, mobility registration update or periodic registration update. For the identification information of the first terminal, when the first terminal has a valid 5G-GUTI (a temporary identity identifier, allocated by the AMF serving it), the 5G-GUTI is carried in the registration request; if the first terminal has no valid 5G-GUTI, the SUCI is carried; in emergency registration, if the first terminal has no valid 5G-GUTI and no SUPI (i.e. no SUCI, SUCI is encrypted SUPI), the PEI is carried.

[0327] Optionally, the first terminal can include first indication information (which can be understood as reader capability information) in the registration request message, for indicating that the terminal device has the capability of a reader. In a possible implementation manner, the first terminal can include a first identifier (for example, reader capable indication) in the registration request message, or a newly added information element (for example, a new preferred network behavior is added in the information element of Preferred Network Behaviour) can also be used as the first identifier, for indicating that the terminal device has the capability of a reader. The newly added information element can be used for indicating whether to support the capability of a reader (for example, whether support reader capability) or whether to activate the target mode capable of being a reader (whether activate reader mode). The RAN selects a suitable AMF; the RAN sends the registration request message sent by the UE to the AMF.

[0328] Step 53. The first terminal performs a security procedure with the AMF, AUSF and UDM, and completes the mutual authentication between the first terminal and the network.

[0329] Step 54. The AMF registers to the UDM as the serving AMF of the first terminal. In one possible implementation, the AMF sends to the UDM a Nudm_UECM Registration message, in which the identity of the AMF (AMF ID) is included.

[0330] Step 55. The AMF interacts with the UDM to obtain the subscription data of the first terminal. The subscription data sent by the UDM to the AMF can include one or more of the following: the first identity (indicating the capability of being a reader), the time information of being a reader, the location information of being a reader.

[0331] Step 56. The AMF can authorize the first terminal as a reader according to the reader capability information from the first terminal and / or the subscription data of the UDM. The reader capability information can include the first identity.

[0332] In one possible implementation, the AMF allocates a reader ID for the first terminal authorized as a reader by interacting with the UDM. In one possible implementation, the reader ID can be allocated by the AMF or the UDM; or can be pre-configured in the UDM or provided by an AF.

[0333] In one possible implementation, in step 57a, after obtaining the reader ID, the AMF sends the SUPI of the first terminal and the reader ID (as the reader ID corresponding to the first terminal) of the first terminal to the IoT function entity to indicate that the first terminal is a reader. In one possible implementation, in step 57b, the AMF further sends to the RAN information indicating that the first terminal is a reader, which can optionally include one or more of the following: the reader ID, the time information of being a reader, the location information of being a reader. For example, the AMF can send to the RAN the context information of the first terminal, which includes information indicating that the UE is a reader, such as one or more of the following: the reader ID of the first terminal, the time information of being a reader, the location information of being a reader. In this way, the IoT function entity and the RAN both know the reader ID corresponding to the first terminal, which can be used as information for the RAN to know which terminals to select as readers to receive service instructions in subsequent applications.

[0334] Step 58. The AMF sends a registration accept message to the first terminal through the RAN. Optionally, the AMF can send to the first terminal one or more of the following: information authorizing the first terminal as a reader, time information of being a reader, location information of being a reader.

[0335] Steps 59a-59b. Alternatively, when the first terminal knows that it needs to be a reader at a specified time period and / or at a first location based on internal implementation or through the information in step 58, the first terminal can send information to activate the reader mode (i.e. target mode information) to the RAN or AMF. The RAN or AMF can know that the first terminal is in a mode capable of being a reader at this time according to the target mode information from the first terminal. Alternatively, the RAN or AMF can know that the first terminal is a reader according to the information in steps 56 or 57a, 57b, so that the first terminal as a reader can be kept in the connected state through the flow mechanism of steps 510a-510c or steps 511a-511e, 512.

[0336] Step 510a. In one possible implementation, if the first terminal is kept in the connected state by the RAN, the RAN can set the time of the RRC Inactive timer corresponding to the first terminal as long as possible, so as to reduce the time for the first terminal to enter the RRC_Inactive state. For example, the time of the RRC Inactive timer corresponding to the first terminal can be set as long as possible only when the first terminal is a reader. For example, the RAN can determine whether the first terminal is a reader according to one or more of the indication information, time information or location information of the first terminal as a reader sent by the AMF, or the target mode information sent by the first terminal.

[0337] In one possible implementation, in steps 510b-510c, if the first terminal as a reader disconnects the AN connection with the RAN and enters the RRC idle state, the RAN triggers a paging message to trigger the first terminal to establish a connection with the RAN and restore to the RRC connected state.

[0338] In a possible implementation, the first terminal can be guaranteed to be in the connected state by the AMF. Steps 511a-511b, when the first terminal disconnects the AN connection with the RAN and enters the RRC idle state, the RAN triggers the context release procedure, for example, the RAN sends the N2 UE context release request (N2 UE Context Release Request) to the AMF. In an example, step 511c can be performed: the AMF can determine the first terminal as a reader according to one or more of the indication information from the first terminal activating the reader mode or the reader authorization result, the time information as a reader, and the location information as a reader, and reject to release the N2 context of the first terminal; in this possible implementation, the AMF rejects the UE to enter the idle state by rejecting to release the N2 context, and indicates to the RAN that the UE needs to be paged. Alternatively, steps 511d-511e can also be performed: after the first terminal enters the CM idle state, the AMF can determine the first terminal as a reader according to one or more of the indication information from the first terminal activating the reader mode or the reader authorization result, the time information as a reader, and the location information as a reader, and then initiate the paging procedure to trigger the first terminal to initiate connection establishment.

[0339] Step 512. The RAN can trigger paging of the first terminal as a reader.

[0340] Step 513. The first terminal as a reader initiates connection establishment, initiates a service request to the AMF through the RAN, the AMF establishes an N2 UE context with the RAN, so that the first terminal is in the connected state.

[0341] Step 514. The AF sends a check request to the Internet of Things function entity, indicating to perform a check operation.

[0342] For example, the AF sends an inventory request to the NEF, the inventory request can include an identity of the AF; optionally, the AF can also send an identity information of the first terminal as the target reader (e.g. GPSI of the first terminal), or target location information that needs to perform the inventory operation, or target ID(s) of the target reader. The NEF selects an IoT function entity according to the configuration, for example, according to one or more of the AF identity, GPSI (or SUPI), target location information, target ID(s), selects an IoT function entity; or when the AF provides GPSI information, the NEF obtains the corresponding SUPI information according to the GPSI, and selects an IoT function entity according to the SUPI (for example, selects an IoT function entity according to the number segment of the SUPI); the NEF sends a service request message to the IoT function entity, the service request message includes the AF identity; if the AF provides GPSI or SUPI information of the first terminal in step 310, the NEF also sends the SUPI of the first terminal to the IoT function entity. If the AF sends target location information to the NEF, the NEF sends the target location information to the IoT function entity; if the AF provides target ID(s) of the target reader, the NEF sends the target ID(s) of the target reader to the IoT function entity.

[0343] In a possible implementation, if the IoT function entity receives the SUPI in step 514, the IoT function entity interacts with the UDM to obtain the Reader ID information corresponding to the SUPI, or in step 57a, the IoT function entity obtains the reader ID information corresponding to the SUPI through the AMF. In another possible implementation, if the IoT function entity receives the target ID(s) or target location information in step 514, the IoT function entity selects the RAN according to the target ID(s) or target location information.

[0344] The IoT function entity sends one or more of the reader ID, target ID(s) or target location information to the RAN. For example, the IoT function entity sends (for example, through an AIoT NGAP message) an inventory request to the selected RAN, which includes reader information indicating the target reader, for example, includes one or more of the reader ID, target ID(s) or target location information.

[0345] The RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader according to the inventory request sent by the IoT function entity.

[0346] In a possible implementation, if the IoT function entity sends a reader ID (i.e., target reader identification), the RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader according to the reader ID, for example, retrieves the context of each terminal, and when the reader / writer identification contained in the context of the terminal is the same as the target reader identification from the IoT function entity, it is determined that the terminal is the first terminal as the target reader.

[0347] In another possible implementation, if the IoT function entity sends a target ID (i.e., target reader group identification), the RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader according to the target ID, for example, retrieves the context of each terminal, and when the target ID contained in the context of the terminal is the same as the target ID from the IoT function entity, it is determined that the terminal is the first terminal as the target reader.

[0348] In another possible implementation, if the IoT function entity sends target location information, the RAN determines the terminal with reader capability located in the target location indicated by the target location information as the first terminal according to the target location information.

[0349] Step 515. The RAN sends (for example, sends through an RRC message) an inventory request to the first terminal.

[0350] Step 516. The first terminal interacts with the IoT device to complete the random access procedure of the IoT device.

[0351] Step 517. The IoT device sends an IoT device identification (Device ID) to the first terminal, and exemplarily, the IoT device sends a device-to-reader message (D2R message) to the first terminal, which contains the IoT device identification from the IoT device.

[0352] Step 518. The first terminal sends (for example, sends through an RRC message) information from the IoT device, for example, the IoT device identification, to the RAN.

[0353] Step 519. The RAN sends (for example, sends through an AIoT NGAP message) information from the IoT device, for example, the IoT device identification, to the IoT function entity.

[0354] Step 520. The IoT function entity sends a response message to the AF through the NEF, including information of the IoT device, for example, the IoT device identification.

[0355] It can be seen that the RAN or the AMF can maintain and keep the first terminal in the connected state through the procedure mechanism, manage the connection state of the first terminal, ensure that the first terminal is in the connected state, and thus ensure that when the IoT function entity sends a service instruction to the first terminal through the RAN, the service instruction can be sent directly to the first terminal through the RAN, so that the IoT function entity does not need to interact with the AMF, and the service instruction is sent to the IoT function entity through the AMF, thereby reducing the participation of the AMF and other core network elements in the service process.

[0356] Option 2: The IoT function entity and / or the UDM can manage the connection state of the first terminal by subscribing to the state information of the first terminal.

[0357] Since the IoT function entity and / or the UDM can subscribe to the state information of the first terminal to know whether the first terminal enters the idle state, the IoT function entity and / or the UDM can trigger the AMF to perform paging in a timely manner when the first terminal enters the idle state, so that the first terminal enters the connected state.

[0358] In the following, the subscription mode of the first network device as the IoT function entity or the UDM is introduced.

[0359] 1) The first network device is the IoT function entity.

[0360] In some embodiments, when the first network device is the IoT function entity, step 402 includes:

[0361] The IoT function entity receives a second state notification from the UDM or the AMF, and the second state notification indicates that the first terminal is in the idle state.

[0362] The IoT function entity instructs the UDM or the AMF serving the first terminal to initiate paging so that the first terminal enters the connected state.

[0363] In the embodiments of the present application, the AMF can provide a subscription service to enable network elements such as the IoT function entity or the UDM to subscribe to the connection state of the terminal to the AMF. In one example, the UDM can subscribe to the state information of the first terminal as a reader to the AMF, and then the IoT function entity can subscribe to the state information of the first terminal as a reader to the UDM; at this time, the IoT function entity can receive a second state notification from the UDM. Alternatively, in another example, if the IoT function entity obtains the AMF information (such as the AMF ID) serving the first terminal as a reader, the IoT function entity can also subscribe to the state information of the first terminal as a reader to the AMF; at this time, the IoT function entity receives a second state notification from the AMF.

[0364] When the IoT function entity determines that the first terminal is in an idle state such as CM idle state based on the second state notification, the IoT function entity can directly send paging indication information to the AMF serving the first terminal as the reader, or can also send the paging indication information to the AMF through other network devices, so as to instruct the AMF to page the first terminal, so that the first terminal enters the connected state.

[0365] 2) The first network device is a UDM.

[0366] In some embodiments, when the first network device is a UDM, step 402 includes:

[0367] The UDM receives a third state notification of the AMF serving the first terminal, and the third state notification indicates that the first terminal is in an idle state.

[0368] The UDM sends paging indication information to the AMF, and the paging indication information instructs the AMF to page the first terminal so that the first terminal enters the connected state.

[0369] In the embodiments of the present application, the UDM can subscribe to the state information of the first terminal as the reader to the AMF, and the AMF sends a third state notification to the UDM in response to the subscription to indicate that the first terminal is in an idle state. In this way, the UDM can send paging indication information to the AMF in response to the third state notification, so as to instruct the AMF to page the first terminal so that the first terminal enters the connected state.

[0370] In the following, an exemplary specific implementation manner of the present example is introduced through a specific example. It can be understood that the specific example is only an exemplary introduction to the embodiments of the present application, and is not limited.

[0371] As shown in FIG. 6, in the specific example, the service request of the service requester can be an inventory request, and the service requester can be an AF.

[0372] The specific example can include steps 61-621.

[0373] Step 61. The AF can indicate the first terminal as the target reader to the UDM through NEF or the like.

[0374] In a possible implementation manner, the AF sends the identity of the first terminal such as GPSI or SUPI, and can also send reader information. The reader information can include one or more of the following information: first identity, time information as a reader, and location information as a reader. The time information as a reader indicates that the terminal can be a reader when the time is within the specified time period indicated by the time information. The location information as a reader indicates that the terminal is a reader when the terminal is located at a specific location (for example, within a specific location area range).

[0375] In a possible implementation, the AF sends information indicating the first terminal as the target reader to the NEF through the Nnef_ParameterProvision Create / Update Request. If the AF provides the GPSI, the NEF can obtain the corresponding SUPI according to the GPSI, and sends the SUPI of the first terminal, the first identifier, and / or target ID(s) and the like to the UDM through the Nudm_ParameterProvision Create / Update Request. If the AF is a trusted AF, the AF can directly send information indicating the first terminal as the target reader to the UDM, for example, the AF can send the SUPI / GPSI of the first terminal, the first identifier, one or more of the time information as the reader and the location information as the reader to the UDM through the Nudm_ParameterProvision Create / Update Request.

[0376] The IoT function entity can subscribe to the reachability notification of the first terminal as the reader to the UDM. Optionally, the IoT function entity can also indicate the UDM to keep the connection state of the IoT device as the reader.

[0377] Step 62. The first terminal sends a registration request message to the RAN. The registration request message can carry the registration type (Registration Type) and the identifier information (SUCI or 5G-GUTI or PEI) of the first terminal.

[0378] The registration type can be as follows:

[0379] Initial registration: a registration procedure initiated when the terminal is in a deregistered state;

[0380] Mobility registration update: a registration procedure initiated when the terminal needs to initiate due to mobility;

[0381] Periodic registration update: a registration procedure initiated when the terminal is in a registered state due to the expiration of the periodic registration update timer;

[0382] Emergency registration: a registration procedure initiated when the terminal is in a service-restricted state.

[0383] In the scenario of the embodiments of the present application, the registration type is usually initial registration, mobility registration update or periodic registration. For the identity information of the first terminal, when the first terminal has a valid 5G-GUTI (a temporary identity, assigned by the AMF serving it), the 5G-GUTI is carried in the registration request; if the first terminal does not have a valid 5G-GUTI, the SUCI is carried; in emergency registration, if the first terminal does not have a valid 5G-GUTI and does not have SUPI (i.e., no SUCI, SUCI is encrypted SUPI), PEI is carried.

[0384] Optionally, the first terminal can include first indication information (which can be understood as reader capability information) in the registration request message, for indicating that the terminal device has the capability of a reader. In a possible implementation, the first terminal can include a first identity (for example, reader capable indication) in the registration request message, or a newly added information element (for example, a new preferred network behavior in the information element of Preferred Network Behaviour) can be used as the first identity, for indicating that the terminal device has the capability of a reader. The newly added information element can be used to indicate whether to support the capability of a reader (for example, whether support reader capability) or whether to activate the target mode capable of being a reader (whether activate reader mode). The RAN selects a suitable AMF; the RAN sends the registration request message sent by the UE to the AMF.

[0385] Step 63. The first terminal performs a security procedure with the AMF, AUSF and UDM, and completes the mutual authentication between the first terminal and the network.

[0386] Step 64. The AMF registers as the service AMF of the first terminal to the UDM. In a possible implementation, the AMF sends an Nudm_UECM Registration message to the UDM, which contains the identity (AMF ID) of the AMF.

[0387] Step 65. The AMF interacts with the UDM to obtain the subscription data of the first terminal. The subscription data sent by the UDM to the AMF can include one or more of the first identity (indicating the capability of a reader), time information as a reader, and location information as a reader.

[0388] Step 66. The AMF can authorize the first terminal as a reader according to the reader capability information from the first terminal and / or the subscription data of the UDM. The reader capability information can include the first identity.

[0389] In a possible implementation, the AMF allocates a reader ID for the first terminal authorized as a reader by interacting with the UDM. In a possible implementation, the reader ID can be allocated by the AMF or the UDM, or preconfigured in the UDM, or provided by the AF.

[0390] In a possible implementation, in step 67a, after obtaining the reader ID, the AMF sends the SUPI of the first terminal and the reader ID of the first terminal (as the reader ID corresponding to the first terminal) to the IoT function entity to indicate that the first terminal is a reader. In a possible implementation, in step 67b, the AMF further sends information indicating that the first terminal is a reader to the RAN, which can optionally include one or more of the reader ID, time information as a reader, and location information as a reader. For example, the AMF can send the context information of the first terminal to the RAN, and the context information includes information indicating that the UE is a reader, for example, one or more of the reader ID of the first terminal, time information as a reader, and location information as a reader.

[0391] Alternatively, in step 67c, the UDM can also send one or more of the reader ID of the first terminal, the connection state of the first terminal, time information as a reader, location information as a reader, and AMF information (AMF ID) serving the first terminal to the IoT function entity. In the foregoing manner, the IoT function entity and the RAN are both aware of the reader ID corresponding to the first terminal, and in subsequent applications, the reader ID information corresponding to the terminal can be used to let the RAN know which terminals need to be selected as readers to receive service instructions.

[0392] Step 68. The AMF sends a registration accept message to the first terminal through the RAN. Optionally, the AMF can send one or more of the information authorizing the first terminal as a reader, time information as a reader, and location information as a reader to the first terminal.

[0393] Steps 69a-69d, when the first terminal disconnects from the RAN and enters the RRC idle state, the RAN triggers the context release procedure, for example, the RAN sends the N2 UE Context Release Request to the AMF. The AMF sends the N2 UE Context Release Command to the RAN, and the RAN sends the N2 UE Context Release Complete to the AMF. The first terminal enters the CM idle state.

[0394] Steps 610a-610b. The AMF sends the UDM a notification that the first terminal enters the CM idle state. If the UDM or the AMF subscribes to the state information of the first terminal as the reader in step 61, the UDM or the AMF can send the UDM a notification that the first terminal enters the CM idle state.

[0395] In a possible implementation, as step 611a, if the paging of the first terminal as the reader is triggered by the IoT function entity, the IoT function entity can indicate to the UDM that the first terminal enters the CM connected state. Further, the UDM can indicate the AMF to trigger the paging of the first terminal, or trigger the UDM to request the AMF serving the first terminal to enable the first terminal to enter the CM connected state. In another possible implementation, as step 611b, if the IoT function entity obtains the AMF information (for example, the AMF ID) serving the first terminal, the IoT function entity can also send the AMF information indicating to page the first terminal, or request the AMF to enable the first terminal to enter the connected state.

[0396] If the IoT function entity obtains the time information and / or the location information of the first terminal as the reader, the IoT function entity can further determine whether the time is in the specified time period indicated by the time information, or whether the first terminal is located in the area indicated by the location information. When the time is in the specified time period indicated by the time information and / or the location of the first terminal is in the area indicated by the location information, the paging is triggered.

[0397] In another possible implementation, the UDM can determine, according to the subscription data, that the first terminal needs to be kept in the connected state, and then can trigger paging of the first terminal to enter the connected state upon receiving the reachability notification (that the first terminal enters the idle state) from the AMF. Similarly, if the UDM obtains the time information and / or the location information of the first terminal as the reader, the UDM can further determine whether the time is in the specified time period indicated by the time information or whether the first terminal is located in the area indicated by the location information. The paging is triggered only when the time is in the specified time period indicated by the time information and / or the first terminal is located in the area indicated by the location information.

[0398] Step 612. The AMF initiates a paging procedure to trigger the first terminal to initiate connection establishment.

[0399] Step 613. The RAN can trigger paging of the first terminal as the reader.

[0400] Step 614. The first terminal as the reader initiates connection establishment, initiates a service request to the AMF through the RAN, and the AMF establishes an N2 UE context with the RAN to enable the first terminal to be in the connected state.

[0401] Step 615. The AF sends an inventory request indicating an inventory operation to the IoT function entity.

[0402] For example, the AF sends the inventory request to the NEF, and the inventory request can include an identifier of the AF; optionally, the AF can also send identifier information (such as a GPSI of the first terminal) of the first terminal as the target reader, or target location information for which the inventory operation needs to be performed, or target ID(s) of the target reader. The NEF selects the IoT function entity according to the configuration, for example, selects the IoT function entity according to one or more of the AF identifier, the GPSI (or SUPI), the target location information, and the target ID(s); or when the AF provides the GPSI information, the NEF obtains the corresponding SUPI information according to the GPSI, and selects the IoT function entity according to the SUPI (for example, selects the IoT function entity according to the number segment of the SUPI); the NEF sends a service request message to the IoT function entity, and the service request message includes the AF identifier; if the AF provides the GPSI or SUPI information of the first terminal, the NEF also sends the SUPI of the first terminal to the IoT function entity. If the AF sends the target location information to the NEF, the NEF sends the target location information to the IoT function entity; if the AF provides the target ID(s) of the target reader, the NEF sends the target ID(s) of the target reader to the IoT function entity.

[0403] In a possible implementation, if the IoT function entity receives the SUPI in step 615, the IoT function entity interacts with the UDM to obtain the Reader ID information corresponding to the SUPI or the IoT function entity obtains the reader ID information corresponding to the SUPI through the AMF in step 67a. In another possible implementation, if the IoT function entity receives the target ID(s) or the target location information in step 615, the IoT function entity selects the RAN according to the target ID(s) or the target location information.

[0404] The IoT function entity sends one or more of the reader ID, the target ID(s) or the target location information to the RAN. For example, the IoT function entity sends (for example, through an AIoT NGAP message) the inventory request to the selected RAN, which contains the reader information indicating the target reader, for example, containing one or more of the reader ID, the target ID(s) or the target location information.

[0405] The RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader according to the inventory request sent by the IoT function entity.

[0406] In a possible implementation, if the IoT function entity sends the reader ID (i.e., the target reader identifier), the RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader according to the reader ID, for example, retrieves the context of each terminal, and when the reader / writer identifier contained in the context of the terminal is the same as the target reader identifier from the IoT function entity, it is determined that the terminal is the first terminal as the target reader.

[0407] In another possible implementation, if the IoT function entity sends the target ID (i.e., the target reader group identifier), the RAN determines the first terminal as the target reader according to the target ID, for example, retrieves the context of each terminal, and when the target ID contained in the context of the terminal is the same as the target ID from the IoT function entity, it is determined that the terminal is the first terminal as the target reader.

[0408] In another possible implementation, if the IoT function entity sends the target location information, the RAN determines the terminal with reader capability located in the target location indicated by the target location information as the first terminal according to the target location information.

[0409] Step 616. The RAN sends (for example, through an RRC message) the inventory request to the first terminal.

[0410] Step 617. The first terminal interacts with the IoT device to complete the random access procedure of the IoT device.

[0411] Step 618. The IoT device sends the IoT device identifier to the first terminal, for example, the IoT device sends a device-to-reader message (D2R message) to the first terminal, which contains the IoT device identifier.

[0412] Step 619. The first terminal sends information from the IoT device to the RAN, for example, by sending an RRC message, for example, the IoT device identifier.

[0413] Step 620. The RAN sends information from the IoT device to the IoT function entity, for example, by sending an AIoT NGAP message, for example, the IoT device identifier.

[0414] Step 621. The IoT function entity sends a response message to the AF through the NEF, including information of the IoT device, for example, the IoT device identifier.

[0415] In the prior art, the core network device triggers paging of the terminal through the AMF only when there is downlink traffic, while in the embodiments of the present application, the first terminal as a reader can be kept in a connected state through the flow mechanism of the RAN or the AMF or the terminal state notification subscription of the first network device before the arrival of the traffic.

[0416] In this way, when the IoT function entity transmits traffic, it can directly send a traffic request to the first terminal through the RAN, without the need to send a traffic request to the first terminal through the AMF and other core network elements, thereby reducing or even avoiding signaling interaction between the IoT function entity and the AMF and other core network elements, thereby reducing signaling overhead and improving information transmission efficiency.

[0417] And in some scenarios, when the RAN is as a reader, the IoT function entity can send a service instruction to the RAN, usually without signaling interaction with a core network element such as an AMF, it can be seen that in the embodiment of the application, the terminal as a reader, the IoT function entity service transmission mode is the same, that is, the scheme of the embodiment of the application can make the IoT function entity cabinet when facing two types of readers of the terminal as a reader and the RAN as a reader, can adopt the same service transmission mode (that is, all send a service instruction to the RAN), and can reduce the information interaction with the AMF and other core network elements to ensure the reliability of service transmission (that is, through the paging mechanism of the RAN for the terminal as a reader, the first terminal as a target reader in the non-connected state is found and connected to receive the service instruction, and the execution of the business operation is ensured). In addition, the scheme of the embodiment of the application is basically consistent with the service instruction issuing mode when the RAN is as a reader, so it can maximize the compatibility of the two different reader forms through a set of architecture scheme.

[0418] And in many scenarios of the embodiment of the application, since the signaling interaction between the IoT function entity and the AMF and other core network elements can be avoided, the AMF and other core network elements can be deployed in the park without deploying the AMF and other core network elements, thereby reducing the deployment cost of the IoT.

[0419] The above introduces the information transmission method and the data processing method provided by the embodiment of the application from multiple aspects, and the communication device provided by the embodiment of the application is introduced below in combination with the drawings.

[0420] As shown in FIG. 7, the embodiment of the application provides a communication device 70, the communication device 70 comprises:

[0421] The receiving module 701 is configured to receive first information from an IoT function entity, the first information indicating to perform a service operation on an IoT device;

[0422] The sending module 702 is configured to send a paging message in a case where the first terminal as a target reader is in a non-connected state, the paging message comprising identification information, the identification information indicating a terminal comprising the first terminal.

[0423] Optionally, the identification information comprises one or more of the following information: target reader identifier, target reader group identifier, first identifier, target location information, the first identifier indicating any terminal with reader capability.

[0424] Optionally, the receiving module 701 is configured to receive a connection establishment request from the first terminal, the connection establishment request being used to request to establish a connection between the first terminal and the RAN;

[0425] The sending module 702 is configured to: in a case where a connection is established with the first terminal, send second information to the first terminal, the second information indicating that the first terminal performs the service operation.

[0426] Optionally, the communication apparatus 70 further includes a processing module 703.

[0427] The receiving module 701 is configured to: receive third information, the third information including one or more of a reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, and location information where the first terminal is located, the second identifier indicating that the terminal has a reader capability.

[0428] The processing module 703 is configured to: determine, according to the third information, that the first terminal is a target reader.

[0429] Optionally, the first information further includes reader information indicating the target reader performing the service operation, the reader information including one or more of the following information: a target reader identifier, a target reader group identifier, a first identifier, and target location information, the first identifier in the reader information indicating any terminal having a reader capability.

[0430] Optionally, the processing module 703 is configured to:

[0431] The RAN determines that the first terminal is the target reader based on that the third information matches the reader information.

[0432] As shown in FIG. 8, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus 80, which includes:

[0433] The receiving module 801 is configured to: receive a paging message, the paging message including identifier information, the identifier information including one or more of the following information: a target reader identifier, a target reader group identifier, a first identifier, and target location information, the first identifier indicating any terminal having a reader capability.

[0434] The sending module 802 is configured to: initiate a connection establishment request to the RAN according to the paging message, the connection establishment request being used to request to establish a connection between the first terminal and the RAN.

[0435] Optionally, the receiving module 801 is configured to: receive fourth information, the fourth information including one or more of the following information: a reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, and location information where the first terminal is located, the second identifier indicating that the terminal has a reader capability.

[0436] The sending module 802 is configured to: initiate the connection establishment request to the RAN according to the paging message based on that the fourth information matches the identifier information.

[0437] Optionally, the receiving module 801 is configured to receive fifth information from the RAN, the fifth information indicating that the service operation is performed on the Internet of Things device.

[0438] As shown in FIG. 9, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus 90, which comprises:

[0439] The processing module 901 is configured to:

[0440] determine the first terminal as a reader.

[0441] manage the connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in a connected state.

[0442] Optionally, the communication apparatus 90 further comprises a receiving module 902.

[0443] The receiving module 902 is configured to receive sixth information from the AMF, the sixth information indicating that the first terminal is a reader.

[0444] Optionally, the communication apparatus 90 further comprises a sending module 903.

[0445] The sending module 903 is configured to, when the first terminal is disconnected from the communication apparatus 90, initiate paging of the first terminal by the communication apparatus 90, so that the first terminal establishes a connection with the communication apparatus 90.

[0446] Optionally, the processing module 901 is configured to:

[0447] set the connection state parameter of the first terminal to a target state, so that the first terminal maintains the connection with the communication apparatus 90.

[0448] Optionally, the processing module 901 is configured to:

[0449] determine the first terminal as a reader according to seventh information from the first terminal and / or subscription data from the UDM, the seventh information indicating that the first terminal is a reader.

[0450] Optionally, the processing module 901 is configured to:

[0451] when receiving a release request from the RAN serving the first terminal, reject the release request, the release request being used to request release of the connection between the first terminal and the communication apparatus 90.

[0452] Optionally, the sending module 903 is configured to, after disconnecting the connection between the first terminal and the communication apparatus 90, send a paging message to the RAN, the paging message indicating paging of the first terminal, so that the first terminal establishes a connection with the communication apparatus 90.

[0453] Optionally, the sending module 903 is configured to send, to the UDM or the AMF, a subscription request, the subscription request indicating subscription to state information of the first terminal as the reader, the state information including information of one or more of a registration state, a connection state.

[0454] The receiving module 902 is configured to receive, from the UDM or the AMF, a first state notification, the first state notification indicating that the first terminal as the reader is in a registered state and / or a connected state.

[0455] Optionally, the receiving module 902 is configured to receive, from the UDM or the AMF, a second state notification, the second state notification indicating that the first terminal is in an idle state.

[0456] The sending module 903 is configured to instruct the UDM or the AMF serving the first terminal to initiate paging, so that the first terminal enters the connected state.

[0457] Optionally, the processing module 901 is configured to:

[0458] determine, according to subscription data of the first terminal, eighth information from the AMF, or ninth information from the service requester, that the first terminal is a reader, the eighth information indicating that the first terminal is authorized to be a reader, and the ninth information indicating that the first terminal is a reader.

[0459] Optionally, the receiving module 902 is configured to receive, from the AMF serving the first terminal, a third state notification, the third state notification indicating that the first terminal is in an idle state.

[0460] The sending module 903 is configured to send, to the AMF, paging indication information, the paging indication information instructing the AMF to page the first terminal, so that the first terminal enters the connected state.

[0461] Optionally, the processing module 901 is configured to:

[0462] in a case where it is determined that the first terminal is located at the first location, is located at a specified time period at a current time, and / or the first network device receives target mode information sent by the first terminal, the target mode information indicating that the first terminal is in a mode capable of being a reader, manage a connection state of the first terminal, so that the first terminal is in the connected state.

[0463] As shown in FIG. 10, the communication apparatus 100 includes a processor 1001 and an interface circuit 1002. The processor 1001 and the interface circuit 1002 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1002 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication apparatus 100 can further include a memory 1003 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1001 or storing input data required by the processor 1001 to run instructions or storing data generated after the processor 1001 runs instructions.

[0464] When the communication apparatus 100 is used to implement any of the above method embodiments, the processor 1001 is configured to implement the functions of one or more modules in the communication apparatus 70, the communication apparatus 80 or the communication apparatus 90, and the interface circuit 1002 is configured to implement the functions of one or more modules in the receiving module, the sending module or the processing module.

[0465] The communication apparatus is configured to implement the functions of a terminal or a network device (e.g., a RAN, an IoT function entity, an AMF or a UDM, etc.) in the above method embodiments. For example, the communication apparatus can be a terminal or a chip of a terminal, or a network device, a module of a network device or a chip of a network device.

[0466] When the above communication apparatus is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of a terminal in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information from other modules (e.g., a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal, which is sent by a network device (e.g., a RAN or an IoT device) to the terminal; or the terminal chip sends information to other modules (e.g., a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal, which is sent by the terminal to a network device (e.g., a RAN or an IoT device).

[0467] When the above communication apparatus is a module or a chip applied to a network device, the module or the chip of the network device implements the functions of a network device in the above method embodiments. The module or the chip of the network device receives information from other modules (e.g., a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device; or the module or the chip of the network device sends information to other modules (e.g., a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device, which is sent by the network device to a terminal or another network device.

[0468] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0469] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an erasable programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the base station or the terminal.

[0470] In the above embodiments, the implementation can be entirely or partially achieved by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, the implementation can be entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions of the embodiments of the present application are entirely or partially executed. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable devices. The computer programs or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, the computer programs or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another by wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media. The available media can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disc; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state disk. The computer-readable storage medium can be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or can include both volatile and non-volatile storage media.

[0471] In various embodiments of the present application, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referred to each other if there is no special description and logical conflict. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

Claims

1. An information transmission method, characterized in that, The method includes: The wireless access network device receives first information from the Internet of Things (IoT) functional entity, the first information indicating the execution of a service operation on the IoT device; When the wireless access network device determines that the first terminal, which is the target reader, is in a disconnected state, it sends a paging message. The paging message includes identification information, and the terminal indicated by the identification information includes the first terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The identification information includes one or more of the following: target reader identifier, target reader group identifier, first identifier, and target location information, wherein the first identifier indicates any terminal with reader capability.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, After determining that the first terminal, which is the target reader, is in a disconnected state, the wireless access network device, after sending a paging message, further includes: The wireless access network device receives a connection establishment request from the first terminal, the connection establishment request being used to request the establishment of a connection between the first terminal and the wireless access network device; When the wireless access network device establishes a connection with the first terminal, it sends a second message to the first terminal, the second message instructing the first terminal to perform the service operation.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The method further includes: The wireless access network device receives third information, which includes one or more of the following: a reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal, a second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, and location information of the first terminal. The second identifier indicates that the terminal has reader capability. The wireless access network device determines the first terminal as the target reader based on the third information.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The first information also includes reader information indicating the target reader to perform the service operation. The reader information includes one or more of the following: target reader identifier, target reader group identifier, first identifier, and target location information. The first identifier in the reader information indicates any terminal with reader capability.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The wireless access network device determines the first terminal as the target reader based on the third information, including: The wireless access network device determines the first terminal as the target reader based on the matching of the third information with the reader information.

7. An information transmission method, characterized in that, The method includes: The first terminal receives a paging message, the paging message including identification information, the identification information including one or more of the following: target reader identifier, target reader group identifier, first identifier, target location information, the first identifier indicating any terminal with reader capability; The first terminal initiates a connection establishment request to the wireless access network device based on the paging message. The connection establishment request is used to request the establishment of a connection between the first terminal and the wireless access network device.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, Before the first terminal receives the paging message, the method further includes: The first terminal receives fourth information, which includes one or more of the following: reader identifier corresponding to the first terminal, reader group identifier corresponding to the first terminal, second identifier corresponding to the first terminal, and location information of the first terminal. The second identifier indicates that the terminal has reader capability. The first terminal initiates a connection establishment request to the radio access network device based on the paging message, including: The first terminal, based on the matching of the fourth information with the identification information, initiates a connection establishment request to the wireless access network device according to the paging message.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that, After establishing the connection between the first terminal and the wireless access network device, the method further includes: The first terminal receives fifth information from the wireless access network device, the fifth information indicating the execution of a service operation on the Internet of Things device.

10. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, or to implement the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 9, through logic circuits or execution code instructions.

11. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, or the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 9.

12. A computer program product containing instructions, characterized in that, When the instructions are executed by the processor, they implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, or the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 9.

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