Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, relating to the technical field of communications. In the method, a mobility management network element can determine, on the basis of a first area where a terminal is located, an emergency number associated with the first area, and send the determined emergency number to the terminal, so that when a user enters a country or region in which the emergency number is unfamiliar to the user, or when the user cannot ascertain the country or region where the user is currently located, the user can dial the corresponding emergency number in a timely and accurate manner, which helps ensure user safety.

Description

Communication method and apparatus

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202411081070.4, filed on August 7, 2024, and entitled "Communication method and apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

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

[0003] Currently, when a user encounters an emergency, the user can dial a specific emergency number through a terminal to obtain emergency assistance services. The emergency number in a country or region is usually some fixed number, and the emergency numbers of different countries or regions are generally different. Generally speaking, a user cannot memorize the emergency numbers of each country or region. When the user enters a country or region where the user is not familiar with the emergency number, or when the user cannot know the country or region where the user is currently located, the user will not be able to dial the corresponding emergency number in time and accurately when encountering an emergency, thereby endangering the safety of the user. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus, which is beneficial to improve the timeliness and accuracy of dialing an emergency number and protect the safety of the user.

[0005] The present application will be described from different aspects below. It should be understood that the embodiments and advantages of the different aspects below can be referred to each other.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a communication apparatus. The communication apparatus can be a mobility management network element or a component (such as a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) in the mobility management network element. That is, the method can be applied to the network side (for example, the core network side). Taking the case that the method is applied to the mobility management network element, the method comprises: receiving a first message and first location information, the first message being a message in which a terminal requests a service, and the first location information being used to indicate a first area in which the terminal is located. The mobility management network element determines an emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area, and sends a second message, the second message comprising the emergency number, the second message being a response message to the first message.

[0007] In the present application, a mobility management network element can determine an emergency number associated with a first area where a terminal is located based on the first area, and send the determined emergency number to the terminal, so that when a user enters a country or region where the user is unfamiliar with the emergency number, or when the user cannot know the country or region where the user is currently located, the corresponding emergency number can be dialed in time and accurately, so that the safety of the user can be ensured.

[0008] In a possible implementation, the first area where the terminal is located is an operating area of a public land mobile network (PLMN) selected by the terminal; and the determining of the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area comprises:

[0009] In a case where the operating area of the PLMN selected by the terminal is an international area, the emergency number associated with the first area is determined based on the first area.

[0010] In this implementation, when the terminal moves to a rescue area that does not belong to a specific country (i.e., an international area), the mobility management network element needs to determine the emergency number based on the first area where the terminal is located and return the emergency number to the terminal, so that the emergency call of the terminal can be better supported, and the safety of the user can be ensured.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the determining of the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area comprises:

[0012] In a case where a mobile country code (MCC) of the PLMN selected by the terminal is 901, the emergency number associated with the first area is determined based on the first area.

[0013] In this implementation, when the user accesses the network of a satellite operator, if the MCC of the PLMN of the satellite operator is 901, it indicates that the PLMN does not represent a specific country, but represents a PLMN that can serve across countries or serve an international area. Therefore, the mobility management network element can determine the emergency number based on the first area where the terminal is located and return the emergency number to the terminal, so that the emergency call of the terminal can be better supported, and the safety of the user can be ensured.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the emergency number associated with the first area is one or more, and the first area and the one or more emergency numbers have a mapping relationship.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the first region is not an operating region of a home public land mobile network (HPLMN) of the terminal, and the emergency number associated with the first region is a first emergency number associated with an operating region of the HPLMN of the terminal in the first region.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the receiving the first location information comprises:

[0017] The first location information is user location information (ULI) information received from an access network device.

[0018] In this implementation, the mobility management network element can determine the first region in which the terminal is located based on the ULI information, and is operable.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the receiving the first location information comprises:

[0020] The first positioning request is sent to a positioning network element.

[0021] The first location information is included in a first positioning response received from the positioning network element.

[0022] In this implementation, the mobility management network element can determine the first region in which the terminal is located based on the first location information fed back by the positioning network element after the positioning network element performs a positioning process.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the receiving the first location information comprises:

[0024] The third message is sent to the terminal, and the third message is used to request location information of the terminal.

[0025] The fourth message is received from the terminal, and the location information of the terminal is included in the fourth message, and the fourth message is a response message to the third message.

[0026] The second positioning request is sent to the positioning network element according to the fourth message, and the second positioning request includes the location information of the terminal.

[0027] The second location information is included in a second positioning response received from the positioning network element.

[0028] In this implementation, the mobility management network element can request the positioning network element to feed back the first region in which the terminal is located based on the location information of the terminal sent by the terminal, and is operable.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the first message includes an identifier of the terminal, and the identifier of the terminal includes a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) or a subscription concealed identifier (SUCI).

[0030] In a possible implementation, the SUPI or the SUCI includes an HPLMN of the terminal.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the first message is a registration request message, a registration update request message, or a service request message.

[0032] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be applied to a terminal side, for example, a terminal or a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or a chip (for example, a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core) responsible for a communication function in the terminal. Taking the case where the method is applied to a terminal as an example, in the method, a terminal sends a first message, and the first message is a message in which the terminal requests a service. Then, the terminal receives a second message, and the second message includes an emergency number associated with a first region, the second message is a response message to the first message, and the first region is a region where the terminal is located.

[0033] In a possible implementation, the emergency number associated with the first region is one or more, and the first region has a mapping relationship with the one or more emergency numbers.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the first region is not an operating region of an HPLMN of the terminal, and the emergency number associated with the first region is a first emergency number associated with an operating region of the HPLMN of the terminal in the first region.

[0035] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0036] receiving a third message, the third message being used to request location information of the terminal;

[0037] sending a fourth message, the fourth message including the location information of the terminal, and the fourth message being a response message to the third message.

[0038] In a possible implementation, the first message includes an identifier of the terminal, and the identifier of the terminal includes a SUPI or a SUCI.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the SUPI or the SUCI includes a HPLMN of the terminal.

[0040] In a possible implementation, the first message is a registration request message, a registration update request message, or a service request message.

[0041] In a third aspect, the present disclosure provides a communication apparatus, which includes units or modules for performing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or units or modules for performing the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0042] In a fourth aspect, the present disclosure provides a communication apparatus, which includes at least one processor and a transceiver. The at least one processor and the transceiver are configured to perform the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or perform the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0043] Optionally, the communication apparatus further includes at least one memory having computer programs stored therein; and the at least one processor and the transceiver are configured to invoke the computer programs stored in the memory, so that the communication apparatus performs the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or performs the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0044] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can be a chip or a device including a chip that implements the above method.

[0045] In a fifth aspect, the present disclosure provides a communication apparatus, which includes at least one processor and an interface circuit. The interface circuit is configured to receive a signal from another communication apparatus outside the communication apparatus and transmit the signal to the processor, or transmit a signal from the processor to another communication apparatus outside the communication apparatus. The processor is configured to implement the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or implement the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, by means of a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

[0046] In a sixth aspect, the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are executed by a computer, the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect is implemented, or the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect is implemented.

[0047] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which, when read and executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, or perform the method shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

[0048] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a chip or a chip system, which comprises at least one processor and an interface, the processor being configured to read and execute instructions stored in a memory, when the instructions are executed, causing the chip to perform the method shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, or perform the method shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

[0049] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a chip or a chip system, which comprises at least one processor, the processor being coupled with a memory, the processor being configured to read and execute instructions stored in the memory, to implement the method shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, or implement the method shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

[0050] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which can comprise a mobility management network element and a terminal. The mobility management network element is configured to perform the method shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, and the terminal is configured to perform the method shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0051] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applied;

[0052] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an NTN-based RAN architecture to which embodiments of the present application are applied;

[0053] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a mapping relationship between a first area and an emergency number according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a mapping relationship between a first area, a second area and an emergency number according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of another flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a possible communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG. 9 is a structural schematic diagram of a possible communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0060] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described in combination with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0061] In the description of the present application, "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish different objects, and are not used to describe a specific order. In addition, unless otherwise specified, " / " means "or", for example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" in this document is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can mean: A alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B alone. In addition, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "At least one" or the like refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c; a and b; a and c; b and c; or a and b and c. Where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0062] The terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product or device, etc. including a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but can optionally include steps or units not listed, etc., or can optionally include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices, etc.

[0063] In the present application, the words "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary", "for example" or "for instance" in this document is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of terms such as "exemplary", "for example" or "for instance" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner.

[0064] It can be understood that in the present application, "when", "if" and "when" all refer to the device making corresponding processing under certain objective conditions, not limited to time, and also does not require the device to have a judgment action when it is implemented, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0065] In the present application, the element expressed by the singular is intended to represent "one or more", not "one and only one", unless otherwise specified.

[0066] It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, "A corresponds to B" means that A and B have a corresponding relationship, and B can be determined according to A. Determining B according to A does not mean that B is determined only according to A, but B can also be determined according to A and / or other information.

[0067] In order to better understand the embodiments of the present application, first, the system architecture related to the embodiments of the present application will be introduced as follows:

[0068] The technical solutions of the present application can be applied to a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or a scenario in which the NTN is integrated with a terrestrial network (TN). The NTN system may, for example, be a satellite communication system, a high altitude platform station (HAPS) communication system, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), etc. The TN system may, for example, be a 4th generation (4G) communication system (e.g., a long term evolution (LTE) system), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a 5th generation (5G) communication system (e.g., a new radio (NR) system), and a future mobile communication system, etc.

[0069] Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application can be applied. It is noted that FIG. 1 is one possible, non-limiting example of a system. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 10 can also include the Internet 300. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a and 110b in FIG. 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j in FIG. 1, collectively referred to as 120). Other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in FIG. 1), can also be included in the RAN 100. The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 wirelessly. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 wirelessly or wiredly. The core network network element (or core network device) in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 can be different physical devices respectively, or can be the same physical device integrated with the logical functions of the core network and the logical functions of the radio access network, or can be a physical device integrated with the functions of part of the core network network element and part of the RAN node 110. The terminals and the terminals, and the RAN nodes 110 and the RAN nodes 110 can be connected to each other through wired or wireless means. FIG. 1 is only a schematic diagram, and the communication system can also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in FIG. 1.

[0070] The RAN 100 can be a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) related cellular system, e.g., a 4G, 5G mobile communication system, or a future mobile communication system. The RAN 100 can also be an open radio access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The RAN 100 can also be a communication system in which two or more of the above systems are integrated.

[0071] The RAN node 110, which can also be referred to as a radio access network device, an access network device, a RAN entity, or an access node, etc., forms part of the communication system, and is configured to facilitate wireless access to the communication system for terminals. The RAN nodes 110 in the communication system 10 can be of the same type or of different types. In some scenarios, the roles of the RAN nodes 110 and the terminals 120 are relative, e.g., the network element 120i in Figure 1 can be a helicopter or a drone, which can be configured to move as a mobile base station, and for a terminal 120j accessing the RAN 100 via the network element 120i, the network element 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, the network element 120i is a terminal. Both the RAN nodes 110 and the terminals 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices, e.g., the network elements 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be understood as communication devices with base station functionalities, and the network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication devices with terminal functionalities.

[0072] In a possible scenario, the RAN node 110 can be a base station, an evolved Node B (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation Node B (gNB), a next generation base station in a future mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The RAN node 110 can be a macro base station (e.g., 110a in Figure 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (e.g., 110b in Figure 1), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node 110 can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the RAN node in a vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node 110 in this application can also be implemented by a software function running on hardware, or by a virtualized function instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). The RAN node 110 in this application can also be a logical node, a logical module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the RAN node 110.

[0073] In another possible scenario, a terminal is assisted by multiple RAN nodes 110 to implement wireless access in cooperation, and different RAN nodes 110 respectively implement part of functions of a base station. For example, a RAN node 110 can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a radio remote unit (RRU), an active antenna processing unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0074] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be referred to as an O-DU, the CU-CP can also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are taken as examples for description in this application. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0075] A 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) communication, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, wearable device, vehicle, unmanned aerial vehicle, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, mechanical arm, smart home device, etc. Embodiments of this application do not limit the device form of the terminal.

[0076] For ease of description, the following describes a base station as an example of the RAN node 110. The base station and the terminal can be fixed in position or mobile. The base station and the terminal can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on water; can also be deployed on an airplane, a balloon, and a man-made satellite. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the base station and the terminal.

[0077] The roles of the base station and the terminal can be relative, for example, the helicopter or the drone 120i in FIG. 1 can be configured as a mobile base station, and for those terminals 120j that access the wireless access network 100 through 120i, 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, that is, 110a and 120i communicate through a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate through a base station-to-base station interface protocol, in which case, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, the base station and the terminal can be collectively referred to as a communication device, 110a and 110b in FIG. 1 can be referred to as a communication device with a base station function, and 120a-120j in FIG. 1 can be referred to as a communication device with a terminal function.

[0078] The base station and the terminal, the base station and the base station, and the terminal and the terminal can communicate through a licensed frequency spectrum, can communicate through an unlicensed frequency spectrum, or can communicate through both a licensed frequency spectrum and an unlicensed frequency spectrum; can communicate through a frequency spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), can communicate through a frequency spectrum above 6 GHz, or can communicate through both a frequency spectrum below 6 GHz and a frequency spectrum above 6 GHz. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the frequency spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0079] In embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station can also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station or by a control subsystem containing base station functions. The control subsystem containing base station functions herein can be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. The functions of the terminal can also be performed by a module (such as a chip or a modem) in the terminal or by a device containing terminal functions.

[0080] In the present application, the base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to the terminal, and the downlink information is carried on the downlink channel; the terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to the base station, and the uplink information is carried on the uplink channel. In order to communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection on the cell controlled by the base station. The cell that establishes a wireless connection with the terminal is called the service cell of the terminal. When the terminal communicates with the service cell, it will also be interfered by signals from neighboring cells.

[0081] In the present application, "sending information to the terminal" can be understood as that the destination of the information is the terminal. It can include directly or indirectly sending information to the terminal. "Receiving information from the terminal" or "receiving information from the terminal" can be understood as that the source of the information is the terminal, and it can include directly or indirectly receiving information from the terminal. The information between the source and the destination of the information transmission can be processed as necessary, such as format change, etc., but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in the present application can be similarly understood, and will not be repeated here.

[0082] In order to facilitate the understanding of the related content of the embodiments of the present application, the knowledge / terminology needed by some schemes of the present application will be introduced below. It should be noted that these explanations are to make the embodiments of the present application easier to understand, and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of protection required by the present application.

[0083] 1、NTN

[0084] NTN, which is a general term for networks involving flying objects, includes satellite communication networks, high-altitude platform systems (HAPS) and air-to-ground networks.

[0085] HAPS is carried on an airborne platform, mainly including aircraft, balloons and airships, and uses the same frequency band as the ground mobile network to provide mobile services by using the high-altitude platform station as a mobile communication base station. That is, by deploying base stations or part of the base station functions on non-ground network devices (such as ships, high-altitude platforms, unmanned aerial vehicles or satellites) to provide seamless communication coverage for terminals, the reliability of the communication system is improved. It should be noted that in order to facilitate understanding, only the non-ground network device in NTN is a satellite in the following description, which should not be regarded as a specific limitation of the present application.

[0086] Satellite communication networks rely on space-borne platforms, mainly including low earth orbiting (LEO), medium earth orbiting (MEO) and geostationary earth orbiting (GEO) satellites. According to the relationship between the satellite and the base station, it can be divided into the following architectures.

[0087] Exemplarily, please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram of an NTN-based RAN architecture applicable to the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 2, the NTN-based RAN architecture can include a terminal, a RAN (or referred to as an NG-RAN), a core network device (or referred to as a core network network element) and a data network (or the Internet).

[0088] In FIG. 2(a), a transparent satellite architecture is shown. The transparent satellite architecture can also be referred to as a transmissive satellite architecture. The RAN can include a remote radio unit (RRU) and a base station. The RRU can include a satellite and an NTN gateway. The terminal communicates with the base station through a user-universal terrestrial radio access network (Uu) interface, and the satellite can realize transparent load transmission between the user and the base station. The satellite and the NTN gateway can be considered as a remote radio unit of the base station, realizing transparent forwarding of signals, i.e., the satellite supports functions such as radio frequency filtering, frequency conversion and amplification, and the signal waveform does not change. The satellite's forwarding is transparent to the terminal, i.e., the satellite mainly acts as a layer 1 (L1) relay device, which is used to regenerate the physical layer signal (i.e., the processing of radio frequency filtering, frequency conversion and amplification), without other higher protocol layers. The base station and the core network device can communicate through a next generation (NG) interface, and interact with the non-access layer (NAS) signaling of the core network and the service data of the terminal through the NG interface.

[0089] Both (b) and (c) in FIG. 2 are regenerative satellite architectures. (b) in FIG. 2 shows a regenerative satellite without inter-satellite link architecture. The RAN includes satellites and NTN gateways, and the satellites act as base stations with the processing functions of base stations. The satellites and the NTN gateways communicate through a satellite radio interface (SRI). The terminals and the base stations communicate through a Uu interface, and the base stations and the core network devices can communicate through an NG interface to exchange NAS signaling of the core network and service data of the terminals.

[0090] (c) in FIG. 2 shows a regenerative satellite with inter-satellite link architecture. The RAN includes satellites and NTN gateways, and the satellites act as base stations with the processing functions of base stations. The satellites and the NTN gateways communicate through an SRI. The satellites and the satellites can communicate through an Xn interface on an inter-satellite link (ISL). The terminals and the base stations communicate through a Uu interface, and the base stations and the core network devices can communicate through an NG interface to exchange NAS signaling of the core network and service data of the terminals.

[0091] (d) in FIG. 2 shows a regenerative satellite architecture with a DU processing function of a base station, and the satellites act as DUs with the DU processing function. The CU and the DU can jointly complete the functions of the base station. The CU and the DU communicate through an F1 interface, and the DU and the NTN gateway communicate through an F1 interface on an SRI. The terminals and the DUs communicate through a Uu interface, and the CU and the core network devices can communicate through an NG interface to exchange NAS signaling of the core network and service data of the terminals.

[0092] Exemplarily, in another satellite architecture with an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) function, the satellites act as IAB nodes. The IAB nodes are used to provide wireless backhaul services for nodes (such as terminals) that access wireless backhaul nodes. The wireless backhaul service refers to a data and / or signaling backhaul service provided through a wireless backhaul link.

[0093] The following text application is mainly illustrated by taking the regenerative star architecture as an example, that is, considering that the base station is deployed on the satellite, and the terminal can access the core network through the satellite base station. The core network may be, for example, a 4G core network, such as an evolved packet core (EPC), or a 5G core network (5G core network, 5GC). The core network may include a mobility management network element and a positioning network element, etc., wherein the mobility management network element is mainly used for mobility management and access management, etc., and the positioning network element is used for terminal positioning, etc. For example, taking the EPC as an example, the mobility management network element can be a mobility management entity (MME), and the positioning network element can be an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC). For example, taking the 5GC as an example, the mobility management network element can be an access and mobility management function (AMF), and the positioning network element can be a location management function (LMF).

[0094] 2、NR access technology

[0095] NR access technology is one of the key technologies in 5G communication systems, providing higher data transmission rates and lower latency. NR-NTN is an application of 5G NR technology in non-terrestrial networks, allowing wide-area coverage and extending the transmission range of mobile signals through satellites and other non-terrestrial networks.

[0096] IoT-NTN focuses on supporting satellite Internet of Things services for low-complexity enhanced machine-type communication (eMTC) terminals or narrowband Internet of Things (NB IoT) terminals.

[0097] 3、eMTC access technology

[0098] eMTC is an Internet of Things technology based on LTE network evolution.

[0099] 4、NB IoT access technology

[0100] NB-IoT is a low-power wide-area network communication technology designed for Internet of Things applications, with characteristics such as wide coverage, multiple connections, low speed, low cost, and low power consumption.

[0101] 5、PLMN

[0102] In the current mobile communication network, the mobile network of the mobile operator is called PLMN, and the unique identifier of the PLMN ID is composed of MCC and mobile network code (MNC). MCC generally contains three digits to uniquely identify the country code of the terminal, for example, 460 identifies China; MNC generally uses two to three digits to identify the mobile network selected by the terminal, and different mobile operators select different MNCs.

[0103] 6、SUPI and SUCI

[0104] SUPI and SUCI are both terminal identifiers, where SUPI is a plaintext identifier and SUCI is an anonymized identifier. In simple terms, SUCI can be understood as a safe deposit box, and the SUPI is protected in the safe deposit box. The composition of SUCI includes SUPI type, home network identifier, routing identifier, protection scheme identifier, home network public key identifier, and protection scheme output. Among them, the home network identifier is used to identify the HPLMN of the terminal.

[0105] 7、International region

[0106] The international region can refer to the region corresponding to the network infrastructure and services that span multiple countries, such as the region of some satellite communication network services can be collectively referred to as the international region.

[0107] When distinguishing a specific country or a specific administrative region within a country, the international region can also refer to airspace or sea area not subject to the sovereignty of a single country, for example, the international region includes the high seas, international airspace, etc.

[0108] 8、Emergency call

[0109] Emergency call is a help-seeking behavior initiated by the user through the terminal when encountering danger. Specifically, the user can dial a specific emergency number through the terminal to implement an emergency call. Each country or region has an emergency number for people to seek help from relevant departments when encountering an emergency. For example, common emergency numbers include police alarm numbers, fire alarm numbers, emergency center alarm numbers, and traffic accident alarm numbers.

[0110] Emergency numbers are generally different in different countries or regions. Generally speaking, a user is not possible to memorize emergency numbers of each country or region. When the user enters a country or region where the user is not familiar with the emergency number, or when the user cannot know the country or region where the user is currently located, the user will not be able to dial the corresponding emergency number in time and accurately when an emergency occurs, thereby endangering the safety of the user. Alternatively, the emergency number can also be referred to as a rescue number, an alarm number, etc.

[0111] Based on this, the present application provides a communication method and device, which can improve the timeliness and accuracy of dialing an emergency number and guarantee the safety of the user.

[0112] It should be noted that, as an example, the base station involved in the present application can be understood as a satellite-based base station, that is, the terminal accesses the network of a satellite operator. As an example, the mobility management network element involved in the present application can be an AMF or an MME, and the positioning network element can be an LMF or an E-SMLC.

[0113] The communication method and device provided by the present application will be described in detail as follows:

[0114] Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a flowchart of the communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method execution subject shown in FIG. 3 can be a mobility management network element and a terminal, or a chip in the mobility management network element and a chip in the terminal. For the convenience of description, the present application mainly takes the mobility management network element and the terminal as the execution subject for description. FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of the method embodiment of the present application, which shows the detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiment of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of the various operations in FIG. 3. In addition, each step in FIG. 3 can be executed in a different order from that presented in FIG. 3, and it is possible that not all operations in FIG. 3 are to be executed. Among them:

[0115] S301, the terminal sends a first message to the mobility management network element, and correspondingly, the mobility management network element receives the first message from the terminal.

[0116] The first message is a message for requesting service of the terminal, for example, the first message can be a register request message, a register update request message, a tracking area update (TAU) request message, or a service request message, etc. As an example, the terminal can send the first message to the mobility management network element through the base station. The first message can include an identifier of the terminal, for example, the identifier of the terminal can be SUPI or SUCI, etc. It can be understood that the SUPI or SUCI includes the HPLMN of the terminal.

[0117] In S302, the mobility management network element acquires first location information, which is used to indicate a first area where the terminal is located.

[0118] In a design (I), the base station can send the first location information to the mobility management network element, and accordingly, the mobility management network element receives the first location information from the base station, and the first location information can be ULI information. The ULI information includes a tracking area identifier (TAI) and / or a cell identifier (Cell ID), etc. As an example, the base station can send the first location information to the mobility management network element at the same time when the base station forwards the first message to the mobility management network element. Alternatively, the TAI and / or the Cell ID can correspond to a ground area, or there is a mapping relationship between the TAI and / or the Cell ID and the ground area, for example, one TAI and / or one Cell ID can correspond to one or more ground areas.

[0119] In a design (II), the mobility management network element can first send a first positioning request to the positioning network element, and accordingly, the positioning network element receives the first positioning request from the mobility management network element. When the positioning network element receives the first positioning request, the positioning network element can determine the first area where the terminal is located based on a location service (LCS) technology, and send a first positioning response carrying the first location information to the mobility management network element after determining the first area where the terminal is located. Accordingly, the mobility management network element receives the first positioning response from the positioning network element, and the first positioning response includes the first location information, which indicates the first area where the terminal is located. The LCS technology can be referred to 3GPP protocol TS23.273, which is not described herein.

[0120] In a design (three), the mobility management network element can first send a third message to the terminal, where the third message is used to request the location information of the terminal, and the requested location information of the terminal can be coarse-grained terminal location information, such as GNSS information. Accordingly, the terminal receives the third message from the mobility management network element, and then feeds back a fourth message carrying GNSS information to the mobility management network element. That is, the fourth message is a response message to the third message, and the fourth message includes the GNSS information. Further, the mobility management network element can send a second positioning request to the positioning network element according to the fourth message, where the second positioning request includes the GNSS information. When the positioning network element receives the second positioning request from the mobility management network element, the positioning network element can determine the first region where the terminal is located according to the GNSS information carried in the second positioning request, and send a second response carrying the first location information to the mobility management network element. Accordingly, the mobility management network element receives the second positioning response from the positioning network element, and can further determine the first region where the terminal is located according to the first location information carried in the second positioning response. As an example, the mobility management network element can send the third message to the terminal through the base station, and similarly, the terminal can feed back the fourth message to the mobility management network element through the base station.

[0121] Optionally, the above design (one) and design (two) can be applicable to terminals accessing satellites using NR or eMTC access technologies, and the above design (one), design (two) and design (three) can be applicable to terminals accessing satellites using NB IoT access technologies.

[0122] It should be noted that the first region where the terminal is located in the embodiments of the present application can be understood as the country or region where the terminal is located. Alternatively, the first region where the terminal is located can also be the operation area / service area of the PLMN selected by the terminal.

[0123] S303, the mobility management network element determines the emergency number associated with the first region based on the first region.

[0124] In an example, the mobility management network element can determine the emergency number associated with the first region based on the first region in a case where the operation area of the PLMN selected by the terminal is an international area. Alternatively, the mobility management network element can determine the emergency number associated with the first region based on the first region in a case where the MCC of the PLMN selected by the terminal is 901. It should be noted that the MCC 901 in the current regulations means an international area, and the present application does not limit that other codes can also be used to represent the international area. The emergency number associated with the first region can also be referred to as the emergency number corresponding to the first region.

[0125] It should be understood that the emergency number corresponding to the first region can be one or more, and there is a mapping relationship between the first region and the one or more emergency numbers. For example, the multiple emergency numbers associated with the first region can include a police alarm number, a fire alarm number, an emergency center alarm number, a traffic accident alarm number, and the like. For another example, in a case where the first region is not an operating region / service region of the HPLMN of the terminal (or referred to as the first region where the terminal is located is different from the operating region of the HPLMN of the terminal), the multiple emergency numbers associated with the first region can include the emergency number(s) corresponding to the first region, and the emergency number(s) of the operating region of the HPLMN of the terminal in the first region (i.e., the first emergency number associated with the operating region of the HPLMN of the terminal in the first region). It should be noted that the emergency number of one region in another region in the embodiments of the present application can be understood as an emergency number set by one region in another region.

[0126] As an example, there can be a mapping relationship between the first region and the emergency number as shown in FIG. 4, for example, when the first region is country A, the emergency number corresponding to country A can be a police alarm number a1 and a fire alarm number a2; when the first region is country B, the emergency number corresponding to country B can be a police alarm number b1; when the first region is region C, the emergency number corresponding to region C can be a police alarm number c1, a fire alarm number c2, and an emergency center alarm number c3.

[0127] As another example, in a case where the first region is not the operating region of the HPLMN of the terminal (for simplicity of description, hereinafter referred to as the second region), there can be a mapping relationship between the first region, the second region, and the emergency number as shown in FIG. 5, for example, when the first region is country A and the second region is country B, the emergency number of country B in country A is a police alarm number b2; when the first region is country A and the second region is region C, the emergency number of region C in country A is a police alarm number c4; when the first region is country B and the second region is country A, the emergency number of country A in country B is a police alarm number a3; when the first region is country B and the second region is region C, the emergency number of region C in country B is a police alarm number c5; when the first region is region C and the second region is country A, the emergency number of country A in region C is a police alarm number a4; when the first region is region C and the second region is country B, the emergency number of country B in region C is a police alarm number b3.

[0128] For example, if the first area where the terminal is located is the public sea, the emergency numbers associated with the first area can include the emergency number 1 of the maritime satellite organization and / or the emergency number 2 of the operating area (for example, country A) of the HPLMN of the terminal in the public sea. For another example, if the first area where the terminal is located is country B, the emergency numbers associated with the first area can include the emergency number 1 (for example, the police alarm number b1) corresponding to country B and / or the emergency number 2 (for example, the police alarm number a3) of the operating area (for example, country A) of the HPLMN of the terminal in country B.

[0129] S304, the mobility management network element sends a second message to the terminal, and correspondingly, the terminal receives the second message from the mobility management network element.

[0130] The second message includes the emergency number, and the second message is a response message to the first message. For example, the second message can be a register accept message, a register update response message, a TAU accept message, a service response message, and the like.

[0131] In the embodiments of the present application, the mobility management network element can determine the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area where the terminal is located, and send the determined emergency number to the terminal, so that when the user enters a country or region where the emergency number is not familiar, or when the user cannot know the country or region where the user is currently located, the corresponding emergency number can be dialed in time and accurately, so that the safety of the user can be ensured.

[0132] The embodiments shown in FIG. 3 above introduce the scheme proposed in the present application as a whole. The scheme suitable for the terminal accessing the satellite using the NR or eMTC access technology and the scheme suitable for the terminal accessing the satellite using the NB IoT access technology will be described below.

[0133] Please refer to FIG. 6, which is another flowchart of the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application. FIG. 6 mainly aims at the scheme applicable to the terminal accessing the satellite using the NR or eMTC access technology. The method execution subject shown in FIG. 6 can be the base station (for example, the spaceborne base station), the positioning network element, the mobility management network element and the terminal, or the chip in the base station, the chip in the positioning network element, the chip in the mobility management network element and the chip in the terminal. For the convenience of description, the base station, the positioning network element (LMF / E-SMLC), the mobility management network element (AMF / MME) and the terminal are mainly taken as the execution subject for illustration. FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of the method embodiment of the present application, which shows the detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples, and other operations or variations of the various operations in FIG. 6 can also be executed by the embodiments of the present application. In addition, the various steps in FIG. 6 can be executed in different order from that shown in FIG. 6, and it is possible that not all the operations in FIG. 6 are executed. Among them:

[0134] S601, the terminal sends a first message to the base station, and the base station sends the first message and ULI information to the AMF / MME.

[0135] In some possible implementation manners, the terminal can send a first message (for example, the first message can be a registration request message / registration update request message / service request message) to the AMF / MME through the base station, and the first message carries the identifier of the terminal, which can be SUPI or SUCI. At the same time, the base station can also send the ULI information to the AMF / MME, and correspondingly, the AMF / MME receives the ULI information from the base station, which contains the TAI and / or Cell ID and other information. Optionally, the TAI and / or Cell ID can correspond to the ground area, or there is a mapping relationship between the TAI and / or Cell ID and the ground area, for example, one TAI and / or one Cell ID can correspond to one or more ground areas. Optionally, the base station can also send the radio access type information to the AMF / MME to indicate the access technology used by the terminal. In this embodiment, the access technology indicated by the radio access type information is NR or eMTC.

[0136] S602, the AMF / MME determines the first area where the terminal is located.

[0137] The AMF / MME can mainly determine the first area where the terminal is located through the following two schemes.

[0138] The scheme A includes: S602a, the AMF / MME determines the first area where the terminal is based on the ULI information. Generally, when the ULI information can indicate the first area where the terminal is, the AMF / MME can directly determine the information of the first area where the terminal is based on the ULI information. For example, the information of the first area can be the name of the first area, or a country code, etc.

[0139] The scheme B includes: S602b-1, the AMF / MME sends a first positioning request to the LMF / E-SMLC. S602b-2, the LMF / E-SMLC determines the first area where the terminal is based on the LCS technology. S602b-3, the LMF / E-SMLC returns a first positioning response to the AMF / MME, and the first positioning response includes the information of the first area where the terminal is. The information of the first area can be the name of the first area, or a country code, etc.

[0140] Optionally, in some possible implementations, when the AMF / MME cannot accurately determine the first area where the terminal is based on the ULI information (i.e., the scheme A) (for example, the first area where the terminal is determined based on the ULI information is multiple areas), the AMF / MME can initiate a positioning procedure (i.e., the scheme B) to determine the first area where the terminal is. Alternatively, when the MCC of the PLMN served by the AMF / MME is 901, and the first area where the terminal is cannot be accurately determined based on the ULI information (for example, the first area where the terminal is determined based on the ULI information is multiple areas), the AMF / MME can use the scheme B to determine the first area where the terminal is.

[0141] S603, the AMF / MME determines the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area.

[0142] S604, the AMF / MME sends a second message to the terminal, and correspondingly, the terminal receives the second message from the AMF / MME, and the second message includes the emergency number.

[0143] The understanding of steps S603 and S604 can refer to the related description of steps S303 and S304 in the foregoing embodiment of FIG. 3, which will not be repeated here.

[0144] In this embodiment, for the terminal accessing the satellite using the NR or eMTC access technology, the mobility management network element can determine the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area where the terminal is, and send the determined emergency number to the terminal, so that when the user enters a country or region where the emergency number is not familiar, or when the user cannot know the country or region where the user is currently located at all, the corresponding emergency number can be dialed in time and accurately, which can ensure the safety of the user.

[0145] Please refer to FIG. 7, which is another flow diagram of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. FIG. 7 mainly aims at the solution applicable to the terminal accessing the satellite using the NB IoT access technology. The method execution subject shown in FIG. 7 can be a base station (for example, a satellite-based base station), a positioning network element, a mobility management network element and a terminal, or a chip in the base station, a chip in the positioning network element, a chip in the mobility management network element and a chip in the terminal. For the convenience of description, the present application mainly takes the base station, the positioning network element as LMF / E-SMLC, the mobility management network element as AMF / MME and the terminal as the execution subject for illustration. FIG. 7 is a schematic flow diagram of the method embodiments of the present application, which shows the detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of the various operations in FIG. 7. In addition, the various steps in FIG. 7 can be executed in a different order from that presented in FIG. 7, and it is possible that not all the operations in FIG. 7 are to be executed. Among them:

[0146] S701, the terminal sends a first message to the base station, and the base station sends the first message and ULI information to the AMF / MME.

[0147] The understanding of step S701 can refer to the description of step S601 in the foregoing FIG. 6, which will not be described here. The difference is that in the present embodiment, the access technology of the terminal indicated by the radio access type information is NB IoT.

[0148] S702, the AMF / MME determines a first area where the terminal is located.

[0149] The AMF / MME can determine the first area in which the terminal is located by mainly using the following three schemes. The schemes A and B can refer to the schemes A and B described in the foregoing S602. For the scheme C, the scheme C includes: S702c-1, the AMF / MME sends a third message to the terminal. Exemplarily, the third message can be a non access stratum security mode command (NAS SMC) message. S702c-2, the terminal sends a fourth message to the AMF / MME, and the fourth message carries coarse-grained UE location information, for example, GNSS information. Exemplarily, the fourth message can be a NAS SMC Complete message. S702c-3, the AMF / MME sends a second positioning request carrying the GNSS information to the LMF / E-SMLC, and accordingly, when the LMF / E-SMLC receives the second positioning request, the LMF / E-SMLC can determine the first area in which the terminal is located based on the GNSS information. S702c-4, the LMF / E-SMLC sends a second positioning response to the AMF / MME, and the second positioning response includes information of the first area in which the terminal is located.

[0150] Optionally, when the information obtained based on the scheme C is inaccurate (for example, the first area in which the terminal is located carried in the second positioning response is multiple areas), the AMF / MME can determine the first area in which the terminal is located based on the scheme A again. Optionally, when the first area in which the terminal is located cannot be accurately determined based on the schemes A and C, the AMF / MME can determine the first area in which the terminal is located by using the scheme B again, or when the MCC of the PLMN served by the AMF / MME is 901 and the first area in which the terminal is located cannot be accurately determined based on the schemes A and C, the AMF / MME can determine the first area in which the terminal is located by using the scheme B again.

[0151] S703, the AMF / MME determines the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area.

[0152] S704, the AMF / MME sends a second message to the terminal, and accordingly, the terminal receives the second message from the AMF / MME, and the second message includes the emergency number.

[0153] The understanding of the steps S703 and S704 can refer to the related description of the steps S303 and S304 in the foregoing embodiment of FIG. 3, and details are not described herein.

[0154] In the embodiment, for a terminal accessing a satellite using an NB IoT access technology, a mobility management network element can determine an emergency number associated with a first region in which the terminal is located based on the first region, and send the determined emergency number to the terminal, so that when a user enters a country or region in which an emergency number is not familiar, or when the user cannot know a country or region in which the user is currently located at all, the corresponding emergency number can be dialed in time and accurately, so that the safety of the user can be ensured.

[0155] The communication apparatus provided by the present application will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 8-9.

[0156] It can be understood that, in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the communication apparatus includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the functions. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and method steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in the present application, the present application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is implemented in hardware or computer software driven hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0157] FIGS. 8 and 9 are structural schematic diagrams of possible communication apparatuses provided by the embodiments of the present application. These communication apparatuses can be used to implement the functions of the mobility management network element (such as AMF or MME) or the terminal in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus can be a mobility management network element in the core network 200 as shown in FIG. 1. Alternatively, it can also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the mobility management network element. The communication apparatus is also a terminal 120 as shown in FIG. 1. Alternatively, it can also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal.

[0158] As shown in FIG. 8, the communication apparatus 800 includes a processing unit 810 and a transceiver unit 820. The communication apparatus 800 is used to implement the functions of the mobility management network element in the method embodiments shown in FIGS. 3-7.

[0159] In one implementation manner, when the communication apparatus 800 is used to implement the functions of the mobility management network element in the method embodiments shown in FIGS. 3-7:

[0160] The transceiver unit 820 is configured to receive a first message and first location information, the first message being a message in which a terminal requests a service, and the first location information being used to indicate a first region in which the terminal is located. The processing unit 810 is configured to determine an emergency number associated with the first region based on the first region. The transceiver unit 820 is configured to send a second message, the second message including the emergency number, and the second message being a response message to the first message.

[0161] In a possible implementation, the first area where the terminal is located is an operating area of the PLMN selected by the terminal; when the processing unit 810 determines the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area, the processing unit 810 is configured to: when the operating area of the PLMN selected by the terminal is an international area, determine the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area.

[0162] In a possible implementation, when the processing unit 810 determines the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area, the processing unit 810 is configured to: when the MCC of the PLMN selected by the terminal is 901, determine the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area.

[0163] In a possible implementation, the emergency number associated with the first area is one or more, and the first area has a mapping relationship with the one or more emergency numbers.

[0164] In a possible implementation, the first area is not an operating area of the HPLMN of the terminal, and the emergency number associated with the first area is a first emergency number associated with the operating area of the HPLMN of the terminal in the first area.

[0165] In a possible implementation, when the transceiver 820 receives the first location information, the transceiver 820 is configured to: receive the first location information from an access network device, and the first location information is ULI information.

[0166] In a possible implementation, when the transceiver 820 receives the first location information, the transceiver 820 is configured to: send a first positioning request to a positioning network element; and receive a first positioning response from the positioning network element, and the first location information is included in the first positioning response.

[0167] In a possible implementation, when the transceiver 820 receives the first location information, the transceiver 820 is configured to: send a third message to a terminal, where the third message is used to request location information of the terminal; receive a fourth message from the terminal, where the fourth message includes the location information of the terminal, and the fourth message is a response message to the third message; send a second positioning request to the positioning network element according to the fourth message, where the second positioning request includes the location information of the terminal; and receive a second positioning response from the positioning network element, where the first location information is included in the second positioning response.

[0168] In a possible implementation, the first message includes an identifier of the terminal, and the identifier of the terminal includes a SUPI or a SUCI.

[0169] In a possible implementation, the SUPI or the SUCI includes the HPLMN of the terminal.

[0170] In a possible implementation, the first message is a registration request message, a registration update request message, or a service request message.

[0171] In another implementation, when the communication apparatus 800 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 7, the transceiver 820 is configured to send a first message, the first message being a message in which the terminal requests a service; and the transceiver 820 is configured to receive a second message, the second message including an emergency number associated with a first region, the second message being a response message to the first message, and the first region being a region in which the terminal is located.

[0172] In a possible implementation, the emergency number associated with the first region is one or more, and the first region has a mapping relationship with the one or more emergency numbers.

[0173] In a possible implementation, the first region is not an operating region of the HPLMN of the terminal, and the emergency number associated with the first region is a first emergency number associated with the operating region of the HPLMN of the terminal in the first region.

[0174] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 820 is further configured to receive a third message, the third message being used to request location information of the terminal; and send a fourth message, the fourth message including the location information of the terminal, the fourth message being a response message to the third message.

[0175] In a possible implementation, the first message includes an identifier of the terminal, and the identifier of the terminal includes a SUPI or a SUCI.

[0176] In a possible implementation, the SUPI or the SUCI includes the HPLMN of the terminal.

[0177] In a possible implementation, the first message is a registration request message, a registration update request message, or a service request message.

[0178] For more detailed descriptions of the processing unit 810 and the transceiver 820, refer to the related descriptions in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 7.

[0179] As shown in FIG. 9, the communication apparatus 900 includes a processor 910 and an interface circuit 920. The processor 910 and the interface circuit 920 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 920 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication apparatus 900 can further include a memory 930 for storing instructions executed by the processor 910 or storing input data required by the processor 910 to run instructions or storing data generated after the processor 910 runs instructions.

[0180] When the communication apparatus 900 is used to implement the methods shown in FIGs. 3-7, the processor 910 is configured to implement the functions of the processing unit 810, and the interface circuit 920 is configured to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 820.

[0181] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0182] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware, or can be implemented in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an electrically programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a network device. The processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the network device.

[0183] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment or other programmable apparatus. The computer programs or instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transferred from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer programs or instructions can be transferred from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center through wired or wireless manner. 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 and the like 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; 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.

[0184] 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, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0185] It can be understood that various numerical numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for convenient differentiation, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the serial number of the above processes does not mean the execution order, and the execution order of the processes should be determined according to its function and inherent logic.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: receiving a first message and first location information, the first message being a message in which a terminal requests a service, and the first location information being used to indicate a first area in which the terminal is located; determining an emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area; sending a second message, the second message including the emergency number, the second message being a response message to the first message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first area in which the terminal is located is an operating area of a public land mobile network (PLMN) selected by the terminal; and the determining of the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area comprises: in a case where the operating area of the PLMN selected by the terminal is an international area, determining the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The determining of the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area comprises: in a case where a mobile country code (MCC) of the PLMN selected by the terminal is 901, determining the emergency number associated with the first area based on the first area.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The emergency number associated with the first area is one or more, and the first area has a mapping relationship with the one or more emergency numbers.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The first area is not an operating area of a home public land mobile network (HPLMN) of the terminal, and the emergency number associated with the first area is a first emergency number associated with an operating area of the HPLMN of the terminal in the first area.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The receiving of the first location information comprises: receiving the first location information from an access network device, the first location information being user location information (ULI) information.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The receiving of the first location information comprises: sending a first positioning request to a positioning network element; receiving a first positioning response from the positioning network element, the first positioning response including the first location information.

8. The method according to claims 1-5, characterized by, The receiving of the first location information comprises: sending a third message to a terminal, the third message being used to request location information of the terminal; receiving a fourth message from the terminal, the fourth message including the location information of the terminal, the fourth message being a response message to the third message; sending a second positioning request to the positioning network element according to the fourth message, the second positioning request including the location information of the terminal; receiving a second positioning response from the positioning network element, the second positioning response including the first location information.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The first message includes an identifier of the terminal, and the identifier of the terminal includes a subscriber permanent identifier (SUPI) or a subscriber concealed identifier (SUCI).

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The SUPI or the SUCI includes the HPLMN of the terminal.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, The first message is a registration request message, a registration update request message, or a service request message.

12. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: sending a first message, the first message being a message in which a terminal requests a service; receiving a second message, the second message including a first area-associated emergency number, the second message being a response message to the first message, and the first area being an area in which the terminal is located.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The first region is associated with one or more emergency numbers, and the first region has a mapping relationship with the one or more emergency numbers.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, The first region is not an operating region of a home public land mobile network (HPLMN) of the terminal, and the first region is associated with a first emergency number associated with an operating region of the HPLMN of the terminal in the first region.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12-14, characterized in that, The method further includes: receiving a third message for requesting location information of the terminal; sending a fourth message including the location information of the terminal, the fourth message being a response message to the third message.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12-15, characterized in that, The first message includes an identifier of the terminal, and the identifier of the terminal includes a subscriber permanent identifier (SUPI) or a subscriber concealed identifier (SUCI).

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, The SUPI or the SUCI includes the HPLMN of the terminal.

18. The method according to any one of claims 12-17, characterized by, The first message is a registration request message, a registration update request message, or a service request message.

19. A communications device, characterized by A computer program product for performing the method of any one of claims 1-11 or for performing the method of any one of claims 12-18.

20. A communications device, characterized by An apparatus comprising at least one processor and interface circuitry for receiving signals from and transmitting signals to other communication apparatuses outside the communication apparatus, the processor being configured to implement a method recited in any one of claims 1-11 or to implement a method recited in any one of claims 12-18 by logic circuitry or by executing computer program instructions.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, A storage medium having stored computer program or instructions that, when executed by a communication apparatus, implement a method recited in any one of claims 1-11 or implement a method recited in any one of claims 12-18.

22. A computer program product, characterised in that, A computer program code that, when run on a computer, implements a method recited in any one of claims 1-11 or implement a method recited in any one of claims 12-18.

23. A chip or chip system comprising at least one processor coupled to a memory, the processor being configured to read and execute instructions stored in the memory to implement a method recited in any one of claims 1-11 or implement a method recited in any one of claims 12-18.

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