Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present application are a communication method and apparatus. The method may be applied to an access network device. The method comprises: an access network device sending sensing capability information of the access network device, wherein the sensing capability information of the access network device comprises information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, and the information of each grid comprises at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a line of sight between the grid and the access network device, grid sensing capability information, a grid identifier and an associated sensing scenario; and the access network device receiving a first sensing request, and on the basis of the first sensing request, performing sensing on a range represented by first grids, wherein the first grids are some or all of the one or more grids supported by the access network device. The method provides a sensing range at a grid granularity, and thus sensing at the grid granularity can be implemented.

Description

Communication method and apparatus

[0001] This application claims priority from the Chinese patent application No. 202411111264.4 filed on August 13, 2024, and entitled "A 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, in particular to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0003] The wireless frequency band (such as millimeter wave frequency band, terahertz frequency band, etc.) used by the access network device or the terminal device has a perception capability, so that the wireless communication system can perform perception identification on a specific area / object / event.

[0004] For a perception request of a service requester, the core network device can select an access network device to perform a perception task based on the perception capability reported by the access network device, and send the perception request to the selected access network device, and then the selected access network device performs the perception task based on the perception request.

[0005] Among them, how to perform perception within a reasonable perception range still needs to be studied. SUMMARY

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, which provides a perception range with a grid granularity, and can perform perception with a grid granularity.

[0007] In a first aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which can be executed by an access network device. The access network device herein can refer to the access network device itself, or a processor, module, chip, or chip system, etc. in the access network device that implements the method. In the method, the access network device sends perception capability information of the access network device, the perception capability information of the access network device including information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the information of the grid including at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct diameter between the grid and the access network device, grid perception capability information, grid identifier, and associated perception scene. After the access network device receives a first perception request, the access network device performs perception on a range represented by a first grid based on the first perception request, the first grid being part or all of the one or more grids supported by the access network device.

[0008] The embodiments of the present application can report the supported perception range of the access device, and the reported perception range is based on a grid granularity, so as to perform perception on the grid granularity based on the received perception request, and to implement perception control with a grid granularity.

[0009] In an optional implementation, the first perception request comprises a grid identifier for identifying the first grid, and the first perception request is used for requesting to perceive the perception range represented by the first grid. In this implementation, the first access network device, based on the first perception request, perceives the perception range represented by the first grid, comprises: determining the first grid based on the grid identifier in the first perception request; and perceiving the perception range represented by the first grid. It can be seen that, in this implementation, the first access network device can index to the perception range corresponding to the first grid based on the grid identifier in the first perception request, and then perceive the perception range.

[0010] In another optional implementation, the first perception request is used for requesting to perceive the perception range represented by the first grid, and the first grid is all of the one or more grids. In this implementation, the first access network device, based on the first perception request, perceives the perception range represented by the first grid, comprises: based on the first perception request, perceiving the perception range represented by each of the one or more grids supported by the access network device.

[0011] In an optional implementation, the first perception request further comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating to perceive the perception range represented by the first grid. In this implementation, the first access network device, based on the first perception request, perceives the perception range represented by the first grid, comprises: based on the first indication information in the first perception request, perceiving the perception range represented by each of the one or more grids supported by the access network device.

[0012] In an optional implementation, the first access network device, based on the perception range represented by the first grid, determines the transmission power and the transmission direction of the perception signal; and based on the transmission power and the transmission direction of the perception signal, sends the perception signal.

[0013] It can be seen that, the transmission power and the transmission direction of the perception signal sent by the access network device are determined based on the perception range represented by the first grid, so that the perception signal can achieve the perception of the perception range represented by the first grid.

[0014] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which corresponds to the communication method of the first aspect. The method can be executed by an access and mobility management function network element. The access and mobility management function network element can refer to the access and mobility management function network element itself, or a processor, module, chip, or chip system in the access and mobility management function network element that implements the method. In the method, the access and mobility management function network element receives sensing capability information of one or more access network devices. The sensing capability information of the access network device includes information of one or more grids supported by the access network device. The grid information includes at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identifier, and associated sensing scenario. Based on the received sensing capability information, the access and mobility management function network element determines sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element. The sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element includes a sensing area supported by the access and mobility management function network element, and at least one of the following: sensing scenario associated with the supported sensing area, and sensing capability information of the supported sensing area.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present application, the access and mobility management function network element obtains a sensing range supported by one or more access network devices and defined based on a grid. This is beneficial for the access and mobility management function network element to request the access network device to perform sensing in a grid granularity in a sensing requirement issuing stage, and to implement grid granularity sensing control. In addition, the access and mobility management function network element determines a sensing range supported by the access and mobility management function network element and defined based on a sensing area based on the sensing range supported by one or more access network devices and defined based on a grid. This is beneficial for the access and mobility management function network element or a network storage function network element to select the access and mobility management function network element to perform a sensing task based on the sensing area supported by the access and mobility management function network element in a sensing requirement issuing stage.

[0016] In an optional implementation, the sensing area supported by the access and mobility management function network element is represented by position information of the supported sensing area, or represented by an area identifier of the supported sensing area.

[0017] In an optional implementation, when the sensing area supported by the access and mobility management function network element is represented by position information of the supported sensing area, the sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element includes the position information of the supported sensing area, and at least one of the following: sensing scenario associated with the supported sensing area, sensing capability information of the supported sensing area, and area identifier of the supported sensing area.

[0018] In an alternative implementation, when the awareness area supported by the access and mobility management function network element is represented by a region identifier of the supported awareness area, the awareness capability information of the access and mobility management function network element comprises the region identifier of the awareness area supported by the access and mobility management function network element, and at least one of the following: the awareness scene associated with the supported awareness area, the awareness capability information of the supported awareness area, and the location information of the supported awareness area.

[0019] It can be seen that the awareness capability information of the access and mobility management function network element comprises the location information of the awareness area supported by the access and mobility management function network element and / or the region identifier of the supported awareness area, and at least one of the following: the awareness scene associated with the supported awareness area, the awareness capability information of the supported awareness area.

[0020] In an alternative implementation, the awareness area supported by the access and mobility management function network element is determined based on the spatial shape information and the spatial location information of the grid corresponding to each awareness scene in the awareness capability information of one or more access network devices; the awareness scene associated with the supported awareness area is determined based on the awareness scene associated with the grid in the supported awareness area; and the awareness capability information of the supported awareness area is determined based on the awareness capability information of the grid in the supported awareness area.

[0021] In an alternative implementation, the access and mobility management function network element further performs the following steps: receiving a second awareness request from the awareness function network element, the second awareness request comprising an awareness requirement and a first awareness area; determining a first grid for representing an awareness range and a first access network device for performing an awareness task based on the first awareness area, the awareness requirement, and the awareness capability information of the access and mobility management function network element; and sending a first awareness request to the first access network device, the first awareness request being used to request the first access network device to perform awareness on the awareness range represented by the first grid. In this implementation, the first awareness area is supported by the access and mobility management function network element, the first grid is a grid in the first awareness area that meets the awareness requirement, the first access network device is an access network device in the one or more access network devices that supports the first grid, and the first grid is part of or all of the one or more grids supported by the first access network device.

[0022] It can be seen that after receiving the second awareness request from the awareness function network element, the access and mobility management function network element can determine the first grid corresponding to the first awareness area and the first access network device for performing the awareness task based on the first awareness area, the awareness requirement, and the awareness capability information of the access and mobility management function network element in the second awareness request, so as to send the first awareness request to the first access network device to request the first access network device to perform awareness on the awareness range represented by the first grid, thereby achieving awareness control at the grid level.

[0023] In an alternative implementation, the first perception request comprises a grid identifier for identifying the first grid. This implementation facilitates the first access network device to determine the first grid based on the grid identifier in the first perception request, and further to perform the perception on the perception range characterized by the first grid.

[0024] In another alternative implementation, the first grid is all of the one or more grids supported by the first access network device, and the first perception request is for requesting the perception on the perception range characterized by the first grid.

[0025] In an alternative implementation, the first perception request comprises first indication information for indicating the perception on the perception range characterized by the first grid.

[0026] In an alternative implementation, the first perception area is characterized by location information of the first perception area, or by an area identifier of the first perception area.

[0027] In an alternative implementation, the second perception request comprises the location information of the first perception area and the perception requirement.

[0028] In another alternative implementation, the second perception request comprises the area identifier of the first perception area and the perception requirement.

[0029] In yet another alternative implementation, the second perception request comprises the location information of the first perception area, the area identifier of the first perception area and the perception requirement.

[0030] In an alternative implementation, the access and mobility management function network element further sends the perception capability information of the access and mobility management function network element to the network storage function network element or the perception function network element. The access and mobility management function network element sends the perception capability information of the access and mobility management function network element to the network storage function network element, which facilitates the network storage function network element to store the perception capability information of the access and mobility management function network element. The access and mobility management function network element sends the perception capability information of the access and mobility management function network element to the perception function network element, which facilitates the perception function network element to determine the perception capability information of the perception function network element based on the perception capability information of the access and mobility management function network element, and further to store the perception capability information of the perception function network element to the network storage function network element.

[0031] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which corresponds to the communication method in the first aspect. The method can be executed by an access and mobility management function network element. The access and mobility management function network element can refer to the access and mobility management function network element itself, or a processor, module, chip, or chip system, etc. in the access and mobility management function network element that implements the method. In the method, the access and mobility management function network element receives sensing capability information of one or more access network devices. The sensing capability information of the access network device includes information of one or more grids supported by the access network device. The grid information includes at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial location information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, and associated sensing scenario. The access and mobility management function network element sends the sensing capability information of the one or more access network devices to a sensing function network element.

[0032] In an embodiment of the present application, the access and mobility management function network element sends the received sensing capability information related to the grid of the one or more access network devices to the sensing function network element, so that the sensing function network element obtains the sensing range supported by the one or more access network devices and defined based on the grid. This is beneficial for the sensing function network element to request the access network device to perform sensing in the grid granularity in the sensing demand issuing stage, and enables the sensing control in the grid granularity.

[0033] In an optional implementation, the access and mobility management function network element further performs the following steps: receiving a second sensing request from the sensing function network element, the second sensing request including an identification of a first access network device, and the second sensing request being used to request sensing of a sensing range represented by a first grid, the first grid being part or all of the one or more grids supported by the first access network device; and sending a first sensing request to the first access network device, the first sensing request being used to request sensing of the sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0034] As can be seen, after receiving the second sensing request from the sensing function network element, the access and mobility management function network element can directly send the first sensing request to the first access network device indicated by the second sensing request, to request the first access network device to perform sensing on the sensing range represented by the first grid, thereby enabling the sensing control in the grid granularity. In addition, the access and mobility management function network element can directly send the first sensing request to the first access network device indicated by the second sensing request, without determining the first access network device that performs the sensing task by itself, thereby reducing the power consumption of the access and mobility management function network element.

[0035] In an optional implementation, the second sensing request and the first sensing request include a grid identification used to identify the first grid. This is beneficial for the first access network device to determine the first grid based on the grid identification in the first sensing request, and then perform sensing on the sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0036] In an optional implementation, the first grid is all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device, and the second sensing request and the first sensing request are used to request sensing on a sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0037] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which corresponds to the communication method in the first aspect and the third aspect, or corresponds to the communication method in the first aspect. The method can be executed by a sensing function network element. The sensing function network element can refer to the sensing function network element itself, or a processor, a module, a chip, or a chip system in the sensing function network element that implements the method. In the method, the sensing function network element receives sensing capability information of one or more access network devices. The sensing capability information of the access network device includes information of one or more grids supported by the access network device. The information of the grid includes at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, and associated sensing scenario. Based on the received sensing capability information, the sensing capability information of the sensing function network element is determined. The sensing capability information of the sensing function network element includes a sensing area supported by the sensing function network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scenario associated with the supported sensing area, and sensing capability information of the supported sensing area.

[0038] In the embodiment of the present application, the sensing function network element obtains the sensing range supported by one or more access network devices and defined based on the grid. This is beneficial for the sensing function network element to request the access network device to perform sensing in the grid granularity in the sensing demand issuing stage, and can realize the sensing control in the grid granularity. In addition, the sensing function network element determines the sensing range supported by the sensing function network element and defined based on the sensing area based on the sensing range supported by one or more access network devices and defined based on the grid. This is beneficial for the network storage function network element to select the sensing function network element to perform the sensing task based on the sensing area supported by the sensing function network element in the sensing demand issuing stage.

[0039] In an optional implementation, the sensing area supported by the sensing function network element is represented by the position information of the supported sensing area, or represented by the area identification of the supported sensing area.

[0040] In an optional implementation, when the sensing area supported by the sensing function network element is represented by the position information of the supported sensing area, the sensing capability information of the sensing function network element includes the position information of the sensing area supported by the sensing function network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scenario associated with the supported sensing area, sensing capability information of the supported sensing area, and area identification of the supported sensing area.

[0041] In another alternative implementation, when the awareness area supported by the awareness function network element is represented by the area identifier of the supported awareness area, the awareness capability information of the awareness function network element comprises the area identifier of the awareness area supported by the awareness function network element, and at least one of the following: the awareness scene associated with the supported awareness area, the awareness capability information of the supported awareness area, and the location information of the supported awareness area.

[0042] It can be seen that the awareness capability information of the awareness function network element comprises the location information of the awareness area supported by the awareness function network element and / or the location information of the supported awareness area, and at least one of the following: the awareness scene associated with the supported awareness area, and the awareness capability information of the supported awareness area.

[0043] In an alternative implementation, the awareness area is determined based on the spatial shape information and the spatial location information of the grid corresponding to each awareness scene in the awareness capability information of the one or more access network devices; the awareness scene associated with the awareness area is determined based on the awareness scene associated with the grid in the awareness area; and the awareness capability information of the awareness area is determined based on the awareness capability information of the grid in the awareness area.

[0044] In an alternative implementation, the awareness function network element receives the awareness capability information of the one or more access network devices from the access and mobility management function network element.

[0045] In another alternative implementation, the awareness function network element receives the awareness capability information of the one or more access network devices from the access and mobility management function network element.

[0046] In an alternative implementation, when the awareness capability information of the one or more access network devices received by the awareness function network element is from the access and mobility management function network element, the awareness function network element further performs the following steps: receiving a third awareness request from the network exposure function network element, the third awareness request comprising an awareness requirement and a first awareness area; determining a first grid for representing an awareness range based on the first awareness area, the awareness requirement, and the awareness capability of the awareness function network element, and a first access network device and a first access and mobility management function network element for performing the awareness task, the awareness function network element supporting the first awareness area, the first grid being a grid in the first awareness area that meets the awareness requirement, the first access network device being an access network device in the one or more access network devices that supports the first grid, and the first grid being part or all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device; and sending a second awareness request to the first access and mobility management function network element, the second awareness request comprising an identifier of the first access network device, the second awareness request being used to request awareness of the awareness range represented by the first grid.

[0047] It can be seen that the perception function network element receives the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices from the access and mobility management function network element, and after receiving the third perception request from the network exposure function network element, the perception function network element can determine the first grid corresponding to the first perception area, the first access network device performing the perception task, and the first access and mobility management function network element, and send the first access and mobility management function network element the second perception request carrying the identifier of the first access network device and the request for perception of the perception range represented by the first grid, so that the first access and mobility management function network element sends the perception request to the first access network device to request the first access network device to perform perception on the perception range represented by the first grid, and the grid granularity perception control can be realized.

[0048] In an optional implementation, the second perception request includes a grid identifier for identifying the first grid. This manner is advantageous for the first access network device to determine the first grid based on the grid identifier, and then perform perception based on the perception range represented by the first grid.

[0049] In an optional implementation, the first grid is all of the one or more grids supported by the first access network device, and the second perception request is used to request perception of the perception range represented by the first grid. This manner is advantageous for the first access network device to perform perception on the perception range represented by each of the one or more grids supported by the first access network device.

[0050] In an optional implementation, the second perception request includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate perception of the perception range represented by the first grid.

[0051] In another optional implementation, when the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices received by the perception function network element is from the access network device, the perception function network element further performs the following steps: receiving a third perception request from the network exposure function network element, the third perception request including a perception requirement and a first perception area; determining, based on the first perception area, the perception requirement, and the perception capability of the perception function network element, a first grid for representing a perception range and a first access network device performing a perception task, the perception function network element supporting the first perception area, the first grid being a grid in the first perception area satisfying the perception requirement, the first access network device being an access network device supporting the first grid among the one or more access network devices, and the first grid being part or all of the one or more grids supported by the first access network device; and sending the first access network device a first perception request, the first perception request being used to request perception of the perception range represented by the first grid.

[0052] It can be seen that the perception function network element receives the perception capability information of one or more access network devices from the access network devices, and after receiving the third perception request from the network exposure function network element, the perception function network element can determine the first grid corresponding to the first perception area and the first access network device performing the perception task, and directly sends the perception request to the determined first access network device to request the first access network device to perform perception on the perception range represented by the first grid, so that grid granularity perception control can be realized.

[0053] In an optional implementation, the first perception request includes a grid identifier for identifying the first grid. This manner is advantageous for the first access network device to determine the first grid based on the grid identifier in the first perception request, and then perform perception based on the perception range represented by the first grid.

[0054] In an optional implementation, the first grid is all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device, and the first perception request is used to request perception on the perception range represented by the first grid. This manner is advantageous for the first access network device to perform perception on the perception range represented by each of the one or more grids supported by the access network device based on the first perception request.

[0055] In an optional implementation, the first perception request includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate perception on the perception range represented by the first grid.

[0056] In an optional implementation, the perception function network element further sends the perception capability information of the perception function network element to the network storage function network element to store the perception capability information of the perception function network element to the network storage function network element.

[0057] In addition, the first aspect to the fourth aspect and the implementation manners thereof further include the following implementation manners:

[0058] In an optional implementation, the spatial position information is associated with the spatial shape information, or the spatial position information is spatial position information related to the spatial shape information.

[0059] In an optional implementation, the spatial shape represented by the spatial shape information is a cuboid, and the spatial position information includes the center point position, length, width, and height of the cuboid.

[0060] In an optional implementation, the grid perception capability information includes at least one of the following: one or more refresh rates, one or more detection rates, one or more false alarm rates, one or more perception accuracies, one or more perception resolutions, one or more perception time delays, and whether target identification is supported.

[0061] In an optional implementation, the information of the grid further includes a grid quantity.

[0062] In an optional implementation, the information of the grid further includes at least one of the following: an addition indication, an update indication, and a deletion indication; or the sensing capability information of the access network device further includes at least one of the following: an addition indication, an update indication, and a deletion indication. The addition indication is used to indicate to add part or all of the information of one or more grids, the update indication is used to update part or all of the information of one or more grids, and the deletion indication is used to delete part or all of the information of one or more grids.

[0063] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which corresponds to the method in the first aspect to the fourth aspect. The method can be executed by a network exposure function network element. The network exposure function network element can refer to the network exposure function network element itself, or refer to a processor, a module, a chip, or a chip system, etc. in the network exposure function network element that implements the method. In the method, the network exposure function network element receives a third sensing request from an application function, the third sensing request including a sensing requirement and a first sensing area; sends a sensing function discovery request to a network storage function network element, the sensing function discovery request being used to request to discover a sensing function network element supporting the first sensing area; receives a sensing function discovery response from the network storage function network element, the sensing function discovery response including an identifier of one or more sensing function network elements; and sends the third sensing request to a first sensing function network element, the third sensing request including the sensing requirement and the first sensing area, the first sensing function network element being one of the one or more sensing function network elements.

[0064] In the embodiment of the present application, after receiving the third sensing request from the application function network element, the network exposure function network element requests, through the sensing function discovery request, the network storage function to discover a sensing function network element supporting the first sensing area in the third sensing request, and sends the third sensing request to one of the discovered sensing function network elements to request the sensing function network element to perform a sensing task.

[0065] In a sixth aspect, the method can be executed by an application function network element. The application function network element can refer to the application function network element itself, or refer to a processor, a module, a chip, or a chip system, etc. in the application function network element that implements the method. In the method, the application function network element sends a subscription request to a network exposure function network element, the subscription request being used to request to subscribe to sensing capability of one or more sensing function network elements; and receives a subscription notification from the network exposure function network element, the subscription notification including first sensing capability information of the one or more sensing function network elements, the first sensing capability information including a first identifier, a sensing area supported by the sensing function network element, and sensing capability information of the supported sensing area, the first identifier being used to identify the sensing function network element.

[0066] In the embodiments of the present application, the application function network element subscribes to the network exposure function network element for the sensing capability of one or more sensing function network elements, so that the application function network element can determine the sensing function network element meeting the sensing requirement based on the sensing capability of the one or more sensing function network elements, and then can carry the identifier of the determined sensing function network element when issuing the sensing request to request the sensing function network element to perform the sensing task. Compared with the case that the application function network element does not carry the identifier of the sensing function network element when issuing the sensing request, and the network exposure function network element requests the network storage function network element to discover the sensing function network element meeting the sensing requirement, the signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0067] In an optional implementation, the application function network element sends a fourth sensing request to the network exposure function network element, the fourth sensing request comprising a first identifier corresponding to the first sensing function network element, the sensing requirement, and the first sensing area. The first sensing function network element is the sensing function network element supporting the first sensing area and meeting the sensing requirement among the one or more sensing function network elements. It can be seen that the fourth sensing request issued by the application function network element comprises the identifier of the first sensing function network element supporting the first sensing area and meeting the sensing requirement, which is beneficial to reducing the signaling overhead.

[0068] In a seventh aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which corresponds to the method of the sixth aspect. The method can be executed by the network exposure function network element. Here, the network exposure function network element can refer to the network exposure function network element itself, or a processor, module, chip, or chip system, etc. in the network exposure function network element implementing the method. In the method, the network exposure function network element receives a subscription request from an application function, the subscription request being used to request to subscribe to the sensing capability of one or more sensing function network elements; receives second sensing capability information of the one or more sensing function network elements, the second sensing capability information of the sensing function network element comprising an identifier of the sensing function network element, a sensing area supported by the sensing function network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scene associated with the supported sensing area, and sensing capability information of the supported sensing area; and sends a subscription notification to the application function network element, the subscription notification comprising first sensing capability information of the one or more sensing function network elements, the first sensing capability information comprising a first identifier, a sensing area supported by the sensing function network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scene associated with the supported sensing area, and sensing capability information of the supported sensing area, the first identifier being determined based on the identifier of the sensing function network element.

[0069] In the embodiments of the present application, after the network exposure function network element receives the subscription request used to request to subscribe to the sensing capability of one or more sensing function network elements, the network exposure function network element sends the first sensing capability information of the one or more sensing function network elements to the application function network element through the subscription notification, so that the application function network element can carry the identifier of the sensing function network element meeting the sensing requirement when issuing the sensing request, and the signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0070] In an alternative implementation, the network exposure function network element further performs the following steps: receiving a fourth awareness request from the application function network element, the fourth awareness request comprising the first identifier corresponding to the first awareness function network element, the awareness requirement, and the first awareness area, the first awareness function network element being one of the one or more awareness function network elements that meet the awareness requirement and support the first awareness area; and sending a third awareness request to the first awareness function network element, the third awareness request comprising the awareness requirement and the first awareness area.

[0071] It can be seen that the fourth awareness request received by the network exposure function network element comprises the identifier of the first awareness function network element that meets the awareness requirement and supports the first awareness area, so that the network exposure function network element does not need to request the network storage function network element to discover the awareness function network element that performs the awareness task, and directly sends the third awareness request to the first awareness function network element to request the first awareness function network element to perform the awareness task, thereby reducing the signaling overhead.

[0072] In an eighth aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a communication apparatus. The communication apparatus has part or all of the functions of the access network device in the first aspect, or part or all of the functions of the access and mobility management function network element in the second aspect or the third aspect, or part or all of the functions of the awareness function network element in the fourth aspect, or part or all of the functions of the network exposure function network element in the fifth aspect or the seventh aspect, or part or all of the functions of the application function network element in the sixth aspect. For example, the communication apparatus can have the functions of part or all of the embodiments of the access network device in the first aspect, or have the functions of implementing any one of the embodiments of the present application independently. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software comprises one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0073] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can include a processing unit and a communication unit, where the processing unit is configured to support the communication apparatus to perform the corresponding functions in the above methods. The communication unit is configured to support the communication between the communication apparatus and other communication apparatuses. The communication apparatus can further include a storage unit configured to be coupled with the processing unit and the communication unit, and store the necessary program instructions and data of the communication apparatus.

[0074] In an implementation, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit and a communication unit, and the apparatus is applied to an access network device.

[0075] The communication unit is configured to send the sensing capability information of the access network device, the sensing capability information of the access network device including information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the information of the grid including at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, and associated sensing scenario.

[0076] The communication unit is further configured to receive a first sensing request.

[0077] The processing unit is configured to perform sensing on a range represented by a first grid according to the first sensing request, the first grid being part or all of the one or more grids.

[0078] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication device can refer to the related content of the first aspect described above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0079] In another implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit, and the device is applied to an access and mobility management function network element.

[0080] The communication unit is configured to receive sensing capability information of one or more access network devices, the sensing capability information of the access network device including information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the information of the grid including at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, and associated sensing scenario.

[0081] The processing unit is configured to determine, based on the received sensing capability information, sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element, the sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element including a sensing area supported by the access and mobility management function network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scenario associated with the supported sensing area, and sensing capability information of the supported sensing area.

[0082] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication device can refer to the related content of the second aspect described above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0083] In yet another implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit, and the device is applied to an access and mobility management function network element, and the processing unit is configured to process signals / signaling.

[0084] The communication unit is configured to receive sensing capability information of one or more access network devices, the sensing capability information of the access network device including information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the grid information including at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identifier, and associated sensing scenario.

[0085] The communication unit is further configured to send the sensing capability information of the one or more access network devices to the sensing function network element.

[0086] In addition, in this aspect, other optional embodiments of the communication device can refer to the related content of the third aspect described above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0087] In another embodiment, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit, and the device is applied to a sensing function network element.

[0088] The communication unit is configured to receive sensing capability information of one or more access network devices, the sensing capability information of the access network device including information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the grid information including at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identifier, and associated sensing scenario.

[0089] The processing unit is configured to determine, based on the received sensing capability information, sensing capability information of the sensing function network element, the sensing capability information of the sensing function network element including a sensing area supported by the sensing function network element and at least one of the following: a sensing scenario associated with the supported sensing area, and sensing capability information of the supported sensing area.

[0090] In addition, in this aspect, other optional embodiments of the communication device can refer to the related content of the fourth aspect described above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0091] In another embodiment, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit, and the device is applied to a network exposure function network element, and the processing unit is configured to process signaling / signals.

[0092] The communication unit is configured to receive a third sensing request from an application function, the third sensing request including a sensing requirement and a first sensing area.

[0093] The communication unit is further configured to send a sensing function discovery request to a network storage function network element, the sensing function discovery request being used to request discovery of a sensing function network element supporting the first sensing area.

[0094] The communication unit is further configured to receive a sensing function discovery response from the network exposure function network element, the sensing function discovery response comprising an identification of one or more sensing function network elements.

[0095] The communication unit is further configured to send a third sensing request to a first sensing function network element, the third sensing request comprising the sensing requirement and the first sensing area, the first sensing function network element being one of the one or more sensing function network elements.

[0096] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementation of the communication device can refer to the related content of the fifth aspect described above, which will not be described here in detail.

[0097] For example, the communication unit can be a transceiver or a communication interface, the storage unit can be a memory, and the processing unit can be a processor.

[0098] In an embodiment, the communication device comprises a processor and a transceiver, and the device is applied to an access network device.

[0099] The transceiver is configured to send sensing capability information of the access network device, the sensing capability information of the access network device comprising information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the grid information comprising at least one of the following: spatial shape information, location information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, and associated sensing scenario.

[0100] The transceiver is further configured to receive a first sensing request.

[0101] The processor is configured to perform sensing on a range represented by a first grid according to the first sensing request, the first grid being part or all of the one or more grids.

[0102] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementation of the communication device can refer to the related content of the first aspect described above, which will not be described here in detail.

[0103] In another embodiment, the communication device comprises a processor and a transceiver, and the device is applied to an access and mobility management function network element.

[0104] The transceiver is configured to receive sensing capability information of one or more access network devices, the sensing capability information of the access network device comprising information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the grid information comprising at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial location information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, and associated sensing scenario.

[0105] The processor is configured to determine, based on the received sensing capability information, sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element, the sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element including a sensing area supported by the access and mobility management function network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scenario associated with the supported sensing area, and sensing capability information of the supported sensing area.

[0106] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication device can refer to the related content of the second aspect described above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0107] In another implementation, the communication device includes a processor and a transceiver, and the device is applied to an access and mobility management function network element, and the processor is configured to process signals / signaling.

[0108] The transceiver is configured to receive sensing capability information of one or more access network devices, the sensing capability information of the access network device including information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the grid information including at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial location information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, and associated sensing scenarios.

[0109] The transceiver is further configured to send the sensing capability information of the one or more access network devices to a sensing function network element.

[0110] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication device can refer to the related content of the third aspect described above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0111] In another implementation, the communication device includes a processor and a transceiver, and the device is applied to a sensing function network element.

[0112] The transceiver is configured to receive sensing capability information of one or more access network devices, the sensing capability information of the access network device including information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the grid information including at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial location information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, and associated sensing scenarios.

[0113] The processor is configured to determine, based on the received sensing capability information, sensing capability information of the sensing function network element, the sensing capability information of the sensing function network element including a sensing area supported by the sensing function network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scenario associated with the supported sensing area, and sensing capability information of the supported sensing area.

[0114] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication apparatus can refer to related content of the fourth aspect described above, and details are not described herein.

[0115] In another implementation, the communication apparatus comprises a processing unit and a communication unit, and the apparatus is applied to a network exposure function network element, and the processor is configured to process signaling / signals.

[0116] The transceiver is configured to receive a third awareness request from an application function, and the third awareness request comprises an awareness requirement and a first awareness area.

[0117] The transceiver is further configured to send an awareness function discovery request to a network storage function network element, and the awareness function discovery request is used to request to discover an awareness function network element supporting the first awareness area.

[0118] The transceiver is further configured to receive an awareness function discovery response from the network storage function network element, and the awareness function discovery response comprises an identifier of one or more awareness function network elements.

[0119] The transceiver is further configured to send a third awareness request to a first awareness function network element, and the third awareness request comprises the awareness requirement and the first awareness area, and the first awareness function network element is one of the one or more awareness function network elements.

[0120] In addition, in this aspect, other optional implementations of the communication apparatus can refer to related content of the fifth aspect described above, and details are not described herein.

[0121] In another implementation, the communication apparatus is a chip or a chip system. The processing unit can also be implemented as a processing circuit or a logic circuit; and the communication unit can be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit on the chip or chip system.

[0122] In implementation process, the processor can be configured to perform, for example but not limited to, baseband related processing, and the transceiver can be configured to perform, for example but not limited to, radio frequency transceiving. The above devices can be respectively arranged on chips independent of each other, or at least partially or entirely arranged on the same chip. For example, the processor can be further divided into an analog baseband processor and a digital baseband processor. The analog baseband processor can be integrated on the same chip as the transceiver, and the digital baseband processor can be arranged on a separate chip. With the continuous development of integrated circuit technology, more and more devices can be integrated on the same chip. For example, the digital baseband processor can be integrated on the same chip as various application processors (such as but not limited to, graphic processors, multimedia processors, etc.). Such a chip can be referred to as a system on a chip (SoC). Whether to arrange the devices independently on different chips or to integrate them on one or more chips often depends on the needs of product design. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the implementation form of the above devices.

[0123] In the ninth aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a processor for executing the above various methods. In executing these methods, the processes of transmitting and receiving the above information in the above methods can be understood as the processes of outputting the above information by the processor and the processes of receiving the inputted above information by the processor. When outputting the above information, the processor outputs the above information to the transceiver, so as to be transmitted by the transceiver. After being outputted by the processor, the above information can still need to be processed, and then reaches the transceiver. Similarly, when the processor receives the inputted above information, the transceiver receives the above information and inputs it to the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives the above information, the above information can still need to be processed, and then is inputted to the processor.

[0124] For the transmission and reception operations of the processor, if there is no special description, or if it does not contradict the actual role or inherent logic in the related description, it can be more generally understood as the output and input operations of the processor, rather than the transmission and reception operations directly performed by the radio frequency circuit and the antenna.

[0125] In implementation process, the processor can be a processor specially configured to execute the methods, or a processor configured to execute the computer instructions in a memory to execute the methods, such as a general processor. The memory can be a non-transitory memory, such as a read only memory (ROM), which can be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or arranged on different chips respectively. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the type of the memory and the arrangement manner of the memory and the processor.

[0126] In a tenth aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a communication system, which comprises an access network device and a core network device. Optionally, the system further comprises a terminal device. In another possible design, the system can further comprise other devices / functions which interact with the access network device, the core network device and the terminal device.

[0127] In an eleventh aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a computer readable storage medium, which stores instructions, when the instructions are executed by a computer, the method in any of the first aspect to the seventh aspect is implemented.

[0128] In a twelfth aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, implement the method in any of the first aspect to the seventh aspect.

[0129] In a thirteenth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a chip system, which comprises a processor and an interface. The interface is configured to acquire a program or instructions. The processor is configured to invoke the program or instructions to implement or support the access network device to implement the functions in the first aspect, or to implement or support the access and mobility management function network element to implement the functions in the second aspect or the third aspect, or to implement or support the sensing function network element to implement the functions in the fourth aspect, or to implement or support the network exposure function network element to implement the functions in the fifth aspect or the seventh aspect, or to implement or support the application function network element to implement the functions in the sixth aspect. For example, at least one of the data and the information in the above method is determined or processed. In a possible design, the chip system further comprises a memory. The memory is configured to store necessary program instructions and data of the terminal. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can comprise a chip and other discrete devices.

[0130] In a fourteenth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication apparatus, which comprises a processor configured to execute computer programs or executable instructions stored in a memory. When the computer programs or executable instructions are executed, the apparatus performs the method in any of the possible implementations of the first aspect to the seventh aspect.

[0131] In a possible implementation, the processor and the memory are integrated together.

[0132] In another possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication apparatus.

[0133] The advantages of the eighth aspect to the fourteenth aspect can refer to the advantages of the first aspect to the seventh aspect, which are not repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0134] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture;

[0135] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another system architecture;

[0136] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of yet another system architecture;

[0137] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a RAN performing sensing service;

[0138] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of sensing;

[0139] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of interaction of sensing capability reporting;

[0140] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of another interaction of sensing capability reporting;

[0141] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of interaction of sensing requirement issuing;

[0142] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of interaction of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0143] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0144] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0145] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0146] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0147] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0148] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0149] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0150] FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0151] FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0152] FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of another communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0153] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0154] 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:

[0155] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to a fourth generation (4th generation, 4G) communication system such as a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, a fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) communication system such as a new radio (new radio, NR) system, and as the communication technology continues to evolve, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to subsequent evolved communication systems, such as a sixth generation (6th-Generation, 6G) mobile communication technology system, a seventh generation (7th-Generation, 7G) mobile communication technology system, etc.

[0156] Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram of a system architecture provided by the embodiments of the present application. The system architecture includes terminal devices, (radio) access network ((R)AN), user plane function (UPF), data network (DN), access and mobility management function (AMF) and other network function entities. As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal device can access the wireless network to obtain the service of the external network (for example, the DN) through the wireless network, or communicate with other devices through the wireless network, such as communicating with other terminal devices. The devices / function network elements involved in the system architecture in FIG. 1 will be described in detail as follows.

[0157] The terminal device can include various handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices, or other processing devices connected to wireless modems with wireless communication functions. The terminal device can also be referred to as a terminal. The terminal device can also refer to a user equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a user agent, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (PDA) computer, a tablet computer, a wireless modem, a handset, a laptop computer, a point of sale (POS) machine, a customer-premises equipment (CPE), a machine type communication (MTC) terminal, a communication device on an unmanned aerial vehicle, a wearable device, a drone, a robot, a terminal in device to device (D2D), a terminal in vehicle to everything (V2X), a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, or a terminal device in future communication networks, etc., without limitation.

[0158] The RAN is a network composed of multiple 5G-RAN nodes, which implements the functions of wireless physical layer, resource scheduling and radio resource management, radio access control, and mobility management. The 5G-RAN is connected with the UPF network element through the user plane interface N3 for transmitting data of the terminal device; the 5G-RAN establishes a control plane signaling connection with the AMF network element through the control plane interface N2 for realizing functions such as radio access bearer control. The RAN node can be a base station in the 5G network or a base station in the future evolved communication system, a broadband network gateway (BNG), a convergence switch, or a non-3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) access device, etc. Optionally, the RAN node in the embodiments of the present application can include various forms of base stations, such as: a macro base station, a micro base station (also known as a small station), a relay station, an access point, a device realizing the function of a base station in the communication system evolved after 5G, a transmitting and receiving point (TRP), a transmitting point (TP), an integrated access and backhaul node (IAB node), a mobile switching center, and a device assuming the function of a base station in D2D, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, etc., which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0159] The following network function entities can be understood as core network devices:

[0160] The AMF network element is mainly responsible for the authentication of the UE, the mobility management of the UE, the selection of the network slice, the selection of the session management function (SMF), and the like; the AMF network element is an anchor point of N1 and N2 signaling connection and provides routing of N1 / N2 SM messages for the SMF network element; the AMF network element maintains and manages the state information of the UE.

[0161] The SMF network element is mainly responsible for all control plane functions of the UE session management, including selection of the UPF network element, allocation of the internet protocol (IP) address, management of the quality of service (QoS) of the session, acquisition of the policy and charging control (PCC) policy from the policy control function (PCF), and the like.

[0162] As an anchor point of a protocol data unit (PDU) session connection, the UPF network element is responsible for filtering data packets of a user equipment, transmitting / forwarding data, rate control, generating charging information, and the like.

[0163] The unified data management (UDM) network element is mainly used for managing user data, such as managing subscription information, including obtaining subscription information from a unified data repository (UDR) network element and providing the subscription information to other network elements (such as an AMF network element), generating 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) authentication credentials for a UE, and registering and maintaining network elements currently serving the UE (for example, an AMF represented by an AMF ID1 is the current serving AMF of the UE).

[0164] The UDR network element is mainly used for storing user data, including subscription data called by the UDM network element, policy information called by the PCF network element, structured data for capability exposure, and application data called by the network element function (NEF) network element.

[0165] The NEF network element is a network capability exposure network element, which is used for interaction between other internal network elements of the core network and external application servers of the core network, to provide network capability information to the external application servers, or to provide information of the external application servers to the core network elements.

[0166] The application function (AF) network element interacts with the core network elements to provide some services, such as interacting with the PCF network element to perform service policy control, interacting with the NEF network element to obtain some network capability information or providing some application information to the network, and providing some data network access point information to the PCF network element to generate corresponding data service routing information.

[0167] The authentication service function (AUSF) network element is used for security authentication of a UE when the UE accesses a network.

[0168] The network slice selection function (NSSF) network element selects a slice instance set for a UE, and determines an AMF set and allowed network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) for the UE.

[0169] The PCF network element is configured to generate, manage user, session, and quality of service (QoS) flow processing policies, provide configuration policy information for a UE, and provide policy information for controlling the UE for a control plane network element (for example, an AMF network element or an SMF network element) of a network.

[0170] The network repository function (NRF) network element is responsible for the registration and discovery functions of network elements and maintains information of the network elements, for example, an instance identifier, a type, a public land mobile network (PLMN), a slice-related identifier, an internet protocol (IP) address or a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), a capability of the network element, a supported service, and the like of the network element.

[0171] In addition, in the architecture shown in FIG. 1, communication interfaces between the functional network elements are indicated. The interfaces involved in the present application include, but are not limited to, the following interfaces: N1: an interface between a terminal and a control plane of a core network, used for transmitting non-access layer signaling; N2: a communication interface between an access network and a control plane of a core network; N3: a communication interface between an access network and a UPF network element, used for transmitting user data; and N4: a communication interface between an SMF network element and a UPF network element, used for policy configuration of the UPF network element and the like.

[0172] In an optional manner, the system architecture shown in FIG. 1 further includes a network slice-specific authentication and authorization function (NSSAAF) network element, a service communication function (SCF) network element, and a network slicing access control function (NSACF) network element, for example, a 5G network architecture based on a service-oriented architecture as shown in FIG. 2.

[0173] In addition, the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to a 5G network architecture based on a point-to-point interface as shown in FIG. 3. The functions of the network elements shown in FIG. 3 can be referred to the functions of the corresponding network elements in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and will not be described in detail. The difference between FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 is that the interfaces between the network elements in FIG. 3 are point-to-point interfaces, rather than service-oriented interfaces.

[0174] In a possible manner, the network architecture shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 further includes a sensing function (SF) network element, which is configured to perform sensing. In the embodiments of the present application, the SF network element can be separated in control plane and user plane, that is, SF control plane (SF-C) function and SF user plane (SF-U) function are separated. The SF-C can send control commands to the sensing device through the control plane; the SF-U can receive sensing data from the sensing device through the data plane, and optionally process the sensing data to obtain sensing results. The SF-C can control the SF-U, for example, the SF-C can select a suitable SF-U, and configure one or more of the identification rule, processing rule, or routing rule of the sensing data to the SF-U.

[0175] It can be understood that when the scheme of the embodiments of the present application is applied to a 6G or future communication system, the corresponding network function entity name can change, which is not limited in the present application.

[0176] The wireless frequency bands (such as 4G frequency band, 5G frequency band, 6G frequency band, millimeter wave frequency band, terahertz frequency band, etc.) used by the network device or the terminal device have sensing capability, so that the wireless communication system can identify specific areas, specific objects or events, and can solve many sensing needs in scenarios. For example, for intelligent transportation and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the sensing distance of vehicles or UAVs themselves is short or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) cannot be sensed, and the wireless communication system can generate multi-angle sensing information in a large range based on base station and terminal device sensing, which is used for route planning, collision avoidance, automatic driving assistance, etc. For example, during the driving of vehicles or UAVs, the wireless communication system can identify dangerous events such as the sudden appearance of people or objects and notify the terminal device to perform emergency operations. For example, for monitoring illegal driving behaviors, such as vehicles occupying emergency lanes, UAVs deviating from flight paths, the wireless communication system can identify illegal vehicles and perform real-time warning / post-penalty. For example, for the invasion of foreign objects (people, animals, falling rocks, etc.) into high-speed railways, the wireless communication system can identify foreign objects and perform real-time emergency processing. For example, for home health monitoring scenarios, such as abnormal posture detection of personnel falling, the wireless communication system can identify abnormal postures and alarm. For example, for health detection of human respiration / heartbeat, the wireless communication system can identify abnormal indicators and alarm. For example, for meteorological monitoring scenarios, the wireless communication system can perform sensing detection or prediction on the environment, climate, and weather changes.

[0177] Please refer to FIG. 4, which is a schematic diagram of a RAN performing sensing. As shown in FIG. 4, the RAN can use communication resources to communicate with communication users and use sensing resources to perform sensing on sensing targets, and the communication resources and the sensing resources are time-multiplexed. In addition, the beams of the RAN for communication and sensing are spatially multiplexed, and the RAN can use part of the beams to communicate with the communication users and use the other beams to perform sensing on the sensing targets. The process of the RAN performing sensing includes: sending a sensing signal to a sensing area, receiving a reflection signal reflected by a sensing target in the sensing area, and processing the reflection signal to obtain sensing data.

[0178] Please refer to FIG. 5, which is a schematic diagram of sensing. Specifically, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of sensing in a V2X scenario. As shown in FIG. 5, the key performance indicators in the V2X scenario include distance resolution, speed resolution, angle measurement accuracy, and horizontal field of view (FOV). The distance resolution refers to the ability to distinguish adjacent targets in distance, which is usually measured by the minimum distinguishable distance interval and can be used to identify different vehicles. The speed resolution refers to the ability to distinguish targets in radial speed, which is usually measured by the minimum distinguishable speed interval and can be used to distinguish vehicles with different speeds. The angle measurement accuracy refers to the error between the measured value and the true value of the target in angle, which can be used to determine the lane in which the vehicle is located. The horizontal FOV refers to the range that can be covered by the sensing device. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the FOV is 120 degrees, the two-way blind area range is less than 18m and the blind area area ratio is less than 1% in the case of a 30m two-way road width.

[0179] In addition, the sensing process can include a sensing capability reporting process and a sensing demand issuing process. The sensing capability reporting process refers to the process of reporting sensing capability information by a base station to an AMF network element or an SF network element, and storing the sensing capability information by the AMF network element or the SF network element to an NRF network element. The sensing demand issuing process refers to the process of issuing a sensing request by an AF network element to a NEF network element, sending the sensing request by the NEF network element to an SF network element discovered by the NRF, issuing the sensing request by the SF network element to an AMF network element or a base station, and issuing the sensing request by the AMF network element to the base station. Optionally, the sensing demand issuing process can also be regarded as a sensing task execution stage. The sensing capability reporting process and the sensing demand issuing process are described as follows:

[0180] 1: Sensing capability reporting.

[0181] In one system architecture, there is a direct (physical or logical) interface between the RAN and the AMF network element, and there is no direct (physical or logical) interface between the RAN and the SF network element. In another system architecture, there is a direct (physical or logical) interface between the RAN and the SF network element. The following describes the sensing capability reporting procedure for the two system architectures respectively.

[0182] 1.1: Sensing capability reporting procedure when the RAN has a direct interface with the AMF network element and has no direct interface with the SF network element.

[0183] Please refer to FIG. 6, which is an interaction diagram of a sensing capability reporting. As shown in FIG. 6, the sensing capability reporting includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0184] S601. The base station sends an NG interface setup / update request to the AMF network element. Correspondingly, the AMF network element receives the NG interface setup / update request from the base station.

[0185] The base station sends an NG interface setup / update request to the AMF network element to request to setup / update the NG interface connection with the AMF network element. The NG interface setup / update request includes a sensing support indication #1, a sensing range indication, and a sensing accuracy indication. The sensing support indication #1 is used to indicate that the base station has sensing capability or to indicate that the base station supports sensing features. The sensing range indication is used to indicate the area range that the base station can sense, which can be a two-dimensional plane, or can be a three-dimensional space, or can be a cell identity (cell ID), or can be a radio access network identity (RAN ID). The sensing accuracy indication is used to indicate the sensing accuracy supported by the base station, which can include but is not limited to distance resolution, speed resolution, and angle accuracy. In addition, the sensing range indication in the NG interface setup / update request can be optional, and the sensing accuracy indication in the NG interface setup / update request can also be optional.

[0186] Optionally, the NG interface setup / update request can further include a sensing speed range indication, which is used to indicate the speed range that the base station can sense. Optionally, the NG interface setup / update request can further include a service type indication, which is used to indicate the service type that the base station can support.

[0187] As can be seen, when there is a direct interface between the base station and the AMF network element, the base station can report the sensing capability supported by the base station to the AMF network element through the NG interface setup / update request.

[0188] S602. The AMF network element sends an NG interface setup / update response to the base station. Correspondingly, the base station receives the NG interface setup / update response from the AMF network element.

[0189] Optionally, the NG interface response includes a perception support indication #2, which is used to indicate that the AMF network element has perception capability, or is used to indicate that the AMF network element supports perception characteristics.

[0190] S603. The AMF network element generates perception capability information of the AMF network element based on the perception capability of the one or more base stations.

[0191] The perception capability information of the AMF network element includes at least one of the following: a perception range supported by the AMF network element, a perception accuracy supported by the AMF network element, and a service type supported by the AMF network element. In addition, the perception range supported by the AMF network element is determined based on the perception range reported by the one or more base stations, and the perception accuracy supported by the AMF network element is determined based on the perception accuracy reported by the one or more base stations. The service type supported by the AMF network element can be determined based on the supported service type reported by the one or more base stations, or can be determined based on the supported perception accuracy reported by the one or more base stations.

[0192] S604. The AMF network element sends the perception capability information of the AMF network element to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the perception capability information from the AMF network element.

[0193] S605. The SF network element generates perception capability information of the SF network element based on the perception capability information of the one or more AMF network elements.

[0194] The perception capability information of the SF network element includes at least one of the following: a perception range supported by the SF network element, a perception accuracy supported by the SF network element, and a service type supported by the SF network element. In addition, the perception range supported by the SF network element is determined based on the perception range reported by the one or more AMF network elements, and the perception accuracy supported by the SF network element is determined based on the perception accuracy reported by the one or more AMF network elements. The service type supported by the SF network element can be determined based on the supported service type reported by the one or more AMF network elements, or can be determined based on the supported perception accuracy reported by the one or more AMF network elements.

[0195] S606. The SF network element sends the perception capability information of the SF network element to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the perception capability information from the SF.

[0196] Optionally, the NRF network element stores the perception capability information of the SF network element.

[0197] S607. The AMF network element sends the perception capability information of the AMF network element to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the perception capability information from the AMF network element.

[0198] Optionally, the NRF network element stores the awareness capability information of the AMF network element.

[0199] As can be seen, when there is a direct interface between the base station and the AMF network element, the base station can report the supported awareness capability to the AMF network element, so that the AMF network element generates the awareness capability of the AMF network element based on the awareness capability of one or more base stations received. The AMF network element can also send the awareness capability of the AMF network element to the SF network element, so that the SF network element generates the awareness capability of the SF network element based on the awareness capability of one or more AMF network elements received. The AMF network element and the SF network element can also store their respective awareness capabilities to the NRF network element.

[0200] 1.2: When there is no direct interface between the RAN and the AMF, and there is a direct interface between the SF network element, the awareness capability reporting process.

[0201] Please refer to FIG. 7, which is a schematic diagram of another awareness capability reporting interaction. As shown in FIG. 7, the awareness capability reporting process includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0202] S701. The base station sends an NG interface establishment / update request to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the NG interface establishment / update request from the base station.

[0203] The base station sends an NG interface establishment / update request to the SF network element to request to establish / update the NG interface connection with the SF network element. The NG interface establishment / update request includes the awareness support indication #1, the awareness range indication, and the awareness accuracy indication, the implementation of which can be referred to the description of S601 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0204] As can be seen, when there is a direct interface between the base station and the SF network element, the base station can directly report the awareness capability supported by the base station to the SF network element through the NG interface establishment / update request.

[0205] S702. The SF network element sends an NG interface establishment / update response to the base station. Correspondingly, the base station receives the NG interface establishment / update response from the SF network element.

[0206] Optionally, the NG interface establishment / update response includes the awareness support indication 2, which is used to indicate that the SF network element has the awareness capability, or to indicate that the SF network element supports the awareness feature.

[0207] S703. The SF network element generates the awareness capability information of the SF network element based on the awareness capability of one or more base stations.

[0208] The perception capability information of the SF network element includes at least one of the following: a perception range supported by the SF network element, a perception accuracy supported by the SF network element, and a service type supported by the SF network element. In addition, the perception range supported by the SF network element is determined based on the perception range reported by one or more base stations, and the perception accuracy supported by the SF network element is determined based on the perception accuracy reported by one or more base stations. The service type supported by the SF network element can be determined based on the supported service type reported by one or more base stations, or can be determined based on the supported perception accuracy reported by one or more base stations.

[0209] S704. The SF network element sends the perception capability information of the SF network element to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the perception capability information from the SF network element.

[0210] Optionally, the NRF network element stores the perception capability information of the SF network element.

[0211] Optionally, the base station can also send the perception capability information of the base station to the NRF network element, and the NRF network element stores the perception capability information of the base station.

[0212] As can be seen, when there is a direct interface between the base station and the SF network element, the base station can report the supported perception capability to the SF network element, so that the SF network element generates the perception capability of the SF network element based on the perception capability of one or more base stations received. The SF network element can also store the perception capability of the SF network element to the NRF network element.

[0213] 2: Perception requirement delivery.

[0214] Please refer to FIG. 8, which is an interaction diagram of a perception requirement delivery. As shown in FIG. 8, the perception requirement delivery includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0215] S801. The AF network element or the application server (AS) sends a perception request #a to the NEF network element. Correspondingly, the NEF network element receives the perception request #a from the AF network element or the AS.

[0216] The perception request #a carries at least one of the following: a service type, a service requirement, and a QoS requirement. The service requirement includes a perception area, a perception terminal identifier, a perception duration, and a perception accuracy. In addition, the perception request can also be referred to as a perception control request, a perception service request, etc. The naming of the perception request is not limited in the present application.

[0217] S802a. The NEF network element sends an AMF discovery request to the UDR network element / UDM network element. Correspondingly, the UDR network element / UDM network element receives the AMF discovery request from the NEF network element.

[0218] Specifically, when the AF network element / AS requests to perceive the terminal, the NEF network element sends an AMF discovery request to the UDR network element / UDM network element, and the AMF discovery request is used to request to discover the AMF network element serving the terminal. The AMF discovery request includes a perceived terminal identifier and an AMF network element type indication, and the AMF network element type indication is used to indicate that the discovered AMF network element is requested.

[0219] S802b. The UDR network element / UDM network element sends an AMF discovery response to the NEF network element. Correspondingly, the NEF network element receives the AMF discovery response from the UDR network element / UDM network element.

[0220] The AMF discovery response is used to respond to the discovered AMF network element, and the AMF discovery response includes an identifier of at least one AMF network element.

[0221] Optionally, the AMF discovery request can be Nudm_UECM_Get request, and the AMF discovery response can be Nudm_UECM_Get response.

[0222] S803a. The NEF network element sends an SF discovery request to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the SF discovery request from the NEF network element.

[0223] S803b. The NRF network element sends an SF discovery response to the NEF network element. Correspondingly, the NEF network element receives the SF discovery response from the NRF network element.

[0224] The SF discovery request is used to request to discover the SF network element performing the perception task, and the SF request includes an SF network element type indication and at least one of the following: information of a perception area, a service type indication, and a perception accuracy. The SF network element type indication is used to indicate that the discovered SF network element is requested. The information of the perception area is used to select the SF network element capable of covering the target terminal or the target perception area. The service type indication is used to select the SF network element capable of supporting the service type perception, and the perception accuracy is used to select the SF network element capable of supporting the perception accuracy. The SF response includes an identifier of one or more SF network elements.

[0225] Optionally, the SF discovery request can be Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request, and the SF discovery response can be Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Response.

[0226] S804. The NEF network element sends a perception request #b to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the perception request #b from the NRF network element.

[0227] The SF network element in S804 is one of the one or more SF network elements discovered by the NEF through S803a and S803b.

[0228] In addition, if the perception request #a is to perceive a region, the perception service request #b includes at least one of the following: region information, service type, service requirement, QoS requirement. If the perception request #a is to perceive a terminal, the perception service request #b further includes the identification of the AMF network element to avoid the SF network element re-requesting the UDM network element to obtain the AMF network element performing the perception task.

[0229] S805. The SF network element determines the AMF network element performing the perception task.

[0230] In one possible manner, the perception service request #b is the perception of a region, and the SF network element determines the AMF network element performing the perception task based on at least one of the following: region information, service type, service requirement, QoS requirement.

[0231] In another possible manner, the perception service request #b is the perception of a terminal, and the NEF network element sends the AMF ID to the SF network element, so that the AF network element can directly determine the corresponding AMF network element according to the AMF ID, and the determined AMF network element is the AMF network element performing the perception task.

[0232] In yet another possible manner, the perception service request #b is the perception of a terminal, and the NEF network element does not send the AMF ID to the SF network element, so that the SF network element can request the UDR network element to discover the AMF network element performing the perception task through an AMF discovery request. Specifically, the SF network element sends an AMF discovery request to the UDR network element to request the discovery of the AMF network element performing the perception task; correspondingly, the UDR network element receives the AMF discovery request from the SF network element. The UDR network element sends an AMF discovery response to the SF network element, and the AMF discovery response includes the identification of at least one AMF network element; correspondingly, the SF network element receives the AMF discovery response from the UDR network element.

[0233] S806. The SF network element sends a perception request #c to the determined AMF network element, and the perception request #c includes at least one of the following: UE ID, region information, perception accuracy, QoS requirement, perception type. Correspondingly, the AMF network element receives the perception request #c from the SF network element.

[0234] S807. The AMF network element sends a perception request #d to the base station. Correspondingly, the base station receives the perception request #d from the AMF network element.

[0235] If it is for terminal awareness, the AMF network element can obtain the terminal context information based on the terminal identifier, thereby obtaining the RAN ID or even the cell ID where the terminal is located, and then sending the awareness request #d to the base station through per UE signaling (such as NGAP signaling between the RAN and the AMF network element); or sending the awareness request #d to the base station through node-level signaling (or non-UE signaling). The awareness request #d carries the UE ID, which can be GUTI, S-TMSI, RAN UE NGAP ID, or other UE IDs allocated by the base station and the AMF network element for the UE.

[0236] If it is for area awareness, the AMF network element selects a suitable base station according to the awareness area and the awareness capability of the base station, and sends the awareness request #d to the base station through node-level signaling (or non-UE signaling).

[0237] S808. The SF network element sends the awareness request #d to the base station. Correspondingly, the base station receives the awareness request #d from the SF network element.

[0238] In S808, the base station can be discovered by the SF network element through a base station discovery request to the NRF network element, or can be determined by the SF network element based on the awareness requirement in the awareness request #b and the awareness capability of the base station.

[0239] As shown in FIG. 8, for architecture one in which the base station and the AMF network element have a direct interface, after the SF network element receives the awareness request #b, S805 to S807 are performed; for architecture two in which the base station and the SF network element have a direct interface, after the SF network element receives the awareness request #b, S808 is performed.

[0240] Optionally, after receiving the awareness request #d, the base station also performs awareness based on the awareness request #d and obtains awareness data. Optionally, the base station also reports the awareness data to the SF network element, and the SF network element can also process the received awareness data and return the processed awareness data to the AF network element or the AS through the NEF network element.

[0241] Based on the above awareness capability reporting process, the awareness range reported by the base station can be a two-dimensional plane, or a three-dimensional space, or a cell ID, or a RAN ID, and the awareness range has not been defined in detail, so that the base station cannot implement fine-grained awareness control for specific services or specific scenarios in the awareness demand issuing stage. For example, the antenna tilt angles of the sky awareness and the ground awareness are different, and if the awareness range is not defined in detail, the specific sky awareness or ground awareness cannot be implemented.

[0242] In the embodiments of the present application, in order to facilitate the description, the core network devices are all taken as the core network network elements in the 5G communication system for example, for example, the access and mobility management function network element is taken as the AMF network element in the 5G communication system for example, the perception function network element is taken as the SF network element in the 5G communication system for example, the network storage function network element is taken as the NRF network element in the 5G communication system for example, the network exposure function network element is taken as the NEF network element in the 5G communication system for example, and the application function network element is taken as the AF network element in the 5G communication system for example.

[0243] It can be understood that when the scheme of the embodiments of the present application is applied to the 6G or future communication system, the corresponding network function entity name can change, and the present application does not limit this.

[0244] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method 100, and FIG. 9 is an interaction schematic diagram of the communication method 100. The communication method 100 is described from the interaction angle of the access network device and the AMF network element. The communication method 100 includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0245] S901. One or more access network devices send the perception capability information of the access network device to the AMF network element, and the perception capability information of the access network device includes the information of one or more grids supported by the access network device. The grid information includes at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct diameter between the access network device, grid perception capability information, grid identification, and associated perception scene. Correspondingly, the AMF network element receives the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices.

[0246] Among them, the one or more access network devices belong to the access network devices served by the same AMF network element, and each access network device in the one or more access network devices has a direct interface with the AMF network element. Therefore, the one or more access network devices can send the perception capability information of the access network device to the AMF network element.

[0247] In addition, the grid is used to represent the perception range supported by the access network device. Or, the range covered by the grid supported by the access network device is the perception range supported by the access network device. One or more grids supported by the access network device can be determined by the capability of the access network device itself, or can be set at the factory. Optionally, the grid can also be called a spatial grid, a perception grid, etc., and the naming thereof is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0248] The spatial shape information of the grid is used to represent the spatial shape of the grid, such as the spatial shape of the grid represented by the spatial shape information of the grid, which includes but is not limited to any one of the following: cuboid, cube, cylinder, cone, sphere.

[0249] The spatial position information of the grid is associated with the spatial shape information of the grid, or the spatial position information of the grid is spatial position information related to the spatial shape information of the grid. For example, the spatial shape information of the grid represents a cuboid, and the spatial position information of the grid includes the center point position, length, width, and height of the cuboid. For another example, the spatial shape information of the grid represents a cylinder, and the spatial position information of the grid includes the center point position, radius, and height of the cylinder. For another example, the spatial shape information of the grid represents a sphere, and the spatial position information of the grid includes the center point position and radius of the sphere.

[0250] Whether there is a direct path between the grid and the access network device is determined based on whether there is an occlusion between the grid and the access network device. When there is an occlusion between the grid and the access network device, there is no direct path between the grid and the access network device; when there is no occlusion between the grid and the access network device, there is a direct path between the grid and the access network device.

[0251] The perception capability information of the grid is used to represent the supported perception capability of the grid. In one possible manner, the grid perception capability information includes at least one of the following: one or more refresh rates, one or more detection rates, one or more false alarm rates, one or more perception accuracies, one or more perception resolutions, one or more perception time delays, and whether target identification is supported.

[0252] The refresh rate refers to the number of times of perception for the same target object within a certain time, such as the number of times of perception for the target object a within 1s. The detection rate refers to the probability of successfully detecting the target object in the target area, such as that there are 100 target objects in the target area, and 80 target objects are successfully detected, and thus the detection rate is 80%. Optionally, the grid perception capability information can further include a false detection rate, which refers to the probability of not detecting the target object in the target area, and the sum of the false detection rate and the detection rate is 100%.

[0253] The false alarm rate refers to the probability of the system incorrectly judging that there is a target object when there is actually no target object. For example, the target area a has no target object 1, and the false alarm rate represents the probability of detecting the target object 1 in the target area a. The perception accuracy includes at least one of the following: position accuracy, speed accuracy, angle measurement accuracy, and horizontal field of view. The perception resolution includes at least one of the following: distance resolution and speed resolution. The position accuracy, speed accuracy, angle measurement accuracy, horizontal field of view, distance resolution, and speed resolution can be referred to the above description, and will not be described herein again.

[0254] The perception delay refers to the time required for a perception signal to go from a sending end to a receiving end. Whether target recognition is supported refers to whether the perceived target object can be recognized, such as whether the perceived target object can be recognized as a vehicle, a drone, a bird, or the like.

[0255] The grid identifier of the grid is used to identify the grid, and the grid identifier can be allocated by the access network device in advance for a plurality of supported grids or can be preconfigured by the core network device for each of the plurality of grids. The perception scene associated with the grid indicates that the perception range represented by the grid is related to the perception scene associated with the grid, or in other words, when the perception range represented by the grid is perceived, the perception scene associated with the grid is perceived. The perception scene may be, for example, ocean perception, low-altitude perception, or the like.

[0256] Optionally, the information of the grid can also be referred to as a grid capability set, and the naming thereof is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0257] As can be seen, one or more access network devices that have a direct interface with the AMF network element can report the supported and grid-defined perception range to the AMF network element, thereby facilitating the AMF network element to request a certain access network device in the one or more access network devices to perceive the perception range represented by a specific grid in the case of a perception requirement, so as to achieve grid-granularity perception control.

[0258] In an optional embodiment, the information of the grid further includes a grid quantity, which can also be referred to as a grid capability number, indicating the number of supported grids of the access network device. This mode facilitates the AMF network element or the SF network element to learn the number of supported grids of the first access network device.

[0259] In an optional embodiment, the information of the grid further includes at least one of the following: an addition indication, an update indication, and a deletion indication.

[0260] In another optional embodiment, the perception capability information of the access network device includes at least one of the following: an addition indication, an update indication, and a deletion indication.

[0261] The addition indication is used to add part or all of the information of one or more grids. When the information of the grid includes the addition indication, the addition indication is used to indicate that the information of the grid is added, or in other words, the information of the grid in this mode is the information of the added grid. When the perception capability information of the access network device includes the addition indication, the addition indication is used to indicate that the information of one or more grids included in the perception capability information is added, or in other words, the information of one or more grids included in the perception capability information is the information of the added grid. This mode facilitates the AMF network element or the SF network element to add the information of one or more grids supported by the access network device.

[0262] The update indication is used to update part or all of the information of one or more grids. When the information of a grid includes the update indication, the update indication is used to indicate that the information of the grid is updated, that is, the information of the grid is updated grid information. When the sensing capability information of the access network device includes the update indication, the update indication is used to indicate that the information of one or more grids included in the sensing capability information is updated, that is, the information of one or more grids included in the sensing capability information is updated grid information. In addition, updating the information of a certain grid can be understood as modifying the information of the grid, such as modifying the spatial shape information in the information of the grid.

[0263] The delete indication is used to delete part or all of the information of one or more grids. When the information of a grid includes the delete indication, the delete indication is used to indicate that the information of the grid is deleted, that is, the information of the grid in this way is grid information that needs to be deleted. When the sensing capability information of the access network device includes the delete indication, the delete indication is used to indicate that the information of one or more grids included in the sensing capability information is deleted, that is, the information of one or more grids included in the sensing capability information in this way is grid information that needs to be deleted. The grid information that needs to be deleted is the grid information that has been reported by the access network device.

[0264] In an optional implementation, the sensing capability information of the access network device further includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the access network device, and a sensing capability support indication. The identifier of the access network device is used to identify the access network device, and the sensing capability support indication is used to indicate that the access network device has a sensing capability, or to indicate that the access network device supports a sensing feature.

[0265] In an optional implementation, the sensing capability information of the access network device is carried in an NG interface establishment / update request. The NG interface establishment / update request is used to request to establish / update an NG interface connection, such as requesting to establish / update an N2 interface connection with an AMF network element. Alternatively, when each of the one or more access network devices sends an NG interface establishment / update request to the AMF network element, the sensing capability information of the access network device can be carried, which can reduce signaling overhead.

[0266] Optionally, if the one or more access network devices establish / update the awareness capability information of the requesting access network device through the NG interface, the one or more access network devices can further receive an NG interface establishment / update response from the AMF network element, the NG interface establishment / update response being used to respond to whether the interface connection is successfully established / updated. Optionally, when the NG interface connection establishment / update fails, the NG interface establishment / update response further includes a failure indication, the failure indication being used to indicate the failure cause of the NG interface connection establishment / update failure, which can be, for example, that the same access network device does not support the awareness function, or that the AMF network element does not support the awareness function, etc.

[0267] S902. The AMF network element determines the awareness capability information of the AMF network element based on the awareness capability information of the one or more access network devices, the awareness capability information of the AMF network element including the awareness area supported by the AMF network element, and at least one of the following: the awareness scene associated with the supported awareness area, and the awareness capability information of the supported awareness area.

[0268] In which, the AMF network element can determine the awareness area supported by the AMF network element based on the awareness capability information of the one or more access network devices in multiple ways. In one possible way, the AMF network element determines the coverage range of the grid supported by each access network device in the one or more access network devices based on the spatial shape information and the spatial position information of the grid; the AMF network element determines the awareness area corresponding to each awareness scene in the multiple awareness scenes based on the coverage range of the grid associated with the awareness scene; and the awareness area corresponding to each awareness scene is determined as the awareness area supported by the AMF network element.

[0269] As can be seen, the awareness area supported by the AMF network element is determined based on the spatial shape information and the spatial position information of the grid corresponding to each awareness scene in the awareness capability information of the one or more access network devices. Therefore, each awareness area supported by the AMF network element is associated with an awareness scene, and each awareness area includes the coverage range of at least one grid.

[0270] In addition, the AMF network element can determine the awareness area corresponding to each awareness scene in multiple ways based on the coverage range of the grid associated with the awareness scene. In one possible way, the AMF network element combines the coverage range of the grid with the same awareness accuracy in the same awareness scene into one awareness area. In addition, the AMF network element determines the coverage range of the grid with different awareness accuracy in the same awareness scene as different awareness areas.

[0271] For example, the information of the grid sent by the gNB#1 to the AMF network element includes the sensing scenario 1 associated with the supported grid 1, the sensing capability information a of the grid 1, the spatial shape information 1 and the location information 1 of the grid 1, and the sensing scenario 2 associated with the supported grid 2, the sensing capability information b of the grid 2, the spatial shape information 2 and the location information 2 of the grid 2; the information of the grid sent by the gNB#2 to the AMF network element includes the sensing scenario 1 associated with the supported grid 3, the sensing capability information a of the grid 3, the spatial shape information 3 and the location information 3 of the grid 3, and the sensing scenario 3 associated with the supported grid 4, the sensing capability information c of the grid 4, the spatial shape information 4 and the location information 4 of the grid 4. Since the sensing scenario associated with the grid 1 supported by the gNB#1 and the grid 3 supported by the gNB#2 is the same, and the sensing capability information of the grid 1 and the sensing capability information of the grid 3 are the same, the AMF determines that the sensing area 1 corresponding to the sensing scenario 1, and the sensing area 1 includes the coverage range of the grid 1 and the coverage range of the grid 3. Optionally, the AMF network element also determines the sensing area 2 corresponding to the sensing scenario 2 and the sensing area 3 corresponding to the sensing scenario 3, and the sensing area 2 includes the coverage range of the grid 2, and the sensing area 3 includes the coverage range of the grid 4. Wherein, the coverage range of the grid 1 is determined by the AMF network element based on the spatial shape information 1 and the location information 1, and the determination manner of the coverage range of the grid 2 to the coverage range of the grid 4 is similar to that of the coverage range of the grid 1, which will not be described herein.

[0272] In addition, the sensing scenario associated with the sensing area supported by the AMF network element is determined based on the sensing scenario associated with the grid in the supported sensing area. Or, the sensing scenario associated with the sensing area supported by the AMF network element is the sensing scenario associated with the grid in the sensing area. For example, in the above example, the sensing scenario associated with the sensing area 1 is the sensing scenario 1 associated with the grid 1 and the grid 3 in the sensing area 1; the sensing scenario associated with the sensing area 2 is the sensing scenario 2 associated with the grid 2 in the sensing area 2; and the sensing scenario associated with the sensing area 3 is the sensing scenario 3 associated with the grid 4 in the sensing area 3.

[0273] The sensing capability information of the sensing area supported by the AMF network element is determined based on the sensing capability information of the grid in the supported sensing area. In one possible manner, the sensing capability information of different grids in the sensing area supported by the AMF network element is the same, and the sensing capability information of the sensing area supported by the AMF network element is the sensing capability information of the grid in the sensing area. For example, in the above example, the sensing capability information of the sensing area 1 is the sensing capability information a, the sensing capability information of the sensing area 2 is the sensing capability information b, and the sensing capability information of the sensing area 3 is the sensing capability information c.

[0274] In an optional implementation, the awareness area supported by the AMF network element is represented by location information of the supported awareness area. In another optional implementation, the awareness area supported by the AMF network element is represented by an area identifier of the supported awareness area. The location information of the awareness area can be absolute location information or relative location information. The absolute location information can be longitude information and latitude information of the awareness area, and the relative location information can be location information of the awareness area relative to the AMF network element, for example, a relative distance between the awareness area and the AMF network element. The area identifier of the awareness area is used to identify the awareness area, and the area identifier of the awareness area can be assigned by the AMF network element when the AMF network element determines the awareness area, or can be configured by a plurality of core network elements in advance for a plurality of awareness areas.

[0275] In a possible manner, when the awareness area supported by the AMF network element is represented by location information of the supported awareness area, the awareness capability information of the AMF network element includes the location information of the awareness area supported by the AMF network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scenario associated with the supported awareness area, awareness capability information of the supported awareness area, and an area identifier of the supported awareness area.

[0276] In another possible manner, when the awareness area supported by the AMF network element is represented by an area identifier of the supported awareness area, the awareness capability information of the AMF network element includes the area identifier of the awareness area supported by the AMF network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scenario associated with the supported awareness area, awareness capability information of the supported awareness area, and location information of the supported awareness area.

[0277] As can be seen, the awareness capability information of the AMF network element can include the location information of the awareness area supported by the AMF network element and / or the area identifier of the awareness area supported by the AMF network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scenario associated with the supported awareness area, and awareness capability information of the supported awareness area.

[0278] Optionally, the awareness capability information of the AMF network element further includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the AMF network element, a number of awareness area capabilities, and a grid identifier of a grid in the supported awareness area. The identifier of the AMF network element is used to identify the AMF network element, and the number of awareness area capabilities indicates a number of awareness areas supported by the AMF network element.

[0279] Optionally, the awareness capability information of the AMF network element can also be referred to as an awareness area capability set of the AMF network element, and the naming of the awareness area capability set of the AMF network element is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0280] It can be seen that the AMF network element generates the perception capability set of the AMF network element related to the perception area based on the perception capability information related to the grid of one or more access network devices, thereby facilitating the SF network element or the NRF network element to select the AMF network element supporting the perception area to perform the perception task based on the perception capability information of the AMF network element in the perception demand issuing stage.

[0281] In an optional implementation, the AMF network element sends the perception capability information of the AMF network element to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the perception capability information of the AMF network element and stores the perception capability information of the AMF network element. That is, the AMF network element can also register the perception capability information of the AMF network element to the NRF network element, thereby facilitating the NRF network element to select the appropriate AMF network element to perform the perception task based on the perception capability information of the AMF network element in the perception demand issuing stage.

[0282] In another optional implementation, the AMF network element sends the perception capability information of the AMF network element to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the perception capability information of the AMF network element. Optionally, other AMF network elements also send the perception capability information of the AMF network element to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element also receives the perception capability information of the other AMF network elements.

[0283] That is, the SF network element can receive the perception capability information of one or more AMF network elements. Therefore, the SF network element can also determine the perception capability information of the SF network element based on the perception capability information of one or more AMF network elements, the perception capability information of the SF network element including the perception area supported by each of the one or more AMF network elements and at least one of the following: the perception scene associated with the perception area supported by each of the one or more AMF network elements, the perception capability information of the perception area supported by each of the one or more AMF network elements.

[0284] For example, the AMF network element #1 and the AMF network element #2 respectively send the perception capability information of the AMF network element #1 and the perception capability information of the AMF network element #2 to the SF network element, the perception capability information of the AMF network element #1 including the area identifier of the supported perception area 1, the accuracy information of the perception area 1, and the perception scene associated with the perception area 1, and the perception capability information of the AMF network element #2 including the area identifier of the supported perception area 2, the accuracy information of the perception area 2, and the perception scene associated with the perception area 2. The SF network element determines the perception capability information of the SF network element based on the perception capability information of the AMF network element #1 and the perception capability information of the AMF network element #2, the perception capability information of the SF network element including the supported perception area 1, the accuracy information of the perception area 1, the perception scene associated with the perception area 1, the supported perception area 2, the accuracy information of the perception area 2, and the perception scene associated with the perception area 2.

[0285] Optionally, if the SF network element determines its own perception capability information based on the perception capability information of one or more AMF network elements, the SF network element can also send its perception capability information to the NRF network element to store the SF network element's perception capability information in the NRF network element. This approach allows the NRF network element to select the appropriate SF network element to perform the perception task based on the SF network element's perception capability information during the perception requirement issuance phase.

[0286] S903. The AMF network element sends a first sensing request to the first access network device. The first sensing request is used to request sensing of the sensing range represented by a first grid, where the first grid is part or all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device. Correspondingly, the first access network device receives the first sensing request from the AMF network element.

[0287] In one optional implementation, before the AMF network element sends the first sensing request to the first access network device, the following steps are performed: receiving a second sensing request from the SF network element, the second sensing request including sensing requirements and a first sensing area; based on the first sensing area, sensing requirements, and the sensing capability information of the AMF network element, determining a first grid for characterizing the sensing range and an access network device for performing the sensing task, the access network device being one of one or more access network devices in S901, for example, the following description uses the access network device determined by the AMF network element to perform the sensing task as the first access network device.

[0288] In this context, the first sensing area supported by the AMF network element, the first grid being one or more grids within the first sensing area that meet the sensing requirements, and the first access network device being one or more access network devices that supports the first grid, with the first grid being some or all of the one or more grids supported by the first access network device. Sensing requirements include sensing accuracy, sensing resolution, and sensing scene, etc. Sensing accuracy includes position accuracy and velocity accuracy, etc. Sensing resolution includes distance resolution, velocity resolution, angle measurement accuracy, horizontal field of view, etc. The first sensing area is the sensing area that the AF network element requests to sense.

[0289] In the S902, if the AMF network element determines the awareness capability information related to the awareness area based on the awareness capability information related to the grid of one or more access network devices, after receiving the second awareness request from the SF network element, the AMF network element can determine the first grid in the supported first awareness area that meets the awareness requirement based on the first awareness area, the awareness requirement, and the awareness capability information of the AMF network element, to realize the grid granularity awareness of the specific service or specific scene. In addition, the AMF network element can also determine the first access network device in the one or more access network devices that supports the first grid, and the first access network device is the access network device for performing the awareness task, and the first grid is the grid corresponding to the first awareness area. Further, the AMF network element sends the first awareness request to the determined first access network device to request the first access network device to perform awareness on the awareness range represented by the first grid, to realize the grid granularity awareness.

[0290] In an optional implementation, the first awareness request includes a grid identifier for identifying the first grid. This manner is advantageous for the first access network device to determine the first grid based on the grid identifier in the first awareness request, and then perform awareness on the awareness range represented by the first grid.

[0291] In another optional implementation, the AMF network element determines that the grid in the first awareness area that meets the awareness requirement is one or more grids supported by the first access network device, so that the first grid is all of the one or more grids supported by the first access network device. In this manner, the first awareness request is used to request awareness on the awareness range represented by the first grid. This manner is advantageous for the first access network device to perform awareness on the awareness range represented by each of all the grids supported by the first access network device.

[0292] In an optional implementation, when the AMF network element determines that the grid in the first awareness area that meets the awareness requirement is one or more grids supported by the first access network device, the first awareness request can include first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate awareness on the awareness range represented by the first grid. That is, when the AMF network element determines that the grid in the first awareness area that meets the awareness requirement is one or more grids supported by the first access network device, the AMF network element can additionally indicate awareness on the awareness range represented by the one or more grids supported by the first access network device through the first indication information in the first awareness request.

[0293] In addition, after receiving the third perception request from the NEF network element, the SF network element determines the AMF network element that performs the perception task, and then sends a second perception request to the determined AMF. In one possible manner, if the AMF network element sends the perception capability information of the AMF to the SF network element, the SF determines the AMF network element that performs the perception task, including: determining the AMF network element that performs the perception task based on the perception requirement, the first perception area, and the perception capability information of one or more AMF network elements. Among them, the AMF network element determined by the SF network element is the AMF network element that supports the first perception area and the accuracy information of the first perception area meets the perception requirement in the one or more AMF network elements.

[0294] In another possible manner, if the AMF network element directly stores the perception capability information of the AMF network element to the NRF network element without sending to the SF network element, the SF network element determines the AMF network element that performs the perception task, including: sending an AMF discovery request to the NRF network element, the AMF discovery request is used to request to discover the AMF network element that supports the first perception area and the perception capability information of the supported first perception area meets the perception requirement, and the AMF discovery request includes the first perception area and the perception requirement; receiving the AMF discovery response from the NRF, the AMF discovery response includes the identification of at least one AMF network element, and the at least one AMF network element is the AMF network element that supports the first perception area and the perception capability information of the supported first perception area meets the perception requirement in the plurality of AMF network elements.

[0295] It can be seen that if the SF network element receives the perception capability information of one or more AMF network elements and generates the perception capability information of the AMF network element, the SF network element can determine the AMF network element that performs the perception task based on the perception capability information of one or more AMF network elements. If the SF network element does not receive the perception capability information of one or more AMF network elements, the SF network element obtains the AMF network element that performs the perception task by requesting discovery from the NRF.

[0296] Correspondingly, the NEF network element also performs the following steps: receiving the third perception request from the AF, the third perception request including the perception requirement and the first perception area; sending an SF discovery request to the network storage function NRF network element, the SF discovery request being used to request to discover the SF network element that supports the first perception area; receiving the SF discovery response from the NRF network element, the SF discovery response including the identification of one or more SF network elements; sending the third perception request to the first SF network element, the third perception request including the perception requirement and the first perception area, and the first SF network element being one of the one or more SF network elements. Among them, the first SF network element can be the SF network element mentioned above. It can be seen that after receiving the third perception request from the AF, the NEF requests the NRF to discover the SF network element that supports the first perception area, and sends the third perception request to one of the discovered SF network elements.

[0297] As can be seen, after receiving the third perception request from the AF network element, the NEF network element requests the NRF network element to discover the SF network element performing the perception task, and then issues the third perception request to one of the discovered SF network elements to request the SF network element to perform the perception task.

[0298] As can be seen, the first grid is a grid in the supported first perception area that meets the perception requirement, which is determined by the AMF network element based on the first perception area, the perception requirement, and the perception capability information of the AMF network element, and the first access network device is an access network device supporting the first grid in one or more access network devices. Therefore, after receiving the second perception request, the AMF network element sends the first perception request to the first access network device to request the first access network device to perform perception on the perception range represented by the first grid.

[0299] S904. The first access network device performs perception on the perception range represented by the first grid based on the first perception request.

[0300] Since the first perception request is used to request perception on the perception range represented by the first grid, the first access network device can perform perception on the perception range represented by the first grid based on the first perception request, that is, the first access network device can perform perception based on the first perception request with the granularity of the grid, and the grid granularity perception control can be realized.

[0301] In one possible manner, when the first perception request includes the grid identifier used to identify the first grid, the first access network device performs perception on the perception range represented by the first grid based on the first perception request, including: determining the first grid based on the grid identifier in the first perception request, the first grid being part or all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device; and performing perception on the perception range represented by the determined first grid.

[0302] In another possible manner, when the first grid is all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device, the first perception request is used to request perception on the perception range represented by the first grid, and when the first perception request includes the first indication information described above, the first access network device performs perception on the perception range represented by the first grid based on the first perception request, including: performing perception on the perception range represented by each grid in the one or more supported grids based on the first indication information in the first perception request.

[0303] In an optional implementation, the first access network device performs sensing on the sensing range represented by the first grid, including: determining a transmission power and a transmission direction of the sensing signal based on the sensing range represented by the first grid; and transmitting the sensing signal based on the transmission power and the transmission direction of the sensing signal. It can be seen that the transmission power and the transmission direction of the sensing signal transmitted by the access network device are determined based on the sensing range represented by the first grid, so that the sensing signal can realize sensing on the sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0304] Optionally, the first access network device further performs the following steps: receiving a sensing echo signal; processing the sensing echo signal to obtain sensing data; and transmitting the sensing data to an AF network element. The sensing echo signal is a signal reflected by a reflector from the sensing signal. The sensing data can be at least one of the following: raw data, spectrum information, point cloud information, non-point cloud information, and sensing results.

[0305] The raw data can be in-phase / orthogonal (I / Q) data of a radio frequency signal, or can be understood as a time-domain digital signal obtained by the first access network device after analogue-to-digital (A / D) conversion of the received reflected signal (or echo signal). The spectrum information includes range velocity (RV) spectrum, range Doppler (RD) spectrum, range velocity angle (RVA) spectrum, and range Doppler angle (RDA) spectrum. The point cloud information can be understood as the position information and velocity of the scattering points detected by the first access network device. The sensing results can be understood as the position information and velocity information of a target after aggregation of multiple scattering points into the target. Optionally, the sensing results can further include target size, contour, and other information of the target. The spectrum information and / or the point cloud information can also be referred to as intermediate information, or intermediate processing information, or pre-processing information. In addition, if the first access network device performs sensing detection using a non-radar sensing principle, the sensing data obtained by the sensing device can be non-point cloud information, for example, in rain monitoring, the sensing data is the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) of the reflected signal corresponding to the detection area information.

[0306] In addition, the raw data, the spectrum information, the point cloud information and the perception result are obtained when the first access network device performs perception by using the radar perception principle. Specifically, the raw data is obtained by processing the received reflection signal when the first access network device performs perception by using the radar perception principle; the spectrum information is obtained by processing the obtained raw data when the first access network device performs perception by using the radar perception principle; the point cloud information is obtained by processing the obtained spectrum information when the first access network device performs perception by using the radar perception principle; and the perception result is obtained by processing the obtained point cloud information when the first access network device performs perception by using the radar perception principle. The non-point cloud information is obtained when the first access network device performs perception by using the non-radar perception.

[0307] Optionally, the second perception request and the first perception request can further include a perception start time and a perception end time. The perception start time is a start time of requesting to perform perception, for example, a start time of requesting the access network device to perform perception, such as a start time of the first access network device to send a perception signal. The perception end time is an end time of requesting to perform perception, for example, an end time of requesting the access network device to perform perception, such as an end time of the first access network device to send a perception signal. The present embodiment does not limit the meaning of the perception start time and the perception end time.

[0308] It can be seen that in the present embodiment, one or more access network devices report the supported perception range to the AMF network element, and the reported perception range is defined based on a grid, so that the perception range requested by the first perception request received by the first access network device in the one or more access network devices from the AMF network element is also defined based on a grid, and then the first access network device can perform perception based on the first perception request with a grid granularity, and the grid granularity perception control can be realized. In addition, the AMF network element determines the perception range supported by the AMF network element and defined based on the perception area based on the received perception range supported by one or more access network devices and defined based on a grid, which is beneficial to selecting the AMF network element to perform the perception task based on the perception area supported by the AMF network element in the SF network element or the NRF network element in the perception demand issuing stage.

[0309] Please refer to FIG. 10, which is an interaction diagram of a communication method. Specifically, FIG. 10 is an interaction diagram of the communication method 100 when the access network device is a gNB, and the perception capability information sent by the gNB to the AMF network element is carried in the NG interface establishment / update request. As shown in FIG. 10, the interaction process of each device or functional network element includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0310] S1001. One or more gNBs respectively send NG interface setup / update request to the first AMF network element. Correspondingly, the AMF network element respectively receives the NG interface setup / update request from one or more gNBs.

[0311] S1002. The first AMF network element respectively sends NG interface setup / update response to one or more gNBs. Correspondingly, one or more gNBs respectively receives the NG interface setup / update response from the first AMF network element.

[0312] The NG interface setup / update request includes the sensing capability information of the gNB, and the sensing capability information of the gNB includes the information of one or more grids supported by the gNB. The information of the grid can refer to the description in S901 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0313] In addition, the NG interface setup / update request and the NG interface setup / update response can refer to the description in S901 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0314] S1003. The first AMF network element determines the sensing capability information of the first AMF network element based on the sensing capability information of one or more gNBs.

[0315] The sensing capability information of the first AMF network element includes the sensing area supported by the first AMF network element, and at least one of the following: the sensing scene associated with the sensing area supported by the first AMF network element, and the sensing capability information of the sensing area supported by the first AMF network element.

[0316] In addition, the implementation of S1003 can refer to the implementation of S902 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0317] S1004. The first AMF network element sends the sensing capability information of the first AMF network element to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the sensing capability information of the first AMF network element.

[0318] Optionally, the NRF network element also stores the sensing capability information of the first AMF network element.

[0319] S1005a. The first AMF network element sends the sensing capability information of the first AMF network element to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the sensing capability information of the first AMF network element.

[0320] Optionally, other AMF network elements also send the sensing capability information of the AMF network element to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element also receives the sensing capability information of the other AMF network element.

[0321] S1005b. The SF network element determines the sensing capability information of the SF network element based on the sensing capability information of one or more AMF network elements.

[0322] The one or more AMF network elements include a first AMF network element. The awareness capability information of the SF network element includes an awareness area supported by each of the one or more AMF network elements, and at least one of the following: an awareness scene associated with the awareness area supported by each of the one or more AMF network elements, awareness capability information of the awareness area supported by each of the one or more AMF network elements. In addition, the SF network element determines the implementation of the awareness capability information of the SF network element based on the awareness capability information of the one or more AMF network elements, which can be referred to the description of S901 above, and will not be described here.

[0323] S1006. The SF network element sends the awareness capability information of the SF network element to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the awareness capability information of the SF network element.

[0324] Optionally, the NRF network element also stores the awareness capability information of the SF network element.

[0325] It should be noted that S1004, S1005a, S1005b and S1006 are two parallel implementations. That is, when the AMF network element performs S1004, it does not perform S1005a, so that the SF network element does not perform S1005b and S1006; when the AMF network element performs S1005a, the SF network element performs S1005b and S1006, and the AMF network element does not perform S1004.

[0326] Optionally, as shown in FIG. 10, the processes of S1001 to S1006 can be referred to as an awareness capability reporting process.

[0327] S1007. The AF network element sends a third awareness request to the NEF network element, and the third awareness request includes an awareness requirement and a first awareness area. Correspondingly, the NEF network element receives the third awareness request from the AF network element.

[0328] The awareness requirement is a requirement that needs to be met for the AF network element to request to perform an awareness task, which can be referred to the description of S902 above, and will not be described here. The first awareness area is an awareness area in the awareness task requested by the AF network element to perform awareness, i.e., an awareness area requested by the AF network element to perform awareness.

[0329] Optionally, the third awareness request also includes an awareness start time and an awareness end time, which can be referred to the description of S902 above, and will not be described here.

[0330] It can be seen that when the AF network element has an awareness demand, it can send a third awareness request to the NEF network element to request to perform awareness on the awareness range corresponding to the first awareness area under the condition of meeting the awareness requirement.

[0331] S1008. The NEF network element sends an SF discovery request to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the SF discovery request from the NEF network element.

[0332] The SF discovery request is used for requesting to discover the SF network element supporting the first awareness area, and the SF discovery request comprises the first awareness area.

[0333] S1009. The NRF network element sends an SF discovery response to the NEF network element. Correspondingly, the NEF network element receives the SF discovery response from the NRF network element.

[0334] The SF discovery response is used for responding to successfully discover the SF network element supporting the first awareness area, and the SF discovery response comprises the identification of the at least one SF network element supporting the first awareness area. Optionally, the SF discovery response further comprises the address information of the at least one SF network element supporting the first awareness area.

[0335] Optionally, the SF discovery response is used for responding to fail to discover the SF network element supporting the first awareness area. In this mode, the NEF network element can further send an awareness response to the AF network element, and the awareness response is used for indicating the awareness failure, and the awareness response can further comprise the cause of the awareness failure, such as no SF network element supporting the first awareness area is discovered.

[0336] S1010. The NEF network element sends a third awareness request to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the third awareness request from the NEF network element.

[0337] The SF network element in S1010 is the SF network element in the at least one SF network element supporting the first awareness area discovered by the NEF network element through S1008 and S1009.

[0338] It can be seen that after the NEF network element requests the NRF network element to discover the at least one SF network element supporting the first awareness area, the NEF network element sends a third awareness request to one of the at least one SF network element to request the SF network element to perform an awareness task.

[0339] In a possible mode, when the awareness capability information sent by the SF network element to the NRF does not comprise the awareness capability information of the awareness area supported by the SF network element, after the SF network element receives the third awareness request, the SF network element further determines whether the awareness capability of the first awareness area supported by the SF network element meets the awareness requirement.

[0340] The SF network element determines whether the awareness capability of the first awareness area meets the awareness requirement, comprising: when the awareness capability information of the first awareness area meets the awareness requirement, determining that the awareness capability of the first awareness area meets the awareness requirement; and when the awareness capability information of the first awareness area does not meet the awareness requirement, determining that the awareness capability of the first awareness area does not meet the awareness requirement.

[0341] Optionally, the SF network element further sends response information to the NEF network element, and the response information is used to respond whether the sensing capability of the first sensing area supported by the SF network element meets the sensing requirement.

[0342] Optionally, the NEF network element repeatedly performs the above S1010 for other SF network elements in the SF discovery response when the response information sent by the SF network element indicates that the sensing capability of the first sensing area supported by the SF network element does not meet the sensing requirement. If the NEF network element receives the response information sent by the SF network element indicating that the sensing capability of the first sensing area supported by the SF network element meets the sensing requirement in a certain loop, the loop is stopped; if the loop is performed until the set of SF network elements in the SF discovery response is empty, a failure indication is sent to the NEF network element.

[0343] Optionally, the SF network element performs the following S1011a and S1011b, or performs the following S1012 when the sensing capability of the first sensing area meets the sensing requirement.

[0344] In another possible way, when the sensing capability information sent by the SF network element to the NRF network element includes the sensing capability information of the sensing area supported by the SF network element, the SF network element, after receiving the third sensing request, does not need to determine whether the sensing capability of the first sensing area meets the sensing requirement, and can directly perform the following S1011a and S1011b, or perform the following S1012.

[0345] When the sensing capability information sent by the SF network element to the NRF includes the sensing capability information of the sensing area supported by the SF network element, the NRF network element can select the SF network element in combination with the sensing capability information of the SF network element, so that the selected SF network element supports the first sensing area and the sensing capability of the supported first sensing area meets the sensing requirement. Therefore, after receiving the third sensing request, the SF network element does not need to confirm again whether the sensing capability of the first sensing area supported by itself meets the sensing requirement, and the power consumption can be reduced.

[0346] S1011a. The SF network element sends an AMF discovery request to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the AMF discovery request from the SF network element.

[0347] The AMF discovery request is used to request to discover the AMF network element supporting the first sensing area and the supported first sensing area meeting the sensing requirement, and the AMF discovery request includes the first sensing area and the sensing requirement.

[0348] S1011b. The NRF network element sends an AMF discovery response to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the AMF discovery response from the NRF network element.

[0349] The AMF discovery response is used for responding to the discovered AMF network element supporting the first awareness area and the awareness capability information of the supported first awareness area meeting the awareness requirement. The AMF discovery response includes the identification of at least one AMF network element, each of the at least one AMF network element supporting the first awareness area and the awareness capability information of the supported first awareness area meeting the awareness requirement. Optionally, the AMF discovery response includes the address information of the discovered at least one AMF network element.

[0350] Optionally, the SF discovery response is used for responding to the discovered AMF network element not supporting the first awareness area and the awareness capability information of the supported first awareness area meeting the awareness requirement. In this way, the SF network element can further send an awareness response to the AF network element, the awareness response being used for indicating the awareness failure, and the awareness response further including the cause of the awareness failure, such as the discovered AMF network element not supporting the first awareness area and the awareness capability information of the supported first awareness area meeting the awareness requirement.

[0351] S1012. The SF network element determines the AMF network element performing the awareness task.

[0352] It can be understood that, in the above awareness capability reporting process, when the AMF network element sends the awareness capability information to the SF network element, the SF network element can determine the AMF network element supporting the first awareness area and the awareness capability information of the supported first awareness area meeting the awareness requirement by itself, that is, the SF network element can determine the AMF network element performing the awareness task by itself.

[0353] In a possible way, the SF network element determines the AMF network element performing the awareness task, including: determining the AMF network element performing the awareness task based on the first awareness area, the awareness requirement, and the awareness capability information of the at least one AMF network element. The AMF network element determined by the SF network element is the AMF network element supporting the first awareness area and the awareness capability information of the supported first awareness area meeting the awareness requirement in the at least one AMF network element.

[0354] It should be noted that the above S1011a, S1011b, and S1012 are two parallel embodiments. Or, the SF network element can execute S1011a and S1011b, and not execute S1012; or, the SF network element executes S1012, and not executes S1011a and S1011b.

[0355] Or, if the SF network element does not receive the awareness capability information of one or more AMF network elements, after receiving the third awareness request from the NEF, the SF network element requests the NRF to obtain at least one AMF network element supporting the first awareness area and the awareness capability information of the supported first awareness area meeting the awareness requirement, that is, requests the NRF to obtain the AMF network element performing the awareness task; if the SF network element receives the awareness capability information of one or more AMF network elements, after receiving the third awareness request from the NEF, the SF network element can determine the AMF network element supporting the first awareness area and the awareness capability information of the supported first awareness area meeting the awareness requirement by itself, that is, can determine the AMF network element performing the awareness task by itself.

[0356] In addition, the following takes the first AMF network element as an example, which is determined by the SF network element to perform the awareness task through S1011a and S1011b, or through S1012.

[0357] S1013. The SF network element sends a second awareness request to the first AMF network element. Correspondingly, the first AMF network element receives the second awareness request from the SF network element.

[0358] In addition, the second awareness request includes the first awareness area and the awareness requirement, and the second awareness request can also be regarded as the third awareness request described above.

[0359] S1014. The first AMF network element determines the first grid and the gNB performing the awareness task.

[0360] In one possible manner, the first AMF network element determines the first grid and the gNB performing the awareness task, comprising: determining the first grid for representing the awareness range and the gNB performing the awareness task based on the first awareness area, the awareness requirement and the awareness capability information of the AMF network element. Wherein, the AMF network element supports the first awareness area, and the first grid is a grid in the first awareness area meeting the awareness requirement. This manner is conducive to realizing the grid granularity awareness control of specific business or specific scene. The gNB performing the awareness task determined by the first AMF network element is, for example, the first gNB, and the first gNB is a gNB supporting the first grid in one or more gNBs, and the first grid is part or all of one or more grids supported by the first gNB.

[0361] S1015. The first AMF network element sends a first awareness request to the first gNB, and the first awareness request is used to request to perform awareness on the awareness range represented by the first grid. Correspondingly, the first gNB receives the first awareness request from the first AMF network element.

[0362] In addition, other implementation manners of the first awareness request can be referred to the description in S903 described above, and will not be described herein.

[0363] Optionally, the first perception request further comprises a perception requirement. Optionally, the first perception request further comprises a perception start time and a perception end time.

[0364] S1016. The first gNB performs perception on the perception range represented by the first grid.

[0365] The implementation of S1016 can refer to the implementation of the perception performed by the first access network device on the perception range represented by the first grid in S902 described above, and details are not described herein.

[0366] Optionally, the first gNB can further send a perception response to the AF network element, and the perception response is used to respond to whether the perception is successfully performed, such as being used to indicate that the perception is successful, and further such as being used to indicate that the perception fails.

[0367] Optionally, as shown in FIG. 10, the processes of S1007 to S1016 can be regarded as a perception demand issuing process.

[0368] It can be seen that in the perception capability reporting process, the AMF network element generates the perception capability information of the AMF network element related to the perception area based on the received one or more gNBs' perception capability information related to the grid. The AMF network element stores the perception capability information of the AMF network element related to the perception area to the NRF network element, or sends it to the SF network element. Thus, in the perception demand issuing process, after the SF network element receives the third perception request from the NEF, the SF network element requests the NRF network element to obtain the AMF network element performing the perception task, or determines the AMF network element performing the perception task by itself, and then sends the second perception request to the determined AMF network element. The AMF network element determines the first grid corresponding to the perception area and the gNB performing the perception task, and then sends the first gNB the first perception request for requesting the first gNB to perform perception on the perception range represented by the first grid. The gNB performs perception on the perception range represented by the first grid. Through the perception capability reporting and perception demand issuing processes, the gNB can perform perception in the grid granularity, and the grid granularity perception control can be realized.

[0369] The embodiment of the application further provides a communication method 200, and FIG. 11 is an interaction schematic diagram of the communication method 200. The communication method 200 is described from the perspective of the interaction of the access network device, the AMF network element and the SF network element. The communication method 200 includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0370] S1101. One or more access network devices send access network device perception capability information to a first AMF network element, the access network device perception capability information comprising information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the grid information comprising at least one of: spatial shape information, spatial location information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid perception capability information, grid identifier, and associated perception scenario. Correspondingly, the first AMF network element receives the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices.

[0371] The implementation of S1101 can refer to the above S901, and details are not described herein.

[0372] S1102. The first AMF network element sends the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices to a SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices from the first AMF network element.

[0373] Optionally, when the first AMF network element sends the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices to the SF network element, the first AMF network element also carries an identifier of the first AMF network element.

[0374] S1103. The SF network element determines the perception capability information of the SF network element based on the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices, the perception capability information of the SF network element comprising a supported perception area of the SF network element and at least one of: a supported perception area associated perception scenario, and supported perception area perception capability information.

[0375] The implementation of the SF network element determining the perception capability information of the SF network element based on the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices can refer to the implementation of the AMF network element determining the perception capability information of the AMF network element based on the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices, and details are not described herein.

[0376] In addition, the supported perception area of the SF network element is represented by location information of the supported perception area or represented by an area identifier of the supported perception area. The location information of the perception area and the area identifier of the perception area can refer to the description in S902, and details are not described herein.

[0377] Optionally, the perception capability information of the SF network element further comprises at least one of: an identifier of the SF network element, a number of perception areas supported by the SF network element, and a grid identifier of a grid in each supported perception area. The identifier of the SF network element is used to identify the SF network element, and the number of perception areas supported by the SF network element is the number of the supported perception areas of the SF network element.

[0378] In an optional implementation, the SF network element further sends the awareness capability information of the SF network element to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the awareness capability information from the SF network element. Optionally, the NRF network element further stores the awareness capability information of the SF network element.

[0379] The above S1101 to S1103 are the process of awareness capability reporting. Optionally, the embodiments of the present application further include the process of awareness requirement issuing, which includes but is not limited to the following S1104 to S1106:

[0380] S1104. The SF network element sends a second awareness request to the first AMF network element, the second awareness request including the identifier of the first access network device, and the second awareness request being used to request to perform awareness on the awareness range represented by the first grid. Correspondingly, the first AMF network element receives the second awareness request from the SF network element.

[0381] In an optional implementation, before the SF network element sends the second awareness request to the first AMF network element, the SF further performs the following steps: receiving a third awareness request from the NEF network element, the third awareness request including the awareness requirement and the first awareness area; determining the first grid used to represent the awareness range and the access network device and the AMF network element performing the awareness task based on the first awareness area, the awareness requirement and the awareness capability of the SF network element.

[0382] In the above implementation, the SF network element determines the first grid used to represent the awareness range based on the first awareness area, the awareness requirement and the awareness capability of the SF network element, which is beneficial to realize the grid granularity awareness control of specific service or specific scene.

[0383] In addition, the access network device performing the awareness task determined by the SF network element is, for example, the first access network device, and the AMF network element is, for example, the first AMF network element. The SF network element supports the first awareness area, the first grid is the grid in the first awareness area meeting the awareness requirement, and the first access network device is one or more access network devices supporting the first grid, and the first grid is part or all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device. The awareness requirement can be referred to the description in the above S903, and will not be repeated here.

[0384] Since the SF network element generates the perception capability information of the SF network element related to the perception area based on the perception capability information related to the grid of the one or more access network devices, after the SF network element receives the third perception request from the NEF network element, the SF network element can determine, based on the perception capability information of the SF network element, the first perception area and the perception requirement, a first grid in the supported first perception area that meets the perception requirement, a first access network device in the one or more access network devices that supports the first grid, and a first AMF network element that sends the perception capability information of the first access network device. Further, the SF network element sends a second perception request to the first AMF network element, the second perception request carrying an identifier of the first access network device, and the second perception request being used to request to perform perception on a perception range represented by the first grid, so that the first AMF network element sends a first perception request to the first access network device to request the first access network device to perform perception on the perception range represented by the first grid.

[0385] Correspondingly, the NEF network element further performs the following steps: receiving a third perception request from the AF, the third perception request including a perception requirement and a first perception area; sending an SF discovery request to a network storage function (NRF) network element, the SF discovery request being used to request to discover an SF network element that supports the first perception area; receiving an SF discovery response from the NRF network element, the SF discovery response including identifiers of one or more SF network elements; and sending the third perception request to a first SF network element, the third perception request including the perception requirement and the first perception area, the first SF network element being one of the one or more SF network elements. It can be seen that after the NEF receives the third perception request from the AF, the NEF requests the NRF to discover an SF network element that supports the first perception area, and sends the third perception request to one of the discovered SF network elements to request the SF network element to perform a perception task.

[0386] S1105. The first AMF network element sends a first perception request to the first access network device, the first perception request being used to request to perform perception on a perception range represented by the first grid. Correspondingly, the first access network device receives the first perception request from the first AMF network element.

[0387] The second perception request received by the first AMF network element includes an identifier of the first access network device, so that the first AMF network element sends the first perception request to the first access network device based on the second perception request to request the first access network device to perform perception on the perception range represented by the first grid.

[0388] S1106. The first access network device performs perception on the perception range represented by the first grid based on the first perception request.

[0389] The implementation of the first access network device perceiving the perception range represented by the first grid can be referred to the description of S902, and details are not described herein.

[0390] In an optional implementation, the second perception request and the first perception request include a grid identifier for identifying the first grid, and thus the first access network device, based on the first perception request, perceives the perception range represented by the first grid, includes: determining the first grid based on the first perception request; and perceiving the perception range represented by the determined first grid.

[0391] In another optional implementation, the first grid is all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device, and the second perception request and the first perception request are used to request perceiving the perception range represented by the first grid. In this way, the first access network device, based on the first perception request, perceives the perception range represented by the first grid, includes: based on the first perception request, perceiving the perception range represented by each of the grids supported by the first access network device.

[0392] In yet another optional implementation, the second perception request and the first perception request include first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate perceiving the perception range represented by the first grid. Thus, the first access network device, based on the first perception request, perceives the perception range represented by the first grid, includes: based on the first indication information in the first perception request, perceiving the perception range represented by each of the grids supported by the first access network device.

[0393] Optionally, the third perception request, the second perception request and the first perception request further include a perception start time and a perception end time, which can be referred to the description of S902, and details are not described herein.

[0394] Optionally, if the perception capability information of the SF network element stored in the NRF does not include the perception capability information of the perception area supported by the SF network element, after receiving the third perception request from the NEF, the SF network element further determines whether the perception capability of the first perception area supported by the SF network element meets the perception requirement in the third perception request, and the specific implementation can be referred to the description of S902, and details are not described herein.

[0395] Optionally, when the SF network element determines that the perception capability of the first perception area supported by the SF network element meets the perception requirement in the third perception request, the SF network element determines the first grid corresponding to the first perception area, and an AMF network element and a first access network device performing the perception task.

[0396] It can be seen that in the embodiments of the present application, one or more access network devices can report the supported sensing range to the SF network element through the AMF network element, and the reported sensing range is defined based on a grid, which is beneficial to the case that the range requested to be sensed by the access network device is also defined based on a grid in the sensing demand issuing stage, so that sensing is performed with a grid granularity, and grid granularity sensing control can be realized. In addition, the SF network element also determines the sensing range supported by the SF network element and defined based on the sensing area based on the sensing range supported by the one or more access network devices and defined based on a grid, which is beneficial to the case that the NRF network element selects the SF network element to perform the sensing task based on the sensing area supported by the SF network element in the sensing demand issuing stage.

[0397] Please refer to FIG. 12, which is an interaction diagram of another communication method. Specifically, FIG. 12 is an interaction diagram of the above communication method 200 when the access network device is a gNB, and the sensing capability information sent by the gNB to the AMF network element is carried in the NG interface establishment / update request. As shown in FIG. 12, the interaction process of each device or functional network element includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0398] S1201. One or more gNBs send an NG interface establishment / update request to a first AMF network element. Correspondingly, the first AMF network element receives the NG interface establishment / update request from one or more gNBs.

[0399] The NG interface establishment / update request includes the sensing capability information of the gNB, and the sensing capability information of the gNB includes the information of one or more grids supported by the gNB. The grid information can be referred to the description of S901 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0400] S1202. The first AMF network element sends an NG interface establishment / update response to one or more gNBs respectively. Correspondingly, one or more gNBs receive the NG interface establishment / update response from the first AMF network element respectively.

[0401] The implementation of S1201 and S1202 can be referred to the implementation of S1001 and S1002 described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0402] S1203. The first AMF network element sends the sensing capability information of one or more gNBs to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the sensing capability information of one or more gNBs from the first AMF network element.

[0403] Optionally, when the first AMF network element sends the sensing capability information of one or more gNBs to the SF network element, it also carries the identifier of the first AMF network element.

[0404] S1204. The SF network element determines the awareness capability information of the SF network element based on the awareness capability information of one or more gNBs.

[0405] The awareness capability information of the SF network element includes the awareness area supported by the SF network element, and at least one of the following: an awareness scene associated with the awareness area supported by the SF network element, and awareness capability information of the awareness area supported by the SF network element.

[0406] In addition, the implementation of S1204 can refer to the implementation of S1103 described above, and details are not described herein again.

[0407] S1205. The SF network element sends the awareness capability information of the SF network element to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the awareness capability information of the SF network element from the SF network element.

[0408] Optionally, the NRF network element stores the awareness capability information of the SF network element.

[0409] In addition, as shown in FIG. 11, the processes of S1201 to S1204 described above can be regarded as an awareness capability reporting process.

[0410] S1206. The AF network element sends a third awareness request to the NEF network element, and the third awareness request includes an awareness requirement and a first awareness area. Correspondingly, the NEF network element receives the third awareness request from the AF network element.

[0411] S1207. The NEF network element sends an SF discovery request to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the SF discovery request from the NEF network element.

[0412] S1208. The NRF network element sends an SF discovery response to the NEF network element. Correspondingly, the NEF network element receives the SF discovery response from the NRF network element.

[0413] S1209. The NEF network element sends the third awareness request to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the third awareness request from the NEF network element.

[0414] The SF network element in S1209 is the SF network element obtained by the NEF network element through S1207 and S1208.

[0415] In addition, the implementation of S1206 to S1209 can refer to the implementation of S1007 to S1010 described above, and details are not described herein again.

[0416] S1210. The SF network element determines a first grid for representing an awareness range based on the first awareness area, the awareness requirement, and the awareness capability information of the SF network element, and determines a gNB and an AMF network element for performing an awareness task.

[0417] The first perception area supported by the SF network element, the first grid is a grid in the first perception area that meets the perception requirement, the determined gNB is a gNB in one or more gNBs that supports the first grid, and the following is described by taking the determined gNB as a first gNB in one or more gNBs as an example. The first grid is part or all of one or more grids supported by the first gNB. The determined AMF network element is an AMF network element that sends the perception capability information of the first grid to the SF network element. When the SF network element determines that the gNB for performing the perception task is the first gNB, the determined AMF network element for performing the perception task is the first AMF network element.

[0418] In a possible manner, when the perception capability information sent by the SF network element to the NRF network element does not include the perception capability information of the perception area supported by the SF network element, after the SF network element receives the third perception request, the SF network element further determines whether the perception capability of the first perception area meets the perception requirement. The specific implementation manner can be referred to the description in S1013 above, and will not be described herein again. In this manner, when the perception capability of the SF network element in the first perception area meets the perception requirement, the SF network element performs S1210.

[0419] In another possible manner, when the perception capability information sent by the SF network element to the NRF network element includes the perception capability information of the perception area supported by the SF network element, after the SF network element receives the third perception request, the SF network element does not need to determine whether the perception capability of the first perception area meets the perception requirement. In this manner, the SF network element can directly perform S1210, and the power consumption can be reduced.

[0420] S1211. The SF network element sends a second perception request to the first AMF network element, and the second perception request includes an identifier of the first gNB. The second perception request is used to request to perform perception on the perception range represented by the first grid. Correspondingly, the first AMF network element receives the second perception request from the SF network element.

[0421] S1212. The first AMF network element sends a first perception request to the first gNB, and the first perception request is used to request to perform perception on the perception range represented by the first grid. Correspondingly, the first gNB receives the first perception request from the first AMF network element.

[0422] Other implementation manners of the second perception request and the first perception request can be referred to the description in S1106 above, and will not be described herein again.

[0423] Optionally, the second perception request and the first perception request further include the perception requirement. Optionally, the third perception requirement, the second perception requirement, and the first perception requirement further include a perception start time and a perception end time. The perception start time and the perception end time can be referred to the description in S902 above, and will not be described herein again.

[0424] It can be seen that after receiving the second perception request from the SF, the first AMF sends a first perception request to the first gNB indicated by the second perception request, to request the first gNB to perform perception on the perception range represented by the first grid.

[0425] S1213. The first gNB performs perception on the perception range represented by the first grid.

[0426] The implementation of S1213 can refer to the implementation of the perception performed by the first access network device on the perception range represented by the first grid in S902 described above, and will not be described again.

[0427] Optionally, the first gNB can also send a perception response to the AF network element, and the perception response is used to respond to perception success or perception failure.

[0428] It can be seen that in the perception capability reporting process, the SF network element generates the perception capability information of the SF network element related to the perception area based on the perception capability information related to the grid received from one or more gNBs. The SF network element stores the perception capability information of the SF network element to the NRF network element. Thus, in the perception demand issuing process, after receiving the third perception request from the NEF, the SF network element determines the gNB and the AMF network element that perform the perception task based on the perception capability information of the SF network element, and then sends a second perception request to the determined AMF network element to request perception on the perception range represented by the first grid. The AMF network element sends a first perception request to the gNB indicated by the second perception request, and then the gNB performs perception on the perception range represented by the first grid. Through the perception capability reporting and perception demand issuing processes, the gNB can perform perception at the grid granularity, and the grid-granularity perception control can be realized.

[0429] The embodiment of the application also provides a communication method 300, and FIG. 13 is an interaction schematic diagram of the communication method 300. The communication method 300 is described from the perspective of the interaction between the access network device and the SF network element. The communication method 300 includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0430] S1301. One or more access network devices send the perception capability information of the access network device to the SF network element, and the perception capability information of the access network device includes the information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, and the information of the grid includes at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device and the grid, grid perception capability information, grid identifier, and associated perception scene. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices.

[0431] The one or more access network devices are access network devices serving the same SF network element, and each of the one or more access network devices has a direct interface with the SF network element, so that the one or more access network devices can directly send the sensing capability information of the access network device to the SF network element.

[0432] In addition, the sensing capability information of the access network device can refer to the sensing capability information described in S901, and will not be described here.

[0433] S1302. The SF network element determines the sensing capability information of the SF network element based on the sensing capability information of the one or more access network devices, wherein the sensing capability information of the SF network element includes a sensing area supported by the SF network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scene associated with the supported sensing area, and sensing capability information of the supported sensing area.

[0434] The implementation of S1302 can refer to the implementation of S1103, and will not be described here.

[0435] In an optional implementation, the SF network element further sends the sensing capability information of the SF network element to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the sensing capability information from the SF network element. Optionally, the NRF network element further stores the sensing capability information of the SF network element.

[0436] S1301 and S1302 are the process of reporting sensing capability. Optionally, the process of issuing sensing requirement includes but is not limited to S1303 and S1304.

[0437] S1303. The SF network element sends a first sensing request to the first access network device, wherein the first sensing request is used to request sensing in a sensing range represented by a first grid. Correspondingly, the first access network device receives the first sensing request from the SF network element.

[0438] In an optional implementation, the SF network element further performs the following steps: receiving a third sensing request from the NEF network element, wherein the third sensing request includes a sensing requirement and a first sensing area; determining a first grid used to represent a sensing range and an access network device performing a sensing task based on the first sensing area, the sensing requirement, and the sensing capability of the SF network element. The following takes the first access network device in the one or more access network devices as an example. The SF network element supports the first sensing area, the first grid is a grid in the first sensing area that meets the sensing requirement, and the first access network device is an access network device in the one or more access network devices that supports the first grid, thereby facilitating the first access network device to implement grid granularity sensing control for specific services or specific scenes.

[0439] Since the SF network element generates the awareness capability information supported by the SF network element based on the grid-related awareness capability information of one or more access network devices, after receiving the third awareness request from the NEF network element, the SF network element can determine, based on the awareness capability information of the SF network element, the first awareness area and the awareness requirement, a first grid in the supported first awareness area that meets the awareness requirement, and a first access network device in the one or more access network devices that supports the first grid, the first access network device being an access network device that can perform the awareness task. Further, the SF network element sends a first awareness request to the first access network device to request the first access network device to perform awareness on the awareness range represented by the first grid.

[0440] Correspondingly, the NEF network element further performs the following steps: receiving a third awareness request from an AF network element, the third awareness request including an awareness requirement and a first awareness area; sending an SF discovery request to a network storage function (NRF) network element, the SF discovery request being used to request discovery of an SF network element that supports the first awareness area; receiving an SF discovery response from the NRF network element, the SF discovery response including the identity of one or more SF network elements; and sending the third awareness request to a first SF network element, the third awareness request including the awareness requirement and the first awareness area, the first SF network element being one of the one or more SF network elements. The first SF network element can be the SF network element mentioned above. As can be seen, after receiving the third awareness request from the AF, the NEF requests the NRF to discover an SF network element that supports the first awareness area, and sends the third awareness request to one of the discovered SF network elements to request the SF network element to perform the awareness task.

[0441] S1304. The first access network device performs awareness on the awareness range represented by the first grid based on the first awareness request.

[0442] The implementation of the first access network device performing awareness on the awareness range represented by the first grid based on the first awareness request can be referred to the description of S902 above, and will not be described again.

[0443] In an optional implementation, the first awareness request includes a grid identifier used to identify the first grid, so that the first access network device performing awareness on the awareness range represented by the first grid based on the first awareness request includes: determining the first grid based on the grid identifier in the first awareness request; and performing awareness on the awareness range represented by the determined first grid.

[0444] In another optional implementation, the first grid is all of the one or more grids supported by the first access network device, and the first sensing request is used to request sensing of the sensing range represented by the first grid. In this way, the first grid is all of the one or more grids supported by the first access network device. Thus, the first access network device senses the sensing range represented by the first grid based on the first sensing request, including: sensing the sensing range represented by each of the one or more grids supported by the first access network device based on the first sensing request.

[0445] In another optional implementation, the first sensing request further includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate sensing of the sensing range represented by the first grid. It can be seen that the first sensing request can additionally request sensing of the sensing range represented by the one or more grids supported by the first access network device through the first indication information. Thus, the first access network device senses the sensing range represented by the first grid based on the first sensing request, including: sensing the sensing range represented by each of the one or more grids supported by the first access network device based on the first indication information in the first sensing request.

[0446] Optionally, the first sensing request further includes a sensing requirement. Optionally, the third sensing request and the first sensing request further include a sensing start time and a sensing end time, which can be seen in the above S902 and will not be described here.

[0447] Optionally, if the sensing capability information of the SF network element stored in the NRF network element does not include the sensing capability information of the sensing area supported by the SF network element, after receiving the third sensing request from the NEF network element, the SF network element further determines whether the sensing capability of the first sensing area supported by the SF network element meets the sensing requirement in the third sensing request. The specific implementation can be seen in the above S902 and will not be described here.

[0448] Optionally, when determining whether the sensing capability of the first sensing area supported by the SF network element meets the sensing requirement in the third sensing request, the SF network element determines the first grid corresponding to the first sensing area and the first access network device performing the sensing task.

[0449] It can be seen that, in the embodiments of the present application, one or more access network devices directly report the supported sensing range to the SF network element, and the reported sensing range is defined based on a grid, which is beneficial to the stage of issuing sensing requirements, and the range requested by the access network device for sensing is also defined based on a grid, so that sensing is performed with a grid granularity, and grid granularity sensing control can be achieved. In addition, the SF network element also determines the sensing range supported by the SF network element and defined based on the sensing area based on the sensing range supported by the one or more access network devices and defined based on a grid, which is beneficial to the stage of issuing sensing requirements, and the NRF network element selects the SF network element for performing a sensing task based on the sensing area supported by the SF network element.

[0450] Please refer to FIG. 14, which is an interaction diagram of another communication method. Specifically, FIG. 14 is an interaction diagram of the above-mentioned communication method 300 when the access network device is a gNB, and the sensing capability information sent by the gNB to the SF network element is carried in the NG interface establishment / update request. As shown in FIG. 14, the interaction process of each device or functional network element includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0451] S1401. One or more gNBs send an NG interface establishment / update request to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the NG interface establishment / update request from one or more gNBs. The NG interface establishment / update request includes the sensing capability information of the gNB, and the sensing capability information of the gNB includes the information of one or more grids supported by the gNB. The information of the grid can be referred to the description of S901 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0452] S1402. The SF network element sends an NG interface establishment / update response to one or more gNBs respectively. Correspondingly, one or more gNBs respectively receive the NG interface establishment / update response from the SF network element.

[0453] In addition, the implementation of the NG interface establishment / update request and the NG interface establishment / update response can be referred to the description of S1001 and S1002 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0454] S1403. The SF network element determines the sensing capability information of the SF network element based on the sensing capability information of one or more gNBs.

[0455] The sensing capability information of the SF network element includes the sensing area supported by the SF network element, and at least one of the following: the sensing scene associated with the sensing area supported by the SF network element, and the sensing capability information of the sensing area supported by the SF network element.

[0456] In addition, the implementation of S1403 can be referred to the implementation of S1103 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0457] S1404. The SF network element sends the sensing capability information of the SF network element to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the sensing capability information from the SF network element.

[0458] Optionally, the NRF network element stores the sensing capability information of the SF network element.

[0459] In addition, as shown in FIG. 14, the processes of S1401 to S1404 can be regarded as a sensing capability reporting process.

[0460] S1405. The AF network element sends a third sensing request to the NEF network element, and the third sensing request includes the sensing requirement and the first sensing area. Correspondingly, the NEF network element receives the third sensing request from the AF network element.

[0461] S1406. The NEF network element sends an SF discovery request to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the SF discovery request from the NEF network element.

[0462] S1407. The NRF network element sends an SF discovery response to the NEF network element. Correspondingly, the NEF network element receives the SF discovery response from the NRF network element.

[0463] S1408. The NEF network element sends the third sensing request to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the third sensing request from the NEF network element.

[0464] The implementation of S1405 to S1208 can refer to the description of S1007 to S1010, and will not be described here.

[0465] S1409. The SF network element determines the first grid for representing the sensing range and the gNB for performing the sensing task based on the first sensing area, the sensing requirement, and the sensing capability information of the SF network element.

[0466] The SF network element supports the first sensing area, the first grid is the grid in the first sensing area that meets the sensing requirement, and the determined gNB is the gNB in one or more gNBs that supports the first grid. Hereinafter, the gNB for performing the sensing task determined by the SF network element is taken as the first gNB in the one or more gNBs as an example for illustration.

[0467] In one possible manner, when the sensing capability information sent by the SF network element to the NRF does not include the sensing capability information of the sensing area supported by the SF network element, the SF network element, after receiving the third sensing request, further determines whether the sensing capability of the first sensing area meets the sensing requirement. The specific implementation manner can refer to the description of S1013, and will not be described here. In this manner, the SF network element performs S1409 when the sensing capability of the first sensing area meets the sensing requirement.

[0468] In another possible mode, when the SF network element sends the sensing capability information including the sensing capability information of the sensing area supported by the SF network element to the NRF, the SF network element, after receiving the third sensing request, does not need to determine whether the first sensing area supported by the SF network element meets the sensing requirement based on the sensing capability of the first sensing area. In this mode, the SF network element can directly perform S1409, reducing power consumption.

[0469] S1410. The SF network element sends a first sensing request to the first gNB, and the first sensing request is used to request sensing on the sensing range represented by the first grid. Correspondingly, the first gNB receives the first sensing request from the AMF network element.

[0470] Other implementation modes of the first sensing request can refer to the description of S1304 above, and will not be described herein again.

[0471] S1411. The first gNB senses the sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0472] The implementation mode of S1411 can refer to the implementation mode of the first access network device sensing the sensing range represented by the first grid in S902 above, and will not be described herein again.

[0473] Optionally, the first gNB can further send a sensing response to the AF network element, and the sensing response is used to respond to sensing success or sensing failure.

[0474] It can be seen that, in the sensing capability reporting process, the SF network element generates the sensing capability information of the SF network element related to the sensing area based on the sensing capability information related to the grid received from one or more gNBs. The SF network element stores the sensing capability information of the SF network element to the NRF network element. Thus, in the sensing requirement issuing stage, after the SF network element receives the third sensing request from the NEF, the SF network element determines the gNB performing the sensing task and the first grid corresponding to the first sensing area based on the sensing capability information of the SF network element, and then sends the first sensing request used to request sensing on the sensing range represented by the first grid to the determined gNB, and then the gNB senses the sensing range represented by the first grid. Through the sensing capability reporting and sensing requirement issuing processes, the gNB can perform sensing at the grid granularity, and the grid granularity sensing control can be realized.

[0475] Please refer to FIG. 15, which is an interaction diagram of another communication method. Specifically, FIG. 15 is an interaction diagram of a communication method provided for the scenario of a terminal device issuing a sensing requirement. As shown in FIG. 15, the interaction flow of each device or functional network element includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0476] S1501. The terminal device sends a third sensing request, the third sensing request comprising a sensing requirement and a first sensing area. Correspondingly, the AMF network element receives the third sensing request.

[0477] The terminal device sends the third sensing request by sending the third sensing request to the AMF network element through the access network device. In addition, the sensing requirement is a sensing requirement required to be met by the terminal device for performing a sensing task, which can be referred to as described above in S902 and will not be described herein again. The first sensing area is a sensing area requested by the terminal device to perform sensing.

[0478] Optionally, the first sensing area is represented by position information of the first sensing area. Optionally, the first sensing area is represented by an area identifier of the first sensing area. The position information of the sensing area and the area identifier of the sensing area can be referred to as described above in S902 and will not be described herein again.

[0479] Optionally, the third sensing request comprises the sensing requirement, and the position information of the first sensing area and / or the area identifier of the first sensing area.

[0480] Optionally, the third sensing request further comprises a sensing start time and a sensing end time, which can be referred to as described above in S902 and will not be described herein again.

[0481] S1502. The AMF network element sends an SF discovery request to the NRF network element. Correspondingly, the NRF network element receives the SF discovery request from the AMF network element.

[0482] The SF discovery request is used to request to discover an SF network element supporting the first sensing area, and the SF discovery request comprises the first sensing area.

[0483] It can be seen that after the AMF network element receives the third sensing request initiated by the terminal device, the AMF network element sends an SF discovery request to the NRF network element to request to obtain at least one SF network element supporting the first sensing area.

[0484] S1503. The NRF network element sends an SF discovery response to the AMF network element, the SF discovery response comprising an identifier of at least one SF network element. Correspondingly, the AMF network element receives the SF discovery response from the NRF network element.

[0485] Optionally, the NRF network element determines at least one SF network element supporting the first sensing area based on sensing capability information of the SF network element. Thus, the NRF network element sends the identifier of the determined at least one SF network element to the AMF network element, so that the AMF network element obtains at least one SF network element supporting the first sensing area.

[0486] S1504. The AMF network element sends a third awareness request to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the third awareness request from the AMF network element.

[0487] The SF network element in S1504 is the SF network element obtained by the AMF network element through S1502 and S1503.

[0488] It can be seen that after the AMF network element obtains at least one SF network element supporting the first awareness area through the SF discovery response, the AMF network element sends a third awareness request to one of the at least one SF network element to request the SF network element to perform an awareness task based on the third awareness request.

[0489] In addition, the awareness capability reporting process shown in FIG. 15 can refer to S1001 to S1006 described above, or refer to S1201 to S1205 described above, or refer to S1401 to S1404 described above, and will not be described here.

[0490] When the awareness capability reporting process shown in FIG. 15 is S1001 to S1006, the awareness task execution process shown in FIG. 15 can refer to S1011a to S1016 described above, and will not be described here. When the awareness capability reporting process shown in FIG. 15 is S1201 to S1205, the awareness task execution process shown in FIG. 15 can refer to S1210 to S1213 described above, and will not be described here. When the awareness capability reporting process shown in FIG. 15 is S1401 to S1404, the awareness task execution process shown in FIG. 15 can refer to S1409 to S1411 described above, and will not be described here.

[0491] It can be seen that compared with the communication method shown in FIG. 10, FIG. 12 and FIG. 14, the difference between the communication method shown in FIG. 15 is that the awareness request is issued by the terminal device.

[0492] Embodiments of the present application also propose a communication method 400, and FIG. 16 is an interaction schematic diagram of the communication method 400. The communication method 400 is described from the perspective of interaction between the AF network element and the NEF network element. The communication method 400 includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0493] S1601. The AF network element sends a subscription request to the NEF network element, and the subscription request is used to request to subscribe to the awareness capability of one or more SF network elements. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the subscription request from the AF network element.

[0494] The subscription request can also be referred to as an awareness capability subscription, and the naming of the embodiments of the present application is not limited.

[0495] Optionally, the subscription request can also include address information of the AF network element. This way is conducive to the NEF network element to send the obtained awareness capability of one or more SF network elements to the AF network element based on the address information of the AF network element.

[0496] S1602. The NEF network element receives second awareness capability information of the one or more SF network elements, the second awareness capability information of the SF network element including an identity of the SF network element, an awareness area supported by the SF network element, and at least one of the following: an awareness scenario associated with the awareness area supported by the SF network element, and awareness capability information of the awareness area supported by the SF network element.

[0497] The identity of the SF network element is used to identify the SF network element, such as an identity of the SF network element. The awareness area supported by the SF network element is represented by location information of the awareness area supported by the SF network element, or represented by an area identifier of the awareness area supported by the SF network element. The location information of the awareness area and the area identifier of the awareness area can be referred to the description of S902 above, and will not be described here.

[0498] In addition, the awareness capability information of the awareness area supported by the SF network element can be referred to the description of S902 above, and will not be described here.

[0499] Optionally, after receiving the subscription request from the AF network element, the NEF network element sends a subscription request to the UDM network element to request to obtain the awareness capability of the one or more SF network elements. Therefore, the UDM network element sends the stored second awareness capability information of the one or more SF network elements to the NEF network element. Correspondingly, the NEF network element receives the second awareness capability information of the one or more SF network elements from the UDM network element.

[0500] S1603. The NEF network element sends a subscription notification to the AF network element, the subscription notification including the first awareness capability information of the one or more SF network elements, the first awareness capability information including a first identity, an awareness area supported by the SF network element, and at least one of the following: an awareness scenario associated with the awareness area supported by the SF network element, and awareness capability information of the awareness area supported by the SF network element. Correspondingly, the AF network element receives the subscription notification from the NEF network element.

[0501] The first identity is determined based on the identity of the SF network element. In one possible way, the first identity is the identity of the SF network element.

[0502] In another possible way, the SF network element converts the identity of the SF network element into the first identity, and the first identity is also used to identify the SF network element. Therefore, the first identity is determined by the NEF network element based on the identity of the SF network element and is different from the identity of the SF network element. Or, in order to reduce the leakage of information to the outside, the NEF network element converts the identity of the SF network element into the first identity which is also used to identify the SF network element, and exposes the first identity to the AF network element.

[0503] In an alternative implementation, the AF network element sends a fourth awareness request to the NEF network element when the AF network element has an awareness requirement, the fourth awareness request comprising a first identifier corresponding to the first SF network element, the awareness requirement, and a first awareness area. The awareness requirement comprises a location accuracy, a speed accuracy, a distance resolution, and a speed resolution. The first awareness area is an awareness area requested by the AF network element to be aware of.

[0504] In addition, the first SF network element is an SF network element that supports the first awareness area and meets the awareness requirement among the one or more SF network elements.

[0505] It can be understood that when the AF network element has an awareness requirement, the first SF network element is selected from the one or more SF network elements based on the awareness capability of the one or more SF network elements, the awareness requirement, and the first awareness area, the selected SF network element being an SF network element that supports the first awareness area and meets the awareness requirement. When the AF network element sends the fourth awareness request to the NEF, the fourth awareness request carries the first identifier corresponding to the selected SF network element. For example, the selected SF network element is the first SF network element, and the fourth awareness request comprises the first identifier corresponding to the first SF network element. This way is advantageous in that, after receiving the fourth awareness request, the NEF network element does not need to request the NRF network element to obtain the SF network element that performs the awareness task through the SF discovery request, but can directly send an awareness request to the first SF network element indicated by the fourth awareness request to request the first SF network element to perform the awareness task, thereby reducing signaling interaction.

[0506] Correspondingly, the NEF network element further performs the following steps: receiving the fourth awareness request from the AF network element, the fourth awareness request comprising the first identifier corresponding to the first SF network element, the awareness requirement, and the first awareness area, the first SF network element being an SF network element that supports the first awareness area and meets the awareness requirement among the one or more SF network elements; and sending a third awareness request to the first SF network element, the third awareness request comprising the awareness requirement and the first awareness area. It can be seen that, after receiving the fourth awareness request from the AF network element, the NEF network element can directly send the third awareness request to the first SF network element indicated by the fourth awareness request, without requesting the NRF network element to obtain the SF network element that performs the awareness task.

[0507] In an optional implementation, each of the one or more SF network elements further determines the perception capability information of the SF network element, and stores the perception capability information of the SF network element to the UDM network element. In a possible manner, the process of determining the perception capability information by the SF network element can refer to the process of the one or more access network devices sending the perception capability information of the access network device to the AMF network element, the AMF network element generating the perception capability information of the AMF network element based on the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices, the AMF network element sending the perception capability information of the AMF network element to the SF network element, and the SF network element generating the perception capability information of the SF based on the perception capability information of the one or more AMF network elements, which will not be repeated.

[0508] In another possible manner, the process of determining the perception capability information by the SF network element can refer to the process of the one or more access network devices sending the perception capability information of the access network device to the AMF network element, the AMF network element sending the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices to the SF network element, and the SF network element determining the perception capability information of the SF network element based on the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices, which will not be repeated.

[0509] In another possible manner, the process of determining the perception capability information by the SF network element can refer to the process of the one or more access network devices sending the perception capability information of the access network device to the AMF network element, the AMF network element sending the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices to the SF network element, and the SF network element determining the perception capability information of the SF network element based on the perception capability information of the one or more access network devices, which will not be repeated.

[0510] In an optional implementation, after the first SF network element receives the third perception request from the NEF network element, the process of performing the perception task can refer to the process of performing the perception task among the SF network element, the AMF network element, and the access network device in the communication method 100 to the communication method 300, which will not be repeated.

[0511] As can be seen, in the embodiments of the present application, the AF network element subscribes to the perception capability of the one or more SF network elements to the NEF network element, thereby facilitating the AF network element to carry the identifier corresponding to the SF network element supporting the perception area and meeting the perception requirement when issuing the perception request to the NEF network element, and further facilitating the NEF to directly issue the perception request to the SF network element indicated by the perception request, so that the NEF network element does not need to request the SF network element performing the perception task from the NRF network element, and the signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0512] Please refer to FIG. 17, which is an interaction schematic diagram of another communication method. Specifically, FIG. 17 is an interaction schematic diagram of the communication method 400. As shown in FIG. 17, the interaction flow of each device or functional network element includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0513] S1701. The AF network element sends a subscription request to the NEF network element, where the subscription request is used to request to subscribe to the sensing capability of one or more SF network elements. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the subscription request from the AF network element.

[0514] The implementation of S1701 can refer to the implementation of S1601, which will not be repeated here.

[0515] S1702. The NEF network element sends a subscription request to the UDM network element. Correspondingly, the UDM network element receives the subscription request from the NEF network element.

[0516] S1703. One or more SF network elements determine the sensing capability information.

[0517] In one possible implementation, the process of the SF network element determining the sensing capability information can refer to S1001, S1002, S1003, S1005a and S1005b, which will not be repeated here.

[0518] In another possible implementation, the process of the SF network element determining the sensing capability information can refer to S1201 to S1204, which will not be repeated here.

[0519] In yet another possible implementation, the process of the SF network element determining the sensing capability information can refer to S1401 to S1403, which will not be repeated here.

[0520] S1704. One or more SF network elements send the second sensing capability information to the UDM network element. Correspondingly, the UDM network element receives the second sensing capability information from the SF network element.

[0521] The second sensing capability information of the SF network element includes the identifier of the SF network element, the sensing area supported by the SF network element, and at least one of the following: the sensing scene associated with the supported sensing area, and the sensing capability information of the supported sensing area.

[0522] S1705. The UDM network element sends the second sensing capability information of one or more SF network elements to the NEF network element. Correspondingly, the NEF network element receives the second sensing capability information of one or more SF network elements.

[0523] S1706. The NEF network element sends the first sensing capability information of one or more SF network elements to the AF network element. Correspondingly, the AF network element receives the first sensing capability information of one or more SF network elements.

[0524] The first perception capability information of the SF network element includes a first identifier, a perception area supported by the SF network element, and perception capability information of the supported perception area. The first identifier is used to identify the SF network element. The first identifier is an identifier of the SF network element, or an identifier determined by the NEF network element based on the identifier of the SF.

[0525] S1707. The AF network element sends a fourth perception request to the NEF network element. Correspondingly, the NEF network element receives the fourth perception request from the AF network element.

[0526] The fourth perception request includes a first identifier corresponding to a first SF network element, a perception requirement, and a first perception area. The first SF network element is an SF network element that supports the first perception area and supports the first perception area that meets the perception requirement among one or more SF network elements.

[0527] S1708. The NEF network element sends the fourth perception request to the UDM network element. Correspondingly, the UDM network element receives the fourth perception request from the NEF network element.

[0528] S1709. The UDM network element sends a third perception request to the first SF network element. Correspondingly, the first SF network element receives the third perception request from the UDM network element.

[0529] The third perception request includes a perception requirement and a first perception area. The third perception request can be referred to in the above S902 and will not be described again.

[0530] S1710. The first SF network element performs a perception task based on the third perception request with the AMF network element and the gNB.

[0531] In one possible manner, when the first SF network element determines the perception capability information based on S1001, S1002, S1003, S1005a, and S1005b, the first SF network element performs a perception task based on the third perception request with the AMF network element and the gNB. The process can be referred to in the above S1012 to S1016 and will not be described again.

[0532] In another possible manner, when the first SF network element determines the perception capability information based on S1201 to S1204, the first SF network element performs a perception task based on the third perception request with the AMF network element and the gNB. The process can be referred to in the above S1210 to S1213 and will not be described again.

[0533] In yet another possible manner, when the first SF network element determines the perception capability information based on S1401 to S1403, the first SF network element performs a perception task based on the third perception request with the AMF network element and the gNB. The process can be referred to in the above S1409 to S1411 and will not be described again.

[0534] It can be seen that the AF network element subscribes to the sensing capability of one or more SF network elements, so that the AF network element carries the identifier corresponding to the SF network element supporting the sensing area and meeting the sensing requirement when issuing the fourth sensing request to the NEF network element, and then the NEF can directly issue the third sensing request to the SF network element indicated by the fourth sensing request, so that the SF network element performs the sensing task, and the NEF network element does not need to request the NRF network element to obtain the SF network element performing the sensing task, which can reduce the signaling overhead.

[0535] For the technical solutions described above, the corresponding device implementation solutions are further described below.

[0536] To implement the functions in the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application, the access network device, the access and mobility management function network element, the sensing function network element, and the network exposure function network element can include hardware structures and / or software modules to implement the functions in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or hardware structures plus software modules. Whether a certain function in the above functions is implemented in the form of hardware structure, software module, or hardware structure plus software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solutions.

[0537] As shown in FIG. 18, the communication device 1800 is provided by the embodiments of the present application. The communication device 1800 can be a component (for example, an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.) of an access network device, a component (for example, an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.) of an access and mobility management function network element, a component (for example, an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.) of a sensing function network element, or a component (for example, an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.) of a network exposure function network element. The communication device 1800 can also be other communication units for implementing the methods in the method embodiments of the present application. The communication device 1800 can include a communication unit 1801 and a processing unit 1802. Optionally, it can also include a storage unit 1803.

[0538] In a possible design, one or more units in FIG. 18 can be implemented by one or more processors, or by one or more processors and memories; or by one or more processors and transceivers; or by one or more processors, memories, and transceivers, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this. The processor, memory, transceiver can be separately arranged, or integrated.

[0539] The communication apparatus 1800 has the functions of the access network device, the access and mobility management function network element, the sensing function network element, or the network exposure function network element described in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the communication apparatus 1800 includes a module or unit or means corresponding to the steps related to the access network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, which can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by a combination of hardware and software. For details, further reference can be made to the corresponding description in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0540] In a possible design, the communication apparatus 1800 can include a processing unit 1802 and a communication unit 1801, and the apparatus is applied to an access network device.

[0541] The processing unit 1802 is configured to process signals / signaling, and the communication unit 1801 is configured to send sensing capability information of the access network device, where the sensing capability information of the access network device includes information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, and the information of the grid includes at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial location information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, and associated sensing scenario.

[0542] The communication unit 1801 is configured to receive a first sensing request, and the processing unit 1802 is further configured to perform sensing on a range represented by a first grid according to the first sensing request, where the first grid is part or all of the one or more grids.

[0543] In an optional embodiment, the first sensing request includes a grid identification used to identify the first grid, and the first sensing request is used to request sensing on a sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0544] In an optional embodiment, the first sensing request is used to request sensing on a sensing range represented by the first grid, and the first grid is all of the one or more grids.

[0545] In an optional embodiment, the first sensing request includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate sensing on a sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0546] In another possible design, the communication apparatus 1800 can include a processing unit 1802 and a communication unit 1801, and the apparatus is applied to an access and mobility management function network element.

[0547] The communication unit 1801 is configured to receive sensing capability information of one or more access network devices, the sensing capability information of the access network device including information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the grid information including at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, and associated sensing scenario; and the processing unit 1802 is configured to determine, based on the received sensing capability information, sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element, the sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element including a sensing area supported by the access and mobility management function network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scenario associated with the supported sensing area, and sensing capability information of the supported sensing area.

[0548] In an optional implementation, the sensing area supported by the access and mobility management function network element is represented by position information of the supported sensing area, or represented by an area identifier of the supported sensing area.

[0549] In an optional implementation, the supported sensing area is determined based on spatial shape information and spatial position information of grids corresponding to each sensing scenario in the sensing capability information of the one or more access network devices; the sensing scenario associated with the supported sensing area is determined based on a grid associated with the supported sensing area; and the sensing capability information of the supported sensing area is determined based on sensing capability information of grids in the supported sensing area.

[0550] In an optional implementation, the processing unit 1802 is further configured to: receive a second sensing request from a sensing function network element, the second sensing request including a sensing requirement and a first sensing area; determine, based on the first sensing area, the sensing requirement, and the sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element, a first grid for representing a sensing range and a first access network device for performing a sensing task, the access and mobility management function network element supporting the first sensing area, the first grid being a grid in the first sensing area that meets the sensing requirement, and the first access network device being an access network device in the one or more access network devices that supports the first grid, the first grid being part or all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device; and send a first sensing request to the first access network device, the first sensing request including a grid identifier of the first grid, the first sensing request being used to request sensing on a sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0551] In an optional implementation, the first sensing request includes a grid identifier used to identify the first grid.

[0552] In an alternative implementation, the first grid is all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device, and the first sensing request is configured to request sensing of a sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0553] In an alternative implementation, the first sensing request comprises first indication information configured to indicate sensing of a sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0554] In an alternative implementation, the communication unit 1801 is further configured to send, to a network storage function network element or the sensing function network element, sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element.

[0555] In yet another possible design, the communication apparatus 1800 can include a processing unit 1802 and a communication unit 1801, and the apparatus is applied to an access and mobility management function network element.

[0556] The processing unit 1802 is configured to process signals / signaling, and the communication unit 1801 is configured to receive sensing capability information of one or more access network devices, the sensing capability information of the access network device comprising information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the grid information comprising at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial location information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, and associated sensing scenario; and the communication unit 1801 is further configured to send, to a sensing function network element, the sensing capability information of the one or more access network devices.

[0557] In an alternative implementation, the communication unit 1801 is further configured to: receive a second sensing request from the sensing function network element, the second sensing request comprising an identification of a first access network device, the second sensing request being configured to request sensing of a sensing range represented by a first grid, the first grid being part or all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device; and send, to the first access network device, a first sensing request configured to request sensing of the sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0558] In an alternative implementation, the second sensing request and the first sensing request comprise a grid identification of the first grid.

[0559] In an alternative implementation, the first grid is all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device, and the second sensing request and the first sensing request are configured to request sensing of a sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0560] In an alternative implementation, the second awareness request and the first awareness request comprise first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate awareness of the awareness range characterized by the first grid.

[0561] In yet another possible design, the communication apparatus 1800 can include a processing unit 1802 and a communication unit 1801, the apparatus being applied to an awareness function network element; the communication unit 1801 is configured to receive awareness capability information of one or more access network devices, the awareness capability information of the access network device comprising information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the grid information comprising at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial location information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid awareness capability information, grid identification, associated awareness scenario; the processing unit 1802 is configured to determine awareness capability information of the awareness function network element based on the received awareness capability information, the awareness capability information of the awareness function network element comprising an awareness area supported by the awareness function network element, and at least one of the following: awareness scenario associated with the supported awareness area, awareness capability information of the supported awareness area.

[0562] In an alternative implementation, the awareness area supported by the awareness function network element is characterized by location information of the supported awareness area, or is characterized by area identification of the supported awareness area.

[0563] In an alternative implementation, the awareness area is determined based on spatial shape information and spatial location information of the grid corresponding to each awareness scenario in the awareness capability information of the one or more access network devices; the awareness scenario associated with the awareness area is determined based on the awareness scenario associated with the grid in the awareness area; and the awareness capability information of the awareness area is determined based on the awareness capability information of the grid in the awareness area.

[0564] In an alternative implementation, the processing unit 1802 is further configured to: receive a third sensing request from a network exposure function network element, the third sensing request comprising a sensing requirement and a first sensing area; determine, based on the first sensing area, the sensing requirement, and a sensing capability of the sensing function network element, a first grid for characterizing a sensing range and a first access network device and a first access and mobility management function network element for performing a sensing task, the sensing function network element supporting the first sensing area, the first grid being a grid in the first sensing area that satisfies the sensing requirement, the first access network device being an access network device in the one or more access network devices that supports the first grid, the first grid being part of or all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device; and send a second sensing request to the first access and mobility management function network element, the second sensing request comprising an identification of the first access network device, the second sensing request being for requesting sensing on the sensing range characterized by the first grid.

[0565] In an alternative implementation, the second sensing request comprises a grid identification for identifying the first grid.

[0566] In an alternative implementation, the first grid is all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device, and the second sensing request is for requesting sensing on the sensing range characterized by the first grid.

[0567] In an alternative implementation, the second sensing request comprises first indication information for indicating sensing on the sensing range characterized by the first grid.

[0568] In another alternative implementation, the processing unit 1802 is further configured to: receive a third sensing request from a network exposure function network element, the third sensing request comprising a sensing requirement and a first sensing area; determine, based on the first sensing area, the sensing requirement, and a sensing capability of the sensing function network element, a first grid for characterizing a sensing range and a first access network device for performing a sensing task, the sensing function network element supporting the first sensing area, the first grid being a grid in the first sensing area that satisfies the sensing requirement, the first access network device being an access network device in the one or more access network devices that supports the first grid, the first grid being part of or all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device; and send a first sensing request to the first access network device, the first sensing request being for requesting sensing on the sensing range characterized by the first grid.

[0569] In an alternative implementation, the first sensing request comprises a grid identification for identifying the first grid.

[0570] In an optional implementation, the first grid is all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device, and the first sensing request is used to request sensing on a sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0571] In an optional implementation, the first sensing request further includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate sensing on a sensing range represented by the first grid.

[0572] In addition, in the above possible designs, the following implementation is further included:

[0573] In an optional implementation, the spatial position information is associated with the spatial shape information.

[0574] In an optional implementation, the spatial shape represented by the spatial shape information is a cuboid, and the spatial position information includes a center point position, a length, a width, and a height of the cuboid.

[0575] In an optional implementation, the grid sensing capability information includes at least one of the following: one or more refresh rates, one or more detection rates, one or more false alarm rates, one or more sensing accuracies, one or more sensing resolutions, one or more sensing time delays, and whether target identification is supported.

[0576] In an optional implementation, the information of the grid further includes a grid number.

[0577] In an optional implementation, the information of the grid further includes at least one of the following: an addition indication, an update indication, and a deletion indication; or the sensing capability information of the access network device further includes at least one of the following: an addition indication, an update indication, and a deletion indication; wherein the addition indication is used to add part or all of the information of the one or more grids; the update indication is used to update part or all of the information of the one or more grids; and the deletion indication is used to delete part or all of the information of the one or more grids.

[0578] In an optional implementation, the communication unit 1801 is further configured to send the sensing capability information of the sensing function network element to a network storage function network element.

[0579] In yet another possible design, the communication apparatus 1800 can include a processing unit 1802 and a communication unit 1801, and the apparatus is applied to a network exposure function network element.

[0580] The processing unit 1802 is configured to process signaling / signals; the communication unit 1801 is configured to receive a third perception request from an application function, the third perception request comprising a perception requirement and a first perception area; the communication unit 1801 is further configured to send a perception function discovery request to a network storage function network element, the perception function discovery request being used to request to discover a perception function network element supporting the first perception area; the communication unit 1801 is further configured to receive a perception function discovery response from the network storage function network element, the perception function discovery response comprising an identifier of one or more perception function network elements; the communication unit 1801 is further configured to send a third perception request to a first perception function network element, the third perception request comprising the perception requirement and the first perception area, the first perception function network element being one of the one or more perception function network elements.

[0581] The embodiments of the present application and the above-mentioned method embodiments are based on the same concept, and the technical effects brought by them are the same. For specific principles, refer to the description of the above-mentioned embodiments, and no further description is given.

[0582] The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication device 1900, and FIG. 19 is a structural schematic diagram of the communication device 1900. The communication device 1900 can be an access network device, or a chip, chip system, or processor supporting the access network device to implement the above-mentioned method; or can be an access and mobility management function network element, or a chip, chip system, or processor supporting the access and mobility management function network element to implement the above-mentioned method; or can be a perception function network element, or a chip, chip system, or processor supporting the perception function network element to implement the above-mentioned method; or can be a network exposure function network element, or a chip, chip system, or processor supporting the network exposure function network element to implement the above-mentioned method; or can be an application function network element, or a chip, chip system, or processor supporting the application function network element to implement the above-mentioned method. The device can be used to implement the method described in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and specific reference can be made to the description in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0583] The communication apparatus 1900 can include one or more processors 1901. The processor 1901 can be a general processor or a special-purpose processor, etc. For example, it can be a baseband processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or a central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the CPU can be used to control the communication apparatus (e.g., a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal, a terminal chip, a distributed unit (DU), or a centralized unit (CU), etc.), execute software programs, and process data of the software programs.

[0584] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1900 can include one or more memories 1902, which can store instructions 1904 executable by the processor 1901, so that the communication apparatus 1900 performs the methods described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memory 1902 can also store data. The processor 1901 and the memory 1902 can be separately arranged or integrated together.

[0585] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1900 can also include a transceiver 1905, an antenna 1906. The transceiver 1905 can be referred to as a transceiving unit, a transceiver, or a transceiving circuit, etc., and is used to implement the transceiving function. The transceiver 1905 can include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver can be referred to as a receiver or a receiving circuit, etc., and is used to implement the receiving function. The transmitter can be referred to as a transmitter or a transmitting circuit, etc., and is used to implement the transmitting function.

[0586] In a possible design, the communication apparatus 1900 can be applied to an access network device. Specifically, the transceiver 1905 is configured to perform S901 and S903 in the above communication method 100, and perform S1101 and S1105 in the above communication method 200, and perform S1301 and S1303 in the above communication method 300. The processor 1901 is configured to perform S904 in the above communication method 100, perform S1106 in the above communication method 200, and perform S1304 in the above communication method 300.

[0587] In another possible design, the communication apparatus 1900 can be applied to an access and mobility management function network element, and specifically, the processor 1901 is configured to perform S902 in the above-described communication method 100; and the transceiver 1905 is configured to perform S901, S903 in the above-described communication method 100, and perform S1101, S1102, S1104 and S1105 in the above-described communication method 200.

[0588] In yet another possible design, the communication apparatus 1900 can be applied to a perception function network element, and specifically, the processor 1901 is configured to perform S1103 in the above-described communication method 200, and perform S1302 in the above-described communication method 300; and the transceiver 1905 is configured to perform S1102, S1104 in the above-described communication method 200, and perform S1301, S1303 in the above-described communication method 300, and perform S1602 in the above-described communication method 400.

[0589] In yet another possible design, the communication apparatus 1900 can be applied to a network exposure function network element, and specifically, the transceiver 1905 is configured to perform S1601, S1602 and S1603 in the above-described communication method 400.

[0590] In yet another possible design, the communication apparatus 1900 can be applied to an application function network element, and specifically, the transceiver 1905 is configured to perform S1601 and S1603 in the above-described communication method 400.

[0591] Optionally, the processor 1901 can store instructions 1903, and the instructions 1903, when running on the processor 1901, can enable the communication apparatus 1900 to perform the methods described in the above-described method embodiments. The instructions 1903 can be fixed in the processor 1901, and in this case, the processor 1901 can be implemented by hardware.

[0592] The embodiments of the present application and the method embodiments shown in the above-described communication method 100 to communication method 400 are based on the same idea, and bring the same technical effects. For specific principles, refer to the descriptions of the above-described method embodiments, and no further description is given here.

[0593] The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication system, which includes an access network device and a core network device. Optionally, the system also includes a terminal device. In another possible design, the system can also include other devices / function network elements that interact with the access network device, the core network device and the terminal device.

[0594] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium for storing computer software instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, realize the functions of any of the method embodiments.

[0595] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product for storing computer software instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, realize the functions of any of the method embodiments.

[0596] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, realizes the functions of any of the method embodiments.

[0597] The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the specification of the present application, claims, and drawings are used to distinguish different objects, and are not used to describe a particular order. "First", "second", and the like are only used for description purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined with "first", "second", and the like can explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present embodiment, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "a plurality of" is two or more.

[0598] In addition, 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 that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but can optionally include steps or units that are not listed, or can optionally include other steps or units inherent to the process, method, product, or device.

[0599] In the present embodiment, referring to "embodiment" means that the specific features, structures, or properties described in conjunction with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of this phrase at various places in the specification does not necessarily mean the same embodiment, nor is it an independent or alternative embodiment that is not mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It is explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0600] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "multiple" means two or more, and "and / or" is used to describe the relationship between associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships, for example, "A and / or B" can represent three cases: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time, 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 single or multiple combinations. 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.

[0601] In the embodiments of the present application, the words "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as an example or illustration. Any embodiment or design presented as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design solutions. Rather, the use of "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner, facilitating understanding.

[0602] In the above embodiments, all or part can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer 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 generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center through wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that includes one or more available media sets. The available media can be magnetic media (such as floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), optical media (such as high-density digital video disc (digital video disc, DVD)), or semiconductor media (such as solid state disk (solid state disk, SSD)) and the like.

[0603] The above description is only specific embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto, any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed by the present application, which should be covered in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to an access network device, and the method comprises: sending sensing capability information of the access network device, the sensing capability information of the access network device comprising information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the grid information comprising at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, and associated sensing scenario; receiving a first sensing request; performing sensing on a range represented by a first grid according to the first sensing request, the first grid being part or all of the one or more grids.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first sensing request comprises a grid identification for identifying the first grid, and the first sensing request is used to request sensing on a sensing range represented by the first grid.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first sensing request is used to request sensing on a sensing range represented by the first grid, the first grid being all of the one or more grids.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The first sensing request comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate sensing on a sensing range represented by the first grid.

5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, The spatial position information is associated with the spatial shape information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the spatial shape represented by the spatial shape information is a cuboid, and the spatial position information comprises a center point position, length, width, and height of the cuboid.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The grid sensing capability information comprises at least one of the following: one or more refresh rates, one or more detection rates, one or more false alarm rates, one or more sensing accuracies, one or more sensing resolutions, one or more sensing time delays, and whether target identification is supported.

8. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the grid information further comprises at least one of the following: an addition indication, an update indication, and a deletion indication; or the sensing capability information of the access network device further comprises at least one of the following: an addition indication, an update indication, and a deletion indication; the addition indication is used to add part or all of the information of the one or more grids; the update indication is used to update part or all of the information of the one or more grids; the deletion indication is used to delete part or all of the information of the one or more grids.

9. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to an access and mobility management function network element, and the method comprises: receiving sensing capability information of one or more access network devices, the sensing capability information of the access network device comprising information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the grid information comprising at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, and associated sensing scenario; determining, based on the received sensing capability information, sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element, the sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element comprising a supported sensing area of the access and mobility management function network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scenario associated with the supported sensing area, sensing capability information of the supported sensing area.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The supported sensing area of the access and mobility management function network element is represented by position information of the supported sensing area, or represented by an area identifier of the supported sensing area.

11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein The supported sensing area is determined based on spatial shape information and spatial position information of a grid corresponding to each sensing scenario in the sensing capability information of the one or more access network devices; The sensing scenario associated with the supported sensing area is determined based on a sensing scenario associated with a grid in the supported sensing area; The sensing capability information of the supported sensing area is determined based on sensing capability information of a grid in the supported sensing area.

12. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving a second sensing request from a sensing function network element, the second sensing request comprising a sensing requirement and a first sensing area; determining, based on the first sensing area, the sensing requirement, and the sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element, a first grid for representing a sensing range and a first access network device for performing a sensing task, the access and mobility management function network element supporting the first sensing area, the first grid being a grid in the first sensing area that meets the sensing requirement, the first access network device being an access network device in the one or more access network devices that supports the first grid, the first grid being part of or all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device; sending a first sensing request to the first access network device, the first sensing request being used to request sensing on a sensing range represented by the first grid.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The first sensing request comprises grid identifier used to identify the first grid.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein, The first grid is all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device, and the first sensing request is used to request sensing on a sensing range represented by the first grid.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The first sensing request comprises first indication information used to indicate sensing on a sensing range represented by the first grid.

16. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 15, characterized in that, The method further comprises: sending the sensing capability information of the access and mobility management function network element to a network storage function network element or the sensing function network element.

17. A method of communication, comprising: The method is applied to an access and mobility management function network element, and the method comprises: receiving sensing capability information of one or more access network devices, the sensing capability information of the access network device comprising information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the information of the grid comprising at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device and the grid, grid sensing capability information, grid identifier, associated sensing scenario; sending, to a sensing function network element, sensing capability information of the one or more access network devices.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving a second sensing request from the sensing function network element, the second sensing request comprising an identification of a first access network device, the second sensing request being used to request sensing of a sensing range characterized by a first grid, the first grid being part or all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device; sending, to the first access network device, a first sensing request, the first sensing request being used to request sensing of the sensing range characterized by the first grid.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, The second sensing request and the first sensing request comprise grid identification used to identify the first grid.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein, The first grid is all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device, the second sensing request and the first sensing request being used to request sensing of the sensing range characterized by the first grid.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein, The second sensing request and the first sensing request comprise first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate sensing of the sensing range characterized by the first grid.

22. A method of communication, comprising: The method is applied to a sensing function network element, and the method comprises: receiving sensing capability information of one or more access network devices, the sensing capability information of the access network device comprising information of one or more grids supported by the access network device, the information of the grid comprising at least one of the following: spatial shape information, spatial position information, whether there is a direct path between the access network device, grid sensing capability information, grid identification, associated sensing scenario; based on the received sensing capability information, determining sensing capability information of the sensing function network element, the sensing capability information of the sensing function network element comprising a supported sensing area of the sensing function network element, and at least one of the following: a sensing scenario associated with the supported sensing area, sensing capability information of the supported sensing area.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein, The supported sensing area of the sensing function network element is represented by position information of the supported sensing area, or represented by area identification of the supported sensing area.

24. The method of claim 22 or 23, wherein The sensing area is determined based on spatial shape information and spatial position information of the grid corresponding to each sensing scenario in the sensing capability information of the one or more access network devices; The sensing scenario associated with the sensing area is determined based on the sensing scenario associated with the grid in the sensing area; The sensing capability information of the sensing area is determined based on the sensing capability information of the grid in the sensing area.

25. The method of any one of claims 22 to 24, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving a third sensing request from a network exposure function network element, the third sensing request comprising a sensing requirement and a first sensing area; determine, based on the first awareness area, the awareness requirement, and an awareness capability of the awareness function network element, a first grid for characterizing an awareness range and a first access network device and a first access and mobility management function network element for performing an awareness task, the awareness function network element supporting the first awareness area, the first grid being a grid in the first awareness area that meets the awareness requirement, the first access network device being an access network device in the one or more access network devices that supports the first grid, the first grid being part or all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device; send a second awareness request to the first access and mobility management function network element, the second awareness request including an identification of the first access network device, the second awareness request being for requesting awareness of the awareness range characterized by the first grid.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, The second awareness request includes a grid identification for identifying the first grid.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein, The first grid is all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device, and the second awareness request is for requesting awareness of the awareness range characterized by the first grid.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein, The second awareness request includes first indication information for indicating awareness of the awareness range characterized by the first grid.

29. The method of any one of claims 22 to 24, wherein, The method further includes: receiving a third awareness request from a network exposure function network element, the third awareness request including an awareness requirement and a first awareness area; determine, based on the first awareness area, the awareness requirement, and an awareness capability of the awareness function network element, a first grid for characterizing an awareness range and a first access network device and a first access and mobility management function network element for performing an awareness task, the awareness function network element supporting the first awareness area, the first grid being a grid in the first awareness area that meets the awareness requirement, the first access network device being an access network device in the one or more access network devices that supports the first grid, the first grid being part or all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device; send a first awareness request to the first access network device, the first awareness request being for requesting awareness of the awareness range characterized by the first grid.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein, The first awareness request includes a grid identification for identifying the first grid.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein, The first grid is all of one or more grids supported by the first access network device, and the first awareness request is for requesting awareness of the awareness range characterized by the first grid.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein, The first awareness request further includes first indication information for indicating awareness of the awareness range characterized by the first grid.

33. The method of any one of claims 22 to 32, wherein, The method further includes: sending awareness capability information of the awareness function network element to a network storage function network element.

34. A method of communication, comprising: The method is applied to a network exposure function network element, and the method includes: receiving a third awareness request from an application function, the third awareness request including an awareness requirement and a first awareness area; sending an awareness function network element discovery request to a network storage function network element, the awareness function network element discovery request being for requesting discovery of an awareness function network element supporting the first awareness area; receiving a sensing function network element discovery response from the network storage function network element, the sensing function network element discovery response comprising an identification of one or more sensing function network elements; sending a third sensing request to a first sensing function network element, the third sensing request comprising the sensing requirement and the first sensing area, the first sensing function network element being one of the one or more sensing function network elements.

35. A communications device, characterized by The communication device comprises means for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, or means for performing the method according to any one of claims 9 to 16, or means for performing the method according to any one of claims 17 to 21, or means for performing the method according to any one of claims 22 to 33, or means for performing the method according to claim 34.

36. A communications device, characterized by The communication device comprises a processor configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, or configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 9 to 16, or configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 17 to 21, or configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 22 to 33, or configured to perform the method according to claim 34.

37. A communication system, characterized by The system comprises at least one of the following means: means for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, means for performing the method according to any one of claims 9 to 16, means for performing the method according to claim 34; or, The system comprises at least one of the following means: means for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, means for performing the method according to any one of claims 17 to 21, means for performing the method according to any one of claims 22 to 28, 33, means for performing the method according to claim 34; or, The system comprises at least one of the following means: means for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, means for performing the method according to any one of claims 22 to 24, 29 to 33, means for performing the method according to claim 34.

38. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium has stored thereon instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 to be performed, or cause the method according to any one of claims 9 to 16 to be performed, or cause the method according to any one of claims 17 to 21 to be performed, or cause the method according to any one of claims 22 to 33 to be performed, or cause the method according to claim 34 to be performed.

39. A computer program product comprising instructions, wherein: The computer readable storage medium has stored thereon instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 to be performed, or cause the method according to any one of claims 9 to 16 to be performed, or cause the method according to any one of claims 17 to 21 to be performed, or cause the method according to any one of claims 22 to 33 to be performed, or cause the method according to claim 34 to be performed.

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