Communication method, communication apparatus, and communication system

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of mobile communications, and in particular to a communication method, a communication apparatus, and a communication system. The method comprises: receiving a first message from a second network device, wherein the first message is used for indicating that a first terminal currently connected to a first network device has a service access requirement; and on the basis of the first message, establishing a service packet forwarding path with a third network device, wherein the third network device is a network device that provides a service for the first terminal. By using the method, it is possible to increase the number of control nodes for when a UE performs service function access across base stations, and after the UE switches an accessed network device, it is possible to quickly establish a service packet route.

Description

Communication method, communication apparatus and communication system

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202411141987.9, filed on August 19, 2024, and entitled "A communication method, a communication apparatus and a communication system", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

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

[0003] In the future generation of mobile communication systems, cloud edge nodes can be further moved down to network access nodes (i.e., network device side, such as base stations), so that the access network can further undertake some service functions (such as computing functions). This service function can be an internal function of the network device, or an external independent function separated from the logical function of the network device.

[0004] When a user equipment (UE) accesses the above service function, a route to the service function is established through the network device and / or a user plane function (UPF), and then service packets are sent / received.

[0005] However, after the UE switches the access network device, the route of the service packet needs to be updated, but the current route update of the service packet depends on the session management function (SMF), resulting in a long update process and low timeliness. SUMMARY

[0006] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, a communication apparatus and a communication system, which can increase the number of control nodes when the UE accesses the service function across base stations, without relying on the SMF, and improve the efficiency of updating the route of the service packet.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, and the method is applied to a first network device. Exemplarily, the method can be executed by the first network device, or can be executed by a component in the first network device, such as a chip or a processor. The first network device mentioned above is a device in the access network or the core network that is not a UPF, and the method comprises:

[0008] receive a first message from the second network device, the first message being used to indicate that a first terminal currently connected with the first network device has a service access requirement; and establish a service packet forwarding path between the first network device and a third network device according to the first message, the third network device being a network device providing a service for the first terminal.

[0009] In the embodiments of the present application, the first network device is a network device newly switched by the first terminal, i.e., the first network device currently has a network connection with the first terminal or is establishing a network connection with the first terminal; the second network device is a network device originally accessed by the first terminal, i.e., before the first network device, the first terminal has a communication connection with the second network device; and the third network device is a network device providing a service (such as a computing function service) for the first terminal. When the first terminal does not switch the accessed network device, i.e., in the stage that the first terminal has a communication connection with the second network device, the first terminal accesses a service function (for example, a computing node) through the second network device and the third network device, thereby enabling the service function to provide a service. However, the first terminal may switch the accessed network device due to factors such as movement and network limitation. In order to improve the forwarding efficiency of service packets, the second network device sends a first message to the first network device, so that the first network device explicitly perceives that the first terminal needs the service of the service function, and then establishes a service packet forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device. Exemplarily, the service packet forwarding path can include a direct tunnel connection between the first network device and the third network device, or can include a tunnel connection between the first network device and the second network device, and a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device.

[0010] Different from the UE accessing a service function through a UPF in the prior art, the service packet forwarding path provided in the embodiments of the present application involves a third network device, and the service function is accessed through the third network device, which is different from the scheme of controlling the packet forwarding path through a UPF in the prior art, so that each device on the path can control the path.

[0011] Further, the first network device receives the first message from the second network device, the message indicating that the first terminal currently connected with the first network device has a service access requirement, and establishes the service packet forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device according to the first message, thereby realizing the capability of quickly establishing a service packet routing after the UE (user equipment) switches the accessed network device. This mechanism significantly reduces the service interruption time, improves the user experience, optimizes the use efficiency of network resources, and ensures the continuity and stability of the service.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the first message is carried by a second message sent by the second network device, and the second message is used to request switching of the air interface configuration of the first terminal; and the method further comprises: sending an acknowledgement message to the second network device.

[0013] In this embodiment, when the first terminal switches network devices, the second network device sends a message (second message) for switching of the air interface configuration, and the first message is carried by the message for switching of the air interface configuration, so that the first network device is aware of the need of the first terminal for service while establishing a connection with the first terminal, and further establishes a service packet forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device, thereby improving the efficiency of route adjustment.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the establishing of the service packet forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device according to the first message comprises:

[0015] sending first tunnel information, the first tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the first network device, and the first tunnel information being used to establish a first tunnel, the first tunnel being a downlink tunnel from the third network device to the first network device;

[0016] receiving second tunnel information, the second tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the third network device, and the second tunnel information being used to establish a second tunnel, the second tunnel being an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the third network device.

[0017] The downlink tunnel described above can refer to a tunnel connection through which the third network device sends service packets to the first network device, and the uplink tunnel described above can refer to a tunnel connection through which the first network device sends service packets to the third network device. It should be understood that the uplink tunnel and the downlink tunnel herein can also send other information.

[0018] Optionally, the receiver of the first tunnel information can be the second network device, and the sender of the second tunnel information can be the second network device. It should be understood that, before the service packet forwarding path is established, the second network device can act as an intermediary between the first network device and the third network device. And considering that the second network device is the network device originally accessed by the first terminal, the tunnel information of the third network device can be stored in the second network device, thereby reducing the interaction process. In addition, the above-mentioned process of receiving the second tunnel information solves the problem that the first network device and the third network device can be domain-isolated and cannot directly communicate. In this embodiment, by establishing a tunnel connection between the first network device and the third network device, the second network device is crossed, and fast forwarding of service packets is achieved.

[0019] Optionally, the first message sent by the second network device further comprises an identifier of the third network device, and the first network device can directly interact with the third network device according to the identifier of the third network device, so as to establish a service message forwarding path between the third network device and the first network device.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the service message forwarding path comprises at least a first tunnel and a second tunnel.

[0021] In the embodiment, the first tunnel and the second tunnel can be collectively referred to as a service message forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device. In actual application, the uplink service message of the first terminal is sent to the third network device through the second tunnel, and then forwarded to the service function (such as a computing node). The downlink service message of the first terminal is transmitted through the following sequence: service function, third network device, first network device, and first terminal, which is fast and convenient and has high efficiency.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises:

[0023] establishing a tunnel connection with the second network device;

[0024] establishing the service message forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device based on the tunnel connection between the first network device and the second network device and the tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device.

[0025] In the embodiment, the service message forwarding path comprises a tunnel connection between the first network device and the second network device (including an uplink tunnel and a downlink tunnel) and a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device. Optionally, the tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device is already established between the network devices to which the first terminal switches to access and can be directly used.

[0026] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises:

[0027] sending third tunnel information, the third tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the first network device, the third tunnel information being used to establish a third tunnel, and the third tunnel being a downlink tunnel from the second network device to the first network device.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises:

[0029] receive fourth tunnel information, the fourth tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the second network device, the fourth tunnel information being used to establish a fourth tunnel, the fourth tunnel being an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the second network device.

[0030] Optionally, after sending the third tunnel information, receive tunnel information of the second network device sent by the second network device.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the first message comprises fourth tunnel information.

[0032] The fourth tunnel information (comprising tunnel information of the second network device) is carried in the first message received by the first network device, reducing the number of interactions and reducing resource consumption.

[0033] In a possible implementation, the service message forwarding path comprises at least a third tunnel, a fourth tunnel, and a fifth tunnel, the fifth tunnel being a tunnel connection between the second network device and a third network device.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises:

[0035] send fifth tunnel information, the fifth tunnel information comprising forwarding tunnel information of the first network device, the fifth tunnel information being used to establish a forwarding tunnel between the first network device and the second network device, the forwarding tunnel being used for the second network device to forward downlink service messages to the first network device.

[0036] In the embodiment, since the first terminal switches the accessed network device and newly accesses the first network device, the downlink service messages stored / ready to be sent by the second network device accessed originally cannot be sent to the first terminal, therefore, the forwarding tunnel between the second network device and the second network device is newly established, which is used to transmit the downlink service messages at the second network device, avoiding the problem of message loss or disorder caused by network switching.

[0037] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises:

[0038] buffer the first message received on the service message forwarding path;

[0039] receive a first end identifier on other paths, the other paths comprising paths other than the service message forwarding path, the first end identifier being used to indicate that the current path stops transmitting service messages;

[0040] send the first message to the first terminal.

[0041] The messages received on the service message forwarding path are buffered, and the messages are sent to the first terminal after the first end identifier is received, so that the integrity and sequence of the message transmission are ensured, and the message loss or out-of-sequence problem caused by network switching or failure is avoided. These measures collectively improve the overall performance of the communication system.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the first tunnel information, the third tunnel information, or the fifth tunnel information is carried in the confirmation message.

[0043] The tunnel information (such as the first tunnel information, the third tunnel information, and the like) in the above implementation is carried in the confirmation message or other messages, which simplifies the signaling interaction in the tunnel establishment process and reduces the network load and delay.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the second tunnel information is carried in the second message.

[0045] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be applied to a second network device, or can be applied to a component (such as a chip or a processor) in the second network device. The method includes the following steps.

[0046] sending a first message to a first network device, where the first message is used to indicate that a first terminal currently connected to the first network device has a service access requirement;

[0047] establishing a service message forwarding path between the first network device and a third network device, where the third network device is a network device that provides a service for the first terminal.

[0048] Optionally, the service message forwarding path includes a tunnel connection between the first network device and the third network device, or includes a tunnel connection between the first network device and the second network device and a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device. If the service message forwarding path includes the tunnel connection between the first network device and the third network device, the above-mentioned step of establishing the service message forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device can mean that the second network device assists in establishing the service message forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device by forwarding the tunnel information of the first network device / third network device. If the service message forwarding path includes the tunnel connection between the first network device and the second network device and the tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device, and considering that the tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device can be established in advance, the step of establishing the service message forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device can mean that the second network device establishes the tunnel connection between the first network device by interacting with the first network device.

[0049] In the embodiments of the present application, by sending the first message to the first network device, it is explicitly indicated that the first terminal currently connected with the first network device has a service access requirement, thereby prompting the first network device to quickly establish a service message forwarding path with the third network device. This mechanism effectively reduces the service interruption time caused by network switching and improves the user experience. The scheme of controlling the message forwarding path by the UPF single point in the prior art is changed, so that each device on the path can control the path.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the service message forwarding path at least includes a first tunnel and a second tunnel, the first tunnel is a downlink tunnel from the third network device to the first network device, and the second tunnel is an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the third network device. The method of establishing the service message forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device includes:

[0051] receiving first tunnel information and forwarding the first tunnel information to the third network device, wherein the first tunnel information includes tunnel information of the first network device, and the first tunnel information is used to establish the first tunnel;

[0052] sending second tunnel information to the first network device, wherein the second tunnel information includes tunnel information of the third network device, and the second tunnel information is used to establish the second tunnel.

[0053] In a possible implementation, the step of sending the first tunnel information to the third network device includes: sending a third message, wherein the third message is used to indicate that a tunnel connection between the first network device and the third network device is established, and the third message includes the first tunnel information.

[0054] The method further includes: receiving the second tunnel information.

[0055] Optionally, the third message can be a connection establishment message, which is used to indicate that the third network device establishes a tunnel connection with the first network device. Specifically, the third network device communicates with the first network device according to the first tunnel information to transfer service messages, and the third network device sends its own tunnel information, so that the first network device establishes a tunnel connection with the third network device.

[0056] In a possible implementation, the step of sending the third message includes:

[0057] In a case where a first condition is met, the third message is sent, and the first condition includes one or more of the following: receiving the tunnel information of the first network device, or storing the tunnel information of the third network device.

[0058] In the embodiment, the second network device meeting the first condition participates in establishment of the service message forwarding path, avoiding a complex interaction process and enhancing the judgment logic of the second network device.

[0059] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0060] sending a fourth message, the fourth message being used to instruct the third network device to send a second end identifier through a fifth tunnel, the fifth tunnel being a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device, and the second end identifier being used to instruct the fifth tunnel to stop transmitting service messages;

[0061] receiving the second end identifier on the fifth tunnel.

[0062] Optionally, in a scenario in which the service message forwarding path includes at least a first tunnel and a second tunnel, a tunnel connection (that is, the fifth tunnel) between the third network device and the second network device can have been established in advance, and therefore the transmission of service messages on the fifth tunnel is temporarily suspended / terminated through the end identifier, thereby saving resource overhead.

[0063] In a possible implementation, the service message forwarding path includes at least a third tunnel, a fourth tunnel, and a fifth tunnel, the third tunnel being a downlink tunnel from the second network device to the first network device, the fourth tunnel being an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the second network device, and the fifth tunnel being a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device, and the establishment of the service message forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device includes:

[0064] receiving third tunnel information, the third tunnel information including tunnel information of the first network device, and the third tunnel information being used to establish the third tunnel;

[0065] sending fourth tunnel information, the fourth tunnel information including tunnel information of the second network device, and the fourth tunnel information being used to establish the fourth tunnel.

[0066] In a possible implementation, the service message forwarding path includes at least a third tunnel, a fourth tunnel, and a fifth tunnel, the third tunnel being a downlink tunnel from the second network device to the first network device, the fourth tunnel being an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the second network device, and the fifth tunnel being a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device, and the first message includes fourth tunnel information, and the establishment of the service message forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device includes:

[0067] receive third tunnel information, the third tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the first network device, the third tunnel information being used to establish the third tunnel.

[0068] In a possible implementation, the first message is carried by a second message sent by the second network device to the first network device, the second message being used to request switching of the air interface configuration of the first terminal.

[0069] The method further comprises:

[0070] receiving an acknowledgement message from the first network device.

[0071] The method provided by the embodiments improves the reliability and flexibility of the network, and optimizes the use efficiency of network resources. Meanwhile, through accurate signaling interaction and conditional judgment, the accuracy and timeliness of tunnel establishment are ensured. In addition, through sending and receiving end identifiers, dynamic management and release of tunnel resources are realized, and waste of network resources is avoided. These measures collectively improve the overall performance and user experience of the communication system.

[0072] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises:

[0073] receiving fifth tunnel information, the fifth tunnel information comprising forwarding tunnel information of the first network device, the fifth tunnel information being used to establish a forwarding tunnel between the first network device and the second network device, the forwarding tunnel being used for forwarding of downlink service packets from the second network device to the first network device.

[0074] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises:

[0075] sending a third end identifier through the forwarding tunnel, the third end identifier being used to instruct the forwarding tunnel to stop transmitting service packets.

[0076] In a possible implementation, the first tunnel information, the third tunnel information, or the fifth tunnel information is carried by the acknowledgement message.

[0077] In a possible implementation, the second tunnel information is carried by the second message.

[0078] In a third aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication apparatus, which can be the first network device mentioned above, or a component (such as a chip or a processor) in the first network device. The communication apparatus comprises a processing unit and a transceiver unit, and can perform the following operations respectively:

[0079] The transceiver is configured to receive a first message from the second network device, the first message being used to indicate that a first terminal currently connected to the first network device has a service access requirement; and the processor is configured to establish a service packet forwarding path with a third network device according to the first message, the third network device being a network device providing service for the first terminal.

[0080] In a possible implementation, the first message is carried by a second message sent by the second network device, the second message being used to request switching of air interface configuration of the first terminal; and the transceiver is further configured to send an acknowledgement message to the second network device.

[0081] In a possible implementation, in establishing the service packet forwarding path with the third network device according to the first message, the transceiver is further configured to send first tunnel information, the first tunnel information including tunnel information of the first network device, the first tunnel information being used to establish a first tunnel, the first tunnel being a downlink tunnel from the third network device to the first network device.

[0082] The transceiver is further configured to receive second tunnel information, the second tunnel information including tunnel information of the third network device, the second tunnel information being used to establish a second tunnel, the second tunnel being an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the third network device.

[0083] In a possible implementation, the service packet forwarding path includes at least the first tunnel and the second tunnel.

[0084] In a possible implementation, in establishing the service packet forwarding path with the first network device, the processor is further configured to establish a tunnel connection with the second network device.

[0085] In a possible implementation, in establishing the tunnel connection with the second network device, the transceiver is further configured to send third tunnel information, the third tunnel information including tunnel information of the first network device, the third tunnel information being used to establish a third tunnel, the third tunnel being a downlink tunnel from the second network device to the first network device.

[0086] In a possible implementation, the transceiver is further configured to receive fourth tunnel information, the fourth tunnel information including tunnel information of the second network device, the fourth tunnel information being used to establish a fourth tunnel, the fourth tunnel being an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the second network device.

[0087] In a possible implementation, the first message includes the fourth tunnel information.

[0088] In a possible implementation, the service message forwarding path comprises at least a third tunnel, a fourth tunnel, and a fifth tunnel, and the fifth tunnel is a tunnel connection between the second network device and a third network device.

[0089] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to send fifth tunnel information, the fifth tunnel information comprising forwarding tunnel information of the first network device, and the fifth tunnel information being used to establish a forwarding tunnel between the first network device and the second network device, and the forwarding tunnel being used for the second network device to forward a downstream service message to the first network device.

[0090] In a possible implementation, the processing unit is further configured to buffer a first message received on the service message forwarding path.

[0091] The transceiver unit is further configured to receive a first end identifier on another path, the another path comprising a path other than the service message forwarding path, and the first end identifier being used to indicate that a current path stops transmitting a service message.

[0092] The transceiver unit is further configured to send the first message to the first terminal.

[0093] In a possible implementation, the first tunnel information, the third tunnel information, or the fifth tunnel information is carried by the confirmation message.

[0094] In a possible implementation, the second tunnel information is carried by the second message.

[0095] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which can be the second network device mentioned above, or a component in the second network device, for example, a chip or a processor, and the communication apparatus comprises a processing unit and a transceiver unit, and can perform the following operations respectively:

[0096] The transceiver unit is configured to send a first message to a first network device, and the first message is used to indicate that a first terminal currently connected to the first network device has a service access requirement; and the processing unit is configured to establish a service message forwarding path between the first network device and a third network device, and the third network device is a network device providing a service for the first terminal.

[0097] In a possible implementation, the service message forwarding path comprises at least a first tunnel and a second tunnel, the first tunnel is a downlink tunnel from the third network device to the first network device, and the second tunnel is an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the third network device. The transceiver is further configured to receive first tunnel information, and forward the first tunnel information to the third network device, where the first tunnel information comprises tunnel information of the first network device, and the first tunnel information is used to establish the first tunnel. The transceiver is further configured to send second tunnel information to the first network device, where the second tunnel information comprises tunnel information of the third network device, and the second tunnel information is used to establish the second tunnel.

[0098] In a possible implementation, the transceiver is further configured to send a third message, where the third message is used to indicate establishment of a tunnel connection between the first network device and the third network device, and the third message comprises the first tunnel information.

[0099] The transceiver is further configured to receive the second tunnel information.

[0100] In a possible implementation, the transceiver is further configured to send the third message when a first condition is met, where the first condition comprises one or more of the following: receiving the tunnel information of the first network device, or storing the tunnel information of the third network device.

[0101] In a possible implementation, the transceiver is further configured to send a fourth message, where the fourth message is used to indicate that the third network device sends a second end identifier through a fifth tunnel, the fifth tunnel is a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device, and the second end identifier is used to indicate that the fifth tunnel stops transmitting service messages.

[0102] The transceiver is further configured to receive the second end identifier on the fifth tunnel.

[0103] In a possible implementation, the service message forwarding path comprises at least a third tunnel, a fourth tunnel, and a fifth tunnel, the third tunnel is a downlink tunnel from the second network device to the first network device, the fourth tunnel is an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the second network device, and the fifth tunnel is a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device. The transceiver is further configured to:

[0104] receive third tunnel information, the third tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the first network device, the third tunnel information being used to establish the third tunnel;

[0105] send fourth tunnel information, the fourth tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the second network device, the fourth tunnel information being used to establish the fourth tunnel.

[0106] In a possible implementation, the service packet forwarding path comprises at least a third tunnel, a fourth tunnel and a fifth tunnel, the third tunnel being a downlink tunnel from the second network device to the first network device, the fourth tunnel being an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the second network device, and the fifth tunnel being a tunnel connection between the second network device and a third network device, the first message comprising fourth tunnel information, and the transceiver unit is further configured to receive third tunnel information, the third tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the first network device, the third tunnel information being used to establish the third tunnel.

[0107] In a possible implementation, the first message is carried by a second message sent by the second network device to the first network device, the second message being used to request switching of the air interface configuration of the first terminal.

[0108] The transceiver unit is further configured to receive an acknowledgement message from the first network device.

[0109] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive fifth tunnel information, the fifth tunnel information comprising forwarding tunnel information of the first network device, the fifth tunnel information being used to establish a forwarding tunnel between the first network device and the second network device, the forwarding tunnel being used for the second network device to forward downlink service packets to the first network device.

[0110] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to send a third end identifier through the forwarding tunnel, the third end identifier being used to instruct the forwarding tunnel to stop transmitting service packets.

[0111] In a possible implementation, the first tunnel information, the third tunnel information or the fifth tunnel information is carried by the acknowledgement message.

[0112] In a possible implementation, the second tunnel information is carried by the second message.

[0113] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which comprises instructions, when the instructions are executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or perform the method executable by the communication apparatus of the third aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0114] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, when the computer program is executed, performs the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or performs the method executable by the communication apparatus of the third aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0115] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, at least one processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program. The processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication apparatus performs the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or performs the method executable by the communication apparatus of the third aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0116] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a chip, which comprises at least a processor. The processor is configured to execute computer execution instructions, so that the apparatus installed with the chip performs the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or performs the method executable by the communication apparatus of the third aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0117] In combination with the eighth aspect, in a possible implementation, the chip further comprises an interface circuit. The interface circuit is configured to receive the computer execution instructions and transmit to the processor.

[0118] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication system. The communication system comprises at least a first network device, a second network device, a third network device and a first terminal. The first network device is configured to perform the communication method provided by the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. The second network device is configured to perform the communication method provided by the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0119] The method, system and apparatus provided by any possible implementation of the third aspect and the ninth aspect of the present application have the beneficial effects of the technical solutions provided by the first aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect, which will not be described here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0120] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0121] FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of an architecture of another communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0122] FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram of a cross-base station implementation of access to computing power services according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0123] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of yet another communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0124] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0125] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a flow of yet another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0126] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a service message forwarding path according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0127] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a flow of yet another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0128] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of yet another service message forwarding path according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0129] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a flow of yet another communication scheme according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0130] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of yet another service message forwarding path according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0131] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0132] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a structure of yet another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0133] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0134] The technical solutions provided in the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, a general packet radio service (GPRS), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a long term evolution (LTE) system, an LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, an LTE time division duplex (TDD), a sidelink communication system, a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system or a new radio access technology (NR). The 5G mobile communication system can include non-standalone (NSA) and / or standalone (SA).

[0135] The technical solutions provided in the present application can also be applied to future communication systems. The present application does not limit this.

[0136] In the following, some terms in the present application are explained and described, so as to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0137] 1) terminal device, a device with wireless transceiver function. The terminal device can communicate with the core network or the Internet through the radio access network (such as radio access network, RAN), and exchange voice and / or data with the RAN.

[0138] A terminal device can include a user equipment (UE), a wireless terminal device, a mobile terminal device, a D2D terminal device, a vehicle to everything (V2X) terminal device, a machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC) terminal device, an internet of things (IoT) terminal device, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote station, an access point (AP), a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a user agent, or a user device, and the like. For example, a terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a portable, pocket, handheld, computer built-in mobile device, and the like. For another example, a terminal device can also be 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 surgery, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), or a vehicle device in V2X, a customer premises equipment (CPE), and the like.For another example, the terminal device can also be a personal communication service (PCS) phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or the like. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form of the terminal device.

[0139] For example but not limitation, the terminal device can also be a wearable device. The wearable device can also be referred to as a smart wearable device or a smart wearable device, etc. It is a general term for devices that are designed and developed by applying wearable technology to daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. The wearable device is a portable device that is directly worn on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also a powerful function through software support and data interaction, cloud interaction. The broad sense of wearable smart devices includes full functions, large sizes, and can realize complete or partial functions without relying on smart phones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, etc., and focuses on a certain application function, and needs to cooperate with other devices such as smart phones, such as various smart wristbands, smart helmets, smart jewelry, etc. The various terminal devices introduced above can be considered as vehicle-mounted terminal devices if they are located on a vehicle (for example, placed in or installed in a vehicle), and the vehicle-mounted terminal device is also referred to as an on-board unit (OBU).

[0140] 2) The radio access network device is a network device in a communication system for accessing a terminal device to a wireless network. The radio access network device can be connected to the core network through a wired link (such as an optical fiber cable). The radio access network device can be a node in the RAN, also referred to as a base station, and also referred to as a RAN node (or device).

[0141] The wireless access network device can include a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB) in an LTE system or an evolved LTE system (LTE-Advanced, LTE-A), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G communication system, a transmission reception point (TRP), a baseband unit (BBU), an access point (AP) in a wireless local area network (WLAN), an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a base station in a future mobile communication system, an access node in a WiFi system, or the like. The wireless access network device can also be a module or unit that completes part of the function of a base station, such as a centralized unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU). The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form of the wireless access network device.

[0142] For example, in a network structure, the wireless access network device can be a CU node, or a DU node, or a wireless access network device including a CU node and a DU node. Among them, the CU node is used to support radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and the like. The DU node is used to support radio link control (RLC) layer protocol, medium access control (MAC) layer protocol, and physical layer protocol.

[0143] The wireless access network device and the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface; can also be deployed on aircraft, balloons and satellites in the air. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the wireless access network device and the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the wireless access network device can be referred to as an access network device, and the access network device in the following text refers to the wireless access network device unless otherwise specified.

[0144] 3) core network device, refers to a device in a core network (CN) that provides service support for a terminal device. The core network device can include network elements or functional entities such as an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a network exposure function (NEF), a unified data management (UDM), and an application function (AF). For details, refer to FIG. 1, which is an architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0145] Among them, the mobility management network element AMF is mainly used for access management and mobility management of the terminal device, such as user location update, registration network, cell handover, etc.; the SMF is mainly used for session management, such as user session establishment, modification, release, etc.; the data network (DN) provides data transmission services for users, which can be a PDN network such as the Internet, IP multi-media service (IMS), etc.; the user plane function UPF is a functional entity of the user plane, mainly responsible for connecting external networks and processing user messages such as forwarding and charging; in addition, the system can also include the following network elements, such as the NEF for controlled exposure of part of the network functions to applications; the UDM for managing the subscription information of the terminal device; and the AF for providing service data of various applications to the control plane network element of the operator's communication network, or obtaining network data information and control information from the control plane network element of the communication network.

[0146] The core network device can also include other network elements or functional entities related to multi-access edge computing (MEC).

[0147] It should be noted that the above network elements or functional entities can be network elements in a hardware device, software functions running on a dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). Optionally, the above network elements or functional entities can be implemented by one device, or by multiple devices together, or by different functional modules within a device. The present application does not limit the implementation of the above network elements or functional entities.

[0148] For the convenience of understanding the benefits of the embodiments of the present application, the establishment of a service message forwarding path related to cross-base station service function access in the prior art is described.

[0149] The handover procedure is used to switch the UE from a source NG-RAN node to a target NG-RAN node, and the Xn interface is used in the handover process. The handover procedure based on the Xn interface between NG-RANs only occurs within the management range of the current AMF where the service is located. New radio conditions, load balancing, or specific services can trigger the handover procedure. For example, when the UE is within the management range of the AMF and in the connected state, it moves out of the service range of the original NG-RAN, causing the UE to need a new NG-RAN to provide services. At this time, the handover procedure is triggered. The procedure is used for the handover scenario where the source NG-RAN and the target NG-RAN have an Xn interface. The specific procedure of the handover can be as follows:

[0150] Step 0: Handover triggering.

[0151] The source gNodeB issues a measurement control to the UE through RRCReconfiguration, including measurement objects (intra-frequency / inter-frequency), measurement report configuration, and GAP configuration, etc. The UE replies to the source gNodeB with RRCReconfigurationComplete. The UE performs measurements according to the received measurement control message. After the UE measures and determines that the event condition is met, it reports the measurement report to the source gNodeB. After the source gNodeB receives the measurement report, it makes a handover strategy and target cell / frequency decision based on the measurement results.

[0152] Step 1: The source gNodeB sends a HANDOVER REQUEST to the target gNodeB where the selected target cell is located through the Xn link, initiating a handover request.

[0153] Step 2: After the target gNodeB receives the handover request, it performs admission control and allocates UE instances and transmission resources after allowing admission.

[0154] Step 3: The target gNodeB replies to the source gNodeB with a HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE, allowing the handover to enter. It contains a list of successfully established PDU Sessions. The list contains the forwarding tunnel information of the target base station, which is used to establish the forwarding tunnel from the source base station to the target base station. If some PDU Sessions fail to switch in, the message needs to carry a list of failed PDU Sessions. The target base station can be the first network device, i.e., the base station to which the UE newly accesses.

[0155] Step 4: The source gNodeB sends RRCReconfiguration to the UE, asking the UE to perform handover to the target cell.

[0156] Step 5: The source gNodeB sends the PDCP SN number to the target gNodeB through SN STATUS TRANSFER. At this time, the source base station can send the downlink message that has not been sent to the UE to the target base station through the forwarding tunnel. The target base station caches the downlink message until the UE successfully accesses the target base station.

[0157] Step 6: The UE initiates random access at the target base station, and the UE sends RRCReconfigurationComplete to the target gNodeB. The UE air interface switches to the target cell and completes.

[0158] Step 7: The target gNodeB sends a PATH SWITCH REQUEST message to the AMF. Carrying the target cell identity, the converted PDUSession list. The converted PDUSession list contains the tunnel information of the target base station, which is used to establish the tunnel connection from the UPF to the target base station.

[0159] Step 8: The AMF sends an update session management context request to the SMF corresponding to the session.

[0160] Step 9: The SMF initiates an N4 session modification procedure to the UPF, and sends the tunnel information of the target base station to the UPF to update the downlink tunnel connection, that is, modifies the source base station tunnel information saved by the UPF to the target gNodeB tunnel information. At the same time, the UPF sends the UPF tunnel information to the SMF to establish the uplink tunnel connection from the target base station to the UPF. At this time, the UPF can send an end marker on the old path. The old path here can refer to from the UPF to the Source NG-RAN, and then to the Target NG-RAN. That is, in order to ensure that the order of the target NG-RAN data packet is not chaotic, after the path switching, the UPF immediately sends one or more "end marker" data packets to the source side NG-RAN through the old path, and the source side NG-RAN forwards the end marker data packet to the target NG-RAN.

[0161] For the target base station, before receiving the end marker, it needs to cache the downlink message from the UPF.

[0162] Step 10: The SMF returns an update session management context response to the AMF, carrying the UPF tunnel information.

[0163] Step 11: The AMF returns a path switching response to the target base station, carrying the UPF tunnel information.

[0164] Step 12: The target gNodeB sends a UE CONTEXT RELEASE message to the source gNodeB, and the source gNodeB releases the switched user after receiving the message.

[0165] From the above, after the UE accesses to other base stations (such as the first network device) due to factors such as movement or network restriction, there are certain problems in the routing of the computing power message (service message), for example, part of the downlink computing power message stored in the second network device cannot be transmitted to the first terminal; after the base station accessed by the first terminal changes, the forwarding path of the computing power message needs to be switched to make the computing power message be forwarded through the newly accessed base station (such as the first network device), but the current path switching has certain time delay and cannot quickly respond; the current path control node is relatively single (only controlled by the UPF) and other problems.

[0166] Based on this, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, a communication device and a communication system, which are used to solve the problems that the timeliness of the service message routing (service message forwarding path) is not high and the stability is not good after the UE switches to access the network device. The method and the device are based on the same inventive concept, and since the principles of the method and the device for solving the problems are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be mutually referred to, and the repeated parts will not be described here.

[0167] Please refer to FIG. 2A, which is a schematic diagram of an architecture of another communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication system is a communication system before the first terminal switches to access the base station. The communication system specifically includes a first terminal, a second network device, and a third network device. The first terminal accesses the second network device. The second network device and the third network device are respectively connected with one or more service functions (such as computing power nodes). For ease of understanding, the following embodiments will use computing power nodes instead of service functions for description. Correspondingly, service services and service messages are also replaced accordingly. It should be understood that the service functions (computing power nodes) described above can be internal functions of the network device, or can be external independent functions separated from the logical functions of the network device. It should also be understood that the connection of the terminal to the computing power node through the network device in FIG. 2A is used as an example for description. It can also be described as the connection of the terminal to the computing power node through the network device and a user plane function network element. The user plane function network element is deployed in the network device or nearby. Correspondingly, the service message forwarding path between the network devices mentioned in the present application can be replaced by the service message forwarding path between the network device and the user plane function network element. For example, the service message forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device can be replaced by the service message forwarding path between the user plane function network element and the user plane function network element, or the service message forwarding path between the first network device and the user plane function network element. For example, if the service message forwarding path is the path between the user plane function network element (deployed in or near the first network device) and the user plane function network element (deployed in or near the third network device), in the downlink path, the user plane function network element deployed in or near the first network device sends the downlink service message to the first network device after receiving the downlink service message, and the first network device sends the downlink service message to the first terminal through the air interface.

[0168] As shown in FIG. 2A, the second network device is connected with three computing power nodes, namely computing power node #1, computing power node #2, and computing power node #3, which respectively provide computing power services A, computing power service B, and computing power service C. The third network device is connected with three computing power nodes, namely computing power node #4, computing power node #5, and computing power node #6, which respectively provide computing power services A, computing power service D, and computing power service E.

[0169] In an optional embodiment, the first terminal accesses the second network device, and the second network device should provide the computing power service for the first terminal. However, since the first terminal invokes the computing power service A, and the computing power node #1 connected to the second network device is unable to provide the computing power service A due to one or more of the following situations: the computing resource is in shortage, the number of users of the service reaches the upper limit, the number of connections reaches the upper limit, the number of remaining cores reaches the upper limit, and the resource availability has a problem, the first terminal accesses the computing power service through the cross-base station, and finally the computing power node #4 connected to the third network device provides the computing power service A for the first terminal.

[0170] In another optional embodiment, since the first terminal invokes the computing power service E, the second network device is unable to provide the computing power service E (or the second network device is unable to connect the computing power node providing the computing power service E), and therefore the computing power node #6 connected to the third network device provides the computing power service E for the first terminal. In this scenario, the first terminal also accesses the computing power service through the cross-base station.

[0171] In an optional embodiment, please refer to FIG. 2B, which is a schematic diagram of the cross-base station implementation of the computing power service access provided by the embodiment of the present application. The tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device, hereinafter referred to as Xn tunnel connection, tunnel connection, Xn connection tunnel, connection tunnel, all have the same meaning, and can be specifically referred to the curved part shown in FIG. 2B, which is specifically the service message forwarding path, including the tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device. The second network device can be referred to as the base station currently accessed by the UE, and when the UE moves / handover to access the base station, the second network device is also referred to as the source base station. The third network device can be referred to as the base station connected to the computing power node.

[0172] When the first terminal accesses the computing power node #1 through the second network device and the third network device, the user equipment context UE context saved by the second network device includes at least one of the following: UE ID, air interface bearer (such as data radio bearer DRB), computing power service related information (such as anycast, index / id, service ID, application identifier APP ID, etc.), tunnel information of the third network device. The user equipment context UE context saved by the third network device includes at least one of the following: UE ID, computing power service related information (such as anycast, index / id, service ID, APP ID, etc.), tunnel information of the second network device.

[0173] In this scenario, the transmission path of the computing power message (service message) is as follows:

[0174] For uplink message:

[0175] Step 1: The first terminal sends a computing power message to the second network device through an air interface bearer. The source IP of the computing power message is the UE IP, and the destination IP is the IP of the computing power node or the IP of the gateway.

[0176] Step 2: The second network device determines that the received message is a computing power message.

[0177] Step 3: The message is sent to the third network device through a tunnel between the second network device and the third network device.

[0178] The second network device determines that the received message is a computing power message, which can be determined by:

[0179] According to the IP header information of the received message (such as according to the IP three tuple, the IP five tuple, the destination IP, etc.), or according to the correspondence between the air interface bearer and the Xn bearer, that is, the message from the air interface bearer 1 is sent through the Xn bearer 1, and the Xn bearer refers to the tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device.

[0180] Step 4: Optionally, the third network device performs address translation on the source IP of the message, i.e. the UE IP, such as network address translation (NAT) conversion, i.e. converting the UE IP into other IP, such as other IP is referred to as NATed UE IP.

[0181] Step 5: The third network device forwards the message to the computing power node.

[0182] For downlink messages:

[0183] Step 6: The third network device receives the message sent by the computing power node, and the destination address is NATed UE IP.

[0184] Step 7: The third network device performs NAT conversion on the destination address and converts it into the UE IP.

[0185] Step 8: The third network device forwards the message to the second network device according to the message header characteristics and the saved first terminal context.

[0186] Step 9: The second network device sends the message to the first terminal through the air interface bearer.

[0187] Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a schematic diagram of another architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication system is a system architecture in a scenario where a UE switches access to a base station due to movement or other factors. The communication system includes a first terminal, a first network device, a second network device, and a third network device, wherein the first network device is a network device (such as a base station) to which the first terminal newly accesses, the second network device is a network device to which the first terminal originally accesses, and the third network device is a network device that provides computing power services for the first terminal. For example, the first terminal invokes a computing power service E, the second network device cannot provide the computing power service E, because an algorithm node #6 connected to the third network device provides the computing power service E, and therefore the third network device provides the computing power service E for the first terminal.

[0188] As shown in FIG. 3, in an alternative embodiment, the uplink message sent by the first terminal can be ultimately transmitted to the algorithm node via the first terminal, the first network device, and the third network device, and the downlink message sent by the algorithm node is opposite to this. In another alternative embodiment, the uplink message sent by the first terminal can be ultimately transmitted to the algorithm node via the first terminal, the first network device, the second network device, and the third network device, and the downlink message sent by the algorithm node is opposite to this.

[0189] It is considered that the topological relationship between the base station (network device) and the algorithm node is 1:n. Therefore, the base station and the algorithm node can be connected based on IP routing. The UE IP is not anchored at the base station: for example, the UE IP is anchored at the UPF / centralized network element, or the UE IP has no anchor point. Therefore, when the UE accesses the algorithm node by crossing the base station, the base stations need to be connected based on tunnel routing. Generally, the tunnel connection is used for message transmission, and when the terminal (the first terminal) changes the base station, the tunnel connection needs to be updated; in addition, there is a temporarily established tunnel connection, which is called a forwarding tunnel. The forwarding tunnel is used only for transmitting part of the message in the process of base station switching in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the part of the message that cannot be transmitted to the UE by the source base station through the air interface.

[0190] In an alternative embodiment, the base station to which the UE accesses due to movement or other factors is the third network device, that is, the first network device and the third network device are the same device, and therefore the third network device can perform the same method steps and operations as the first network device. Similarly, the first network device can also perform the same method steps and operations as the third network device. Therefore, the communication system shown in FIG. 3 includes the first terminal, the second network device, and the third network device. Correspondingly, the forwarding path of the service message in this scenario is different from that in other scenarios.

[0191] The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "Multiple" means two or more, and therefore, "multiple" can also be understood as "at least two" in the embodiments of the present application. "At least one" can be understood as one or more, for example, as one, two or more. For example, "including at least one" means including one, two or more, and does not limit which ones are included. For example, "including at least one of A, B and C" means that A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C can be included. Similarly, the understanding of "at least one" and the like is similar. "At least one of the following" or the like means any combination of the items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, "at least one of A, B and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. "And / or", which describes the association relationship of the associated objects, means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which means that there are three cases of A alone, A and B together, and B alone. In addition, the character " / ", unless otherwise specified, generally represents an "or" relationship between the front and rear associated objects.

[0192] Unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers "first", "second" and the like mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish a plurality of objects, and are not used to limit the order, time sequence, priority or importance of the plurality of objects, and the description of "first", "second" does not necessarily mean that the objects are different.

[0193] The above mainly introduces the communication system architecture to which the embodiments of the present application can be applied, and the method provided by the present application is described below. The method provided by the present application can be applied in the communication system architecture shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 3, and of course, can also be applied in other scene architectures. The method introduced below is mainly applied to the communication system shown in FIG. 3, and it should be understood that the communication system architecture shown in FIG. 3 is the communication system architecture after the terminal performs base station switching, and therefore, the corresponding method can include methods in and after base station switching.

[0194] For details, please refer to FIG. 4, which is a flow diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method at least includes steps S401 and S402, and specifically as follows:

[0195] Step S401: The second network device sends a first message to the first network device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the first message from the second network device.

[0196] Among them, the first network device is the network device currently accessed by the first terminal, and the second network device is the network device accessed by the first terminal before the first network device.

[0197] The first message is used to indicate that the first terminal currently connected by the first network device has a service service access requirement. It should be noted that the first message can also be used to represent that the second network device provides service (such as computing power service) for the first terminal. It should be understood that the "second network device provides service for the first terminal" is essentially that the second network device can provide service message forwarding service, that is, the second network device can connect the computing power node to provide service message forwarding service, or the second network device connects the computing power node through the third network device to provide service message forwarding service, or the second network device connects the computing power node through the user plane function network element to provide service message forwarding service. The user plane function network element is deployed on the side of the second network device / third network device or near the side of the second network device / third network device. The content of the first message is not limited in the present application.

[0198] In a possible scenario of the embodiments of the present application, when the first terminal accesses the network device (such as a base station) before switching, the first terminal accesses the service function across the base station (that is, through the second network device and the third network device) or across the network element (that is, through the path between the user plane function network element and the user plane function network element), therefore, in this possible scenario, the network device that essentially provides service for the first terminal is the third network device, or the user plane function network element on or near the third network device.

[0199] Optionally, the first message can be a computing power indication message, which is used to indicate that the first network device allocates tunnel information. It should be understood that the tunnel information here is the tunnel information of the first network device.

[0200] To improve the efficiency of the route adjustment, in an optional implementation, the first message is carried by a second message (the second message can be a handover request message) sent by the second network device, the second message being used to request to switch the air interface configuration of the first terminal; correspondingly, the first network device receives the second message. After receiving the second message, the first network device performs admission control and returns an acknowledgement message corresponding to the second message. Optionally, the acknowledgement message can include the tunnel information of the first network device, and when the first terminal switches the network device, the second network device sends a message (the second message) for switching the air interface configuration, the first message being carried by the message for switching the air interface configuration, so that the first network device, while establishing the connection with the first terminal, senses that the first terminal needs to access the service, and then establishes the service packet forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device, thereby improving the efficiency of the route adjustment. It should be understood that the first terminal needs to access the service can be described as that the first terminal accesses the service through the base station (network device) or accesses the service through the base station and the user plane function network element. The user plane function network element is deployed at or near the base station.

[0201] Further, the carrying here can mean that the second message is the first message, that is, the second message is also used to indicate that the first terminal currently connected by the first network device has the service access requirement, or that the first message is also used to request to switch the air interface configuration of the first terminal; or the indication information corresponding to the first message is carried by the second message, and other descriptions related to the carrying correspond to similar possible implementations, which are not limited in the present application.

[0202] It should be understood that in different implementation scenarios, the first message can also be sent alone or carried by other messages.

[0203] Step S402: establishing a service packet forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device.

[0204] The third network device is a network device that provides the service for the first terminal. It can also be described that the first terminal accesses the computing power node through the third network device.

[0205] In an optional implementation, the service packet forwarding path can include a direct tunnel connection between the first network device and the third network device, or can include a tunnel connection between the first network device and the second network device and a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device.

[0206] In an optional implementation, the service packet forwarding path includes at least a first tunnel and a second tunnel, the first tunnel being a downlink tunnel from the third network device to the first network device, and the second tunnel being an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the third network device.

[0207] It should be understood that the third network device can establish a downlink tunnel from the third network device to the first network device after receiving the tunnel information of the first network device; and the first network device can establish an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the third network device after receiving the tunnel information of the third network device.

[0208] Considering that the first network device and the third network device can be isolated in a domain, the second network device can be used as an intermediary for forwarding the tunnel message to realize the transmission / forwarding of the tunnel information.

[0209] Optionally, the first message sent by the second network device further includes an identifier of the third network device, and the first network device can directly interact with the third network device according to the identifier of the third network device, so as to establish a service message forwarding path between the third network device and the first network device.

[0210] The first network device and the third network device are connected through the first tunnel and the second tunnel in the embodiment, and the service message can be quickly forwarded.

[0211] In another optional embodiment, in order to avoid resource waste, considering that a tunnel connection can exist between the second network device and the third network device before the first network device switches to access the network device, the existing tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device can be used. Specifically, the service message forwarding path includes at least a third tunnel, a fourth tunnel and a fifth tunnel, the third tunnel is a downlink tunnel from the second network device to the first network device, the fourth tunnel is an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the second network device, and the fifth tunnel is a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device.

[0212] It can be understood that if the first message includes the tunnel information of the second network device, the first network device can establish the fourth tunnel after receiving the first message.

[0213] The method provided by the embodiment of the application is different from the UE accessing a service function through a UPF in the prior art. The service message forwarding path provided by the embodiment of the application involves a third network device, and the third network device is used to access a service function, which changes the scheme of controlling the message forwarding path through a SMF in the prior art, so that each device on the path can control the path.

[0214] Further, the first network device receives a first message from the second network device, the first message indicating that the first terminal currently connected by the first network device has a service access requirement, and establishes a service packet forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device according to the first message, thereby realizing the capability of quickly establishing a service packet routing after the UE (user equipment) switches to access the network device. This mechanism significantly reduces the service interruption time, improves the user experience, optimizes the use efficiency of network resources, and ensures the continuity and stability of service.

[0215] To further illustrate the establishment process of the service packet forwarding path, two possible implementations of the service packet forwarding path are illustrated using FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, respectively, as follows:

[0216] Possible implementation 1, the service packet forwarding path includes at least a first tunnel and a second tunnel. The service packet forwarding path can also be described as a terminal connecting a computing power node through a network device and / or a user plane function network element. The user plane function network element is deployed near the network device. Accordingly, the service packet forwarding path in possible implementation 1 can be replaced by a service packet forwarding path between the network device and the user plane function network element, such as a service packet forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device, which can be replaced by a service packet forwarding path between the user plane function network element and the user plane function network element, or a service packet forwarding path between the first network device and the user plane function network element. For example, in the downlink path, the user plane function network element deployed in or near the first network device sends the downlink service packet to the first network device after receiving the downlink service packet sent by the user plane function network element deployed in or near the third network device, and sends the downlink service packet to the first terminal through the air interface or directly to the first terminal.

[0217] Please see FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application, wherein steps S501 and S502 are mandatory steps, and the remaining steps are optional steps. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a service packet forwarding path provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in FIG. 5 can be a branch scheme of the method corresponding to FIG. 4, so the naming / description in the method shown in FIG. 5 is the same as the naming / description in the method shown in FIG. 4, and the corresponding possible implementation / optional implementation can also be reused. The present application will not be described again. The above communication method specifically includes:

[0218] Step S501: The second network device sends a first message to the first network device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the first message from the second network device.

[0219] In an optional implementation, the first message is carried by a second message sent by the second network device to the first network device, and the second message is used to request switching of the air interface configuration of the first terminal; correspondingly, the first network device sends an acknowledgement message corresponding to the second message to the second network device, and the second network device receives the acknowledgement message from the first network device.

[0220] Optionally, the first message / second message can include tunnel information (second tunnel information) of the third network device, i.e., tunnel information tunnel info of the third network device.

[0221] Optionally, after receiving the above-mentioned acknowledgement message, the second network device sends a message related to air interface reconfiguration to the first terminal, carrying a switching command.

[0222] Step S502: The first network device sends first tunnel information to the second network device. Correspondingly, the second network device receives the first tunnel information from the first network device.

[0223] The first tunnel information includes tunnel information of the first network device, and the first tunnel information is used to establish a first tunnel, which is a downlink tunnel from the third network device to the first network device. The above-mentioned downlink tunnel refers to a tunnel connection through which the third network device sends information to the first network device, and the above-mentioned uplink tunnel refers to a tunnel connection through which the first network device sends information to the third network device.

[0224] It should be understood that the second network device can act as a message relay station between the first network device and the third network device, and therefore the first tunnel information is forwarded by the second network device, thereby realizing establishment of the first tunnel.

[0225] It is considered that the second network device acts as an intermediary for forwarding tunnel information mainly because the second network device is a network device originally accessed by the first terminal, and therefore the second network device can store tunnel information of the third network device, reducing the interactive process, and the first network device and the third network device can exist in domain isolation and cannot directly communicate. In the present embodiment, by establishing a tunnel connection between the first network device and the third network device, the second network device is crossed, and fast forwarding of service packets is realized.

[0226] Since the first terminal switches the accessed network device, the first network device is newly accessed, and the downlink service message stored / ready to send by the second network device accessed originally cannot be sent to the first terminal, therefore, the forwarding tunnel between the newly established second network device and the second network device is used to deliver the downlink service message at the second network device, avoiding the message loss or out-of-order problem caused by network switching. In an optional implementation, the service message forwarding path further includes a forwarding tunnel between the first network device and the second network device. Specifically, the first network device sends fifth tunnel information to the second network device, the fifth tunnel information includes the forwarding tunnel information of the first network device, and the fifth tunnel information is used to establish the forwarding tunnel between the first network device and the second network device, and the forwarding tunnel is used for the second network device to forward the downlink service message to the first network device.

[0227] Optionally, the fifth tunnel information can be carried by the above-mentioned confirmation message.

[0228] Step S503: The second network device sends a third message to the third network device. Correspondingly, the third network device receives the third message from the second network device.

[0229] The third message is used to instruct to establish a tunnel connection between the first network device and the third network device, and the third message includes the first tunnel information. It can be understood that the third message can also be used to request the tunnel information of the third network device.

[0230] Optionally, when the first message contains the tunnel information of the third network device, steps S503 to S505 do not need to be performed. However, considering domain isolation, the first network device can not reuse the tunnel information of the third network device, in which case steps S503 to S505 need to be performed. It should be understood that the above-mentioned not needing to perform step S503 means not needing the second network device to send the third message, but the first tunnel information needs to be transmitted to the third network device, therefore, if step S503 is not performed, the second network device sends the first tunnel information to the third network device.

[0231] In an optional implementation, the second network device performs step S503 when a first condition is met, and the first condition includes one or more of the following: receiving the tunnel information of the first network device, or storing the tunnel information of the third network device. It can be understood that since the second network device can have stored the tunnel information of the third network device before receiving the first message, step S503 can occur before step S501.

[0232] Optionally, the second network device having stored the tunnel information of the third network device can mean that the second network device includes the cross-base station information in the saved UE context.

[0233] Step S504: The third network device sends second tunnel information to the second network device. Correspondingly, the second network device receives the second tunnel information from the third network device.

[0234] Optionally, the third network device determines to provide service for the first terminal, and then the third network device performs step S504. Optionally, the third network device can determine that it should provide service for the first terminal based on the first message or the tunnel information of the second network device stored by itself.

[0235] The second tunnel information includes tunnel information of the third network device, and the second tunnel information is used to establish a second tunnel, which is an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the third network device.

[0236] It can be understood that step S504 is the same as step S503, and can occur before step S501.

[0237] Step S505: The second network device sends the second tunnel information to the first network device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the second tunnel information.

[0238] Optionally, the first tunnel information includes a tunnel endpoint identifier (TEID) and an IP address of the first network device, and the second tunnel information includes a TEID and an IP address of the third network device, and the TEID of the first network device and the TEID of the third network device are used to identify a tunnel corresponding to a service packet.

[0239] It can be understood that, for the first network device, a source IP address of the service packet transmitted on the tunnel is the IP address of the first network device, and a target IP address is the IP address of the third network device; for the third network device, a source IP address of the service packet transmitted on the tunnel is the IP address of the third network device, and a target IP address is the IP address of the first network device.

[0240] The tunnel information of the first network device carries the IP address and the TEID of the first network device, so as to realize that the third network device directly sends calculation data (i.e., the service packet) to the first network device; the tunnel information of the third network device carries the IP address and the TEID of the third network device, so as to realize that the first network device directly sends calculation data to the third network device.

[0241] Optionally, the TEID of the first network device and the TEID of the third network device are used to identify the tunnel connection corresponding to the service message, that is, the TEID of the first network device and the TEID of the third network device are used to identify the tunnel connection used by a certain terminal device to transmit the service message, and different terminal devices use different tunnels, and when there are multiple terminal devices, different TEIDs need to be used to identify the tunnel connections used by different terminal devices to transmit the computing data, so as to facilitate the identification of the tunnels used by different terminal devices. It should be understood that when a terminal has multiple connections, different TEIDs need to be used to identify the tunnel connections used by the service messages on different connections. Among them, the multiple connections of the terminal refer to the connections between the terminal and the base station. When the user plane function network element is deployed on the side or near the base station, it refers to the connection between the terminal and the base station, the user plane function network element.

[0242] Yet another optional, based on the TEID and IP address of the first network device, and the TEID and IP address of the third network device to identify the tunnel connection corresponding to the service message, that is, the TEID and IP address of the first network device, and the TEID and IP address of the third network device are used to identify the tunnel connection corresponding to the service message transmitted by a certain terminal device, wherein the IP address refers to the IP address of the tunnel endpoint, and different terminal devices use different tunnels, and when there are multiple terminal devices, different TEIDs and IP addresses can be used to identify the tunnel connections corresponding to the service messages used by different terminal devices to transmit the computing data, so as to facilitate the identification of the tunnel connections corresponding to the service messages used by different terminal devices.

[0243] In an optional implementation, the second tunnel information can be carried through the sequence number status transfer message.

[0244] When the first message contains the tunnel information of the third network device, steps S503 to S505 do not need to be performed. However, considering that the third network device has no awareness of this, in an optional implementation, the second network device sends a notification message to the third network device, and the notification message is used to notify the third network device that the tunnel connection between the third network device and the first network device has been established.

[0245] In an alternative implementation, the second network device sends a fourth message to the third network device, the fourth message being used to instruct the third network device to send a second end identifier through a fifth tunnel, wherein the fifth tunnel is a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device, and the second end identifier is used to instruct the fifth tunnel to stop transmitting service packets; correspondingly, the third network device receives the fourth message and sends the second end identifier through the fifth tunnel, and the second network device receives the second end identifier through the fifth tunnel, thereby indicating that there is no other service packet transmission on the fifth tunnel. Optionally, the second network device sends the fourth message to the third network device before sending the second tunnel message. It should be understood that the second end identifier is sent by the second network device to the first network device. Before receiving the second end identifier, the first network device buffers the downlink packets from the third network device. After receiving the second end identifier, the first network device sends the buffered downlink packets to the first terminal.

[0246] Optionally, since the old packet forwarding path (the tunnel connection between the third network device and the second network device) no longer receives service packets, the second network device sends a sequence number status transfer message to the first network device, the sequence number status transfer message being used to indicate the sequence number status of the service packets.

[0247] If the first message does not include the tunnel information of the third network device, the second tunnel information can be carried by the sequence number status transfer message.

[0248] At this point, the tunnel connection between the first network device and the third network device is established, i.e., the new service packet forwarding path is established. For details, please refer to FIG. 6, wherein the dashed line part in FIG. 6 is the old service packet forwarding path, and the solid line part is the new service packet forwarding path.

[0249] In order to ensure the integrity and order of the sequence numbers of the service packets, in an alternative implementation, the first network device buffers a first packet received on the service packet forwarding path; the first network device receives a first end identifier on other paths, the first end identifier being used to instruct the current path to stop transmitting service packets, and the other paths include paths other than the service packet forwarding path, which are referred to as old paths, such as the forwarding tunnel. Therefore, the above-mentioned first network device receiving the first end identifier on the other paths can be replaced by the second network device sending the first end identifier through the forwarding tunnel, and the first network device receiving the first end identifier on the forwarding tunnel. After that, the first network device sends the first packet to the first terminal.

[0250] It can be understood that the old path that needs to send the end identifier can also include the fifth tunnel, if the other paths include the fifth tunnel, the corresponding end identifier is the second end identifier, and specifically, the third network device sends the second end identifier through the fifth tunnel, and the second network device receives the second end identifier through the fifth tunnel.

[0251] In a possible implementation, the first tunnel information or the fifth tunnel information is carried through the confirmation message.

[0252] In a possible implementation, the second tunnel information is carried through the second message.

[0253] In the embodiment, the first tunnel and the second tunnel can be collectively referred to as a service message forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device. In actual application, the uplink service message of the first terminal is sent to the third network device through the second tunnel, and then forwarded to the service function (such as a computing node). The downlink service message of the first terminal is transmitted through the following sequence: service function, third network device, first network device, and first terminal, so that the downlink transmission of the service message is fast, convenient, and efficient.

[0254] Possibly, the service message forwarding path includes at least a third tunnel, a fourth tunnel, and a fifth tunnel. The third tunnel is a downlink tunnel from the second network device to the first network device. The fourth tunnel is an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the second network device. The fifth tunnel is a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device. It should be understood that the fifth tunnel includes an uplink tunnel from the second network device to the third network device and / or a downlink tunnel from the third network device to the second network device.

[0255] Please see FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of another service message forwarding path provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in FIG. 7 can be a branch scheme of the method corresponding to FIG. 4. Therefore, if the description in the method shown in FIG. 7 is the same as the description in the method shown in FIG. 4, the corresponding possible implementation / optional implementation can also be reused. The present application will not repeat it here. The above communication method specifically includes:

[0256] Step S701: The second network device sends a first message to the first network device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the first message from the second network device.

[0257] The service message forwarding path in the embodiment includes a tunnel connection between the first network device and the second network device (including an uplink tunnel and a downlink tunnel), and a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device. Optionally, the tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device is already established and can be directly used between the network devices to which the first terminal switches to access. Accordingly, the action of establishing the service message forwarding path includes establishing the tunnel connection between the first network device and the second network device.

[0258] Step S702: The first network device sends third tunnel information to the second network device. Accordingly, the second network device receives the third tunnel information from the first network device.

[0259] The third tunnel information includes tunnel information of the first network device, and the third tunnel information is used to establish a third tunnel, which is a downlink tunnel from the second network device to the first network device.

[0260] Step S703: The second network device sends fourth tunnel information to the first network device. Accordingly, the first network device receives the fourth tunnel information from the second network device.

[0261] The fourth tunnel information includes tunnel information of the second network device, and the fourth tunnel information is used to establish a fourth tunnel, which is an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the second network device.

[0262] In an optional implementation, the third tunnel information includes a TEID and an IP address of the first network device, and the fourth tunnel information includes a TEID and an IP address of the second network device. The TEID of the first network device and the TEID of the second network device are used to identify the tunnel connection corresponding to the service message.

[0263] It can be understood that, for the first network device, the source IP address is the IP address of the first network device itself, and the target IP address is the IP address of the second network device; for the second network device, the source IP address is the IP address of the second network device itself, and the target IP address is the IP address of the first network device.

[0264] The tunnel information of the first network device carries the IP address and the TEID of the first network device, so as to enable the second network device to directly send calculation data to the first network device. The tunnel information of the second network device carries the IP address and the TEID of the second network device, so as to enable the first network device to directly send calculation data to the second network device.

[0265] In an optional implementation, the first message includes the fourth tunnel information. If the first message includes the fourth tunnel information, step S703 is not performed.

[0266] In an alternative implementation, the first message is carried by a second message sent by the second network device to the first network device, the second message being used to request switching of the air interface configuration of the first terminal; and the second network device receives an acknowledgement message from the first network device.

[0267] If the first message does not include the fourth tunnel information, after the second network device receives the acknowledgement message from the first network device, the second network device sends a sequence number status transfer message to the third network device, through which the fourth tunnel information is sent.

[0268] At this point, the new service message forwarding path is established. For details, refer to FIG. 8, the dashed line part in FIG. 8 is the old service message forwarding path, and the solid line part is the new service message forwarding path.

[0269] In an alternative implementation, before the new service message forwarding path is established, a forwarding tunnel between the first network device and the second network device can be established for transferring downstream service messages, specifically, the second network device receives fifth tunnel information sent by the first network device, the fifth tunnel information including the forwarding tunnel information of the first network device, and the fifth tunnel information is used to establish a forwarding tunnel between the first network device and the second network device, and the forwarding tunnel is used for the second network device to forward downstream service messages to the first network device.

[0270] In an alternative implementation, after the new service message forwarding path is established, the second network device sends a first end identifier or a third end identifier through the forwarding tunnel, and correspondingly, the first network device receives the first end identifier or the third end identifier through the forwarding tunnel, and the third end identifier is used to indicate that the forwarding tunnel stops transmitting service messages.

[0271] In an alternative implementation, the third tunnel information or the fifth tunnel information can be carried by the acknowledgement message.

[0272] In an alternative implementation, the network device newly accessed by the first terminal is the third network device, that is, the first network device and the third network device are the same device, for details, refer to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of another communication scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application, and FIG. 10 is a diagram of another service message forwarding path provided by the embodiments of the present application; the method shown in FIG. 9 can be a branch scheme of the method corresponding to FIG. 4, so if the description in the method shown in FIG. 9 is the same as the description in the method shown in FIG. 4, the corresponding possible implementation / alternative implementation can also be reused, and the present application will not repeat it here. Details are as follows:

[0273] Step S901: The second network device sends a second message to the third network device. Correspondingly, the third network device receives the second message sent from the second network device.

[0274] Optionally, the second message includes the first message. The description of the second message / first message can be referred to the related description in the foregoing FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 7, which will not be repeated here.

[0275] Step S902: The third network device determines to provide service for the first terminal.

[0276] In an optional implementation, the step S902 is an optional step, that is, the third network device does not need to determine to provide service for the first terminal, and directly enters the step S903.

[0277] Optionally, the third network device can determine that it should provide service for the first terminal based on the first message included in the second message or the tunnel information of the second network device stored by itself.

[0278] Step S903: The third network device sends an acknowledgement message to the second network device. Correspondingly, the second network device receives the acknowledgement message from the third network device.

[0279] The acknowledgement message includes the forwarding tunnel information of the third network device. Optionally, the second network device sends its own forwarding tunnel information to the third network device, so that the forwarding tunnel between the second network device and the third network device is established.

[0280] Optionally, before the forwarding tunnel is established, the third network device caches the computing power message from the computing power node or the user plane function network element until the forwarding tunnel is successfully established.

[0281] Step S904: The third network device sends a first end identifier through a fifth tunnel. Correspondingly, the second network device receives the first end identifier through the fifth tunnel.

[0282] The fifth tunnel is a tunnel between the third network device and the second network device.

[0283] The first end identifier is used to indicate that the current path stops transmitting service messages, and the current path here is the fifth tunnel. Optionally, the first end identifier described above can also be a second end identifier, and the second end identifier is used to indicate that the fifth tunnel stops transmitting service messages. This means that the second network device can perceive that the fifth tunnel will not have subsequent service message transmission through the received first end identifier.

[0284] The second network device sends the first end identifier to the third network device, and the identifier is sent through the forwarding tunnel between the second network device and the third network device. The forwarding tunnel is established through the step S903.

[0285] Optionally, the third network device buffers the subsequently received downlink packets (i.e., the packets received from the computing power node or the user plane function network element) until the end identifier on the forwarding tunnel is received.

[0286] Step S905: The second network device sends the first end identifier through the forwarding tunnel. Correspondingly, the third network device receives the first end identifier on the forwarding tunnel.

[0287] Optionally, after receiving the end identifier on the forwarding tunnel, the third network device sends the buffered downlink packets to the first terminal through the air interface. Optionally, steps S904 and S905 are optional steps, i.e., the third network device can directly determine that the fifth tunnel is deactivated without sending / receiving the first end identifier, based on the UE context or other information stored by the third network device, which includes the sequence number state of the historical downlink packets. For example, if the third network device determines to provide service for the first terminal, it can be determined that the second network device currently has no buffered packets, based on whether the sequence number state of the downlink packets of the first terminal received through the forwarding tunnel corresponds to the sequence number state of the downlink packets of the first terminal sent through the fifth tunnel (for example, the sequence numbers of the downlink packets of the first terminal sent through the fifth tunnel include 1-5, and the sequence numbers of the downlink packets of the first terminal received through the forwarding tunnel include 1-5, it is determined that the second network device currently has no buffered packets, so the subsequent downlink packets are directly sent to the first terminal through the air interface without being transmitted through the fifth tunnel, the second network device, and the forwarding tunnel).

[0288] In the corresponding scenario of FIG. 10, the third network device can determine to provide service for the first terminal based on the first message or the UE context stored by the third network device, such as the tunnel information corresponding to the UE ID, such as the tunnel information of the second network device / third network device, i.e., the third network device determines to provide service for the first terminal.

[0289] It should be understood that the above-mentioned tunnel information or first information and the like can be carried by various messages, and is not limited to the tunnel information or first information. The tunnel information or first information can be sent / received separately, and the carrying mode is only used to reduce the number of information transmission / reception, save resource consumption, and improve the adjustment efficiency of the service packet forwarding path.

[0290] The above describes the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application in combination with FIGS. 4, 5, 7, and 9. The communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below in combination with FIGS. 11 and 12. It should be understood that the description of the embodiments of the communication device corresponds to the description of the embodiments of the communication method, and therefore, the parts not described in detail can be referred to the foregoing method embodiments.

[0291] Referring to FIG. 11, FIG. 11 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided in the present application. As shown in FIG. 11, the communication apparatus 110 can include a transceiver unit 1101 and a processing unit 1102.

[0292] In some possible implementation manners, the communication apparatus 110 can correspond to the first network device in the communication method shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 7 or FIG. 9, or a component (such as a circuit, a chip or a chip system) configured in the first network device.

[0293] Specifically, the transceiver unit 1101 is configured to receive a first message from a second network device, the first message being used to indicate that a first terminal currently connected to the first network device has a service access requirement; and the processing unit 1102 is configured to establish a service packet forwarding path between the first network device and a third network device according to the first message, the third network device being a network device providing a service for the first terminal.

[0294] It should be understood that other function implementations of the units can also correspond to the descriptions of the method steps implemented by the first network device in the communication method shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 7 or FIG. 9, and thus will not be described herein.

[0295] Referring to FIG. 11, in some possible implementation manners, the communication apparatus 110 can correspond to the second network device in the communication method shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 7 or FIG. 9, or a component (such as a circuit, a chip or a chip system) configured in the second network device.

[0296] In specific implementations, the transceiver unit 1101 is configured to send a first message to a first network device, the first message being used to indicate that a first terminal currently connected to the first network device has a service access requirement; and the processing unit 1102 is configured to establish a service packet forwarding path between the first network device and a third network device, the third network device being a network device providing a service for the first terminal. It should be understood that other function implementations of the units can also correspond to the descriptions of the method steps implemented by the second network device in the communication method shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 7 or FIG. 9, and thus will not be described herein.

[0297] Referring to FIG. 11, in some possible implementation manners, the communication apparatus 110 can correspond to the third network device in the communication method shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 7 or FIG. 9, or a component (such as a circuit, a chip or a chip system) configured in the third network device.

[0298] The transceiver unit 1101 is configured to receive first tunnel information, the first tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the first network device, the first tunnel information being used to establish a first tunnel, the first tunnel being a downlink tunnel from the third network device to the first network device; and the transceiver unit 1101 is further configured to send a service packet through the first tunnel; or,

[0299] The transceiver unit 1101 is configured to send the service packet through a fifth tunnel, the fifth tunnel being a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device.

[0300] It should be understood that other function implementations of the various units can also correspond to the descriptions of the method steps implemented by the third network device in the communication method shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 7 or FIG. 9, and thus will not be described herein.

[0301] Referring to FIG. 12, FIG. 12 is a structural schematic diagram of another communication apparatus provided in the present application. The communication apparatus 120 can be configured to implement the operations performed by the first network device, the second network device or the third network device in the above-described embodiments, or the communication apparatus 120 can be the first network device, the second network device or the third network device described above. The communication apparatus 120 comprises a processor 1201, a memory 1202 and a bus system 1203.

[0302] The memory 1202 comprises, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM or CD-ROM, and is configured to store relevant instructions and data. The memory 1202 stores the following elements, executable modules or data structures, or a subset thereof, or an extended set thereof:

[0303] Operation instructions: comprising various operation instructions, used to implement various operations.

[0304] Operating system: comprising various system programs, used to implement various basic services and process hardware-based tasks.

[0305] Only one memory is shown in FIG. 12, and of course, the memory can also be set to multiple according to needs.

[0306] The communication apparatus 120 can further comprise a transceiver 1204. The transceiver 1204 can be a communication module or a transceiver circuit. In the embodiments of the present application, the transceiver 1204 is configured to perform the receiving and sending operations of the messages involved in the above-described embodiments.

[0307] The processor 1201 can be a controller, a CPU, a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or other programmable logic device, transistor logic device, hardware component, or any combination thereof. The processor 1201 can also be a combination of implementing computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, and the like.

[0308] In a specific application, various components of the communication apparatus 120 are coupled together by a bus system 1203, which can include a data bus, a power bus, a control bus, and a state signal bus. For the sake of clarity, the various buses are illustrated in Figure 12 as the bus system 1203. Only those components necessary for illustrating the embodiments are shown in Figure 12.

[0309] In a specific implementation, the communication apparatus 120 can perform the steps of the method performed by the first network device, the second network device, or the third network device in any of the above embodiments. Specifically, when the communication apparatus 120 is used to implement each step performed by the first network device, the second network device, or the third network device in the communication method provided by any of the above embodiments, the processor 1201 can implement the functions of the processing unit 1102, and the transceiver 1204 can implement the functions of the transceiving unit 1101.

[0310] It should be noted that in actual applications, the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capability. In the implementation process, each step of the above method embodiments can be completed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in the processor or instructions in the form of software. The processor described above can be a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. Each method, step, and logic block diagram disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can be any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as a hardware code processor for execution, or a combination of hardware and software modules in the code processor for execution. The software module can be located in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read only memory, a programmable read only memory, an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, or other mature storage medium in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory, and combines the hardware to complete the steps of the above method.

[0311] It can be appreciated that the memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. Among them, the nonvolatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM can be used, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory described in the embodiments of the present application is intended to include, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0312] The present application also provides a computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program, which, when executed by a computer, implements the method steps performed by the first network device, the second network device, or the third network device in the communication method provided in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 7, or FIG. 9.

[0313] The present application also provides a computer program product, which, when executed by a computer, implements the method steps performed by the first network device, the second network device, or the third network device in the communication method provided in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 7, or FIG. 9.

[0314] The present application also provides a chip, which at least includes a processor. The processor is used to execute computer execution instructions to enable the device installed with the chip to implement the method steps performed by the first network device, the second network device, or the third network device in the communication method provided in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 7, or FIG. 9.

[0315] Optionally, the chip further includes an interface circuit. The interface circuit is configured to receive computer-executable instructions and transmit the computer-executable instructions to the processor.

[0316] The chip system includes a processor configured to support the first network device, the second network device, or the third network device to implement the method steps of the communication method provided in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 7, or FIG. 9, such as generating or processing data and / or information involved in the above method. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory configured to store program instructions and data necessary for the data transmitting device. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0317] The communication system includes at least the first terminal, the first network device, the second network device, and the third network device described above. The first terminal, the first network device, the second network device, and the third network device work cooperatively to implement the communication method shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 7, or FIG. 9.

[0318] In the above method embodiments, the methods can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, the methods can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed by a computer, the computer instructions generate, in whole or in part, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application. 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 transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center through a wired (for example, coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless (for example, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that includes one or more available media sets. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (for example, floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, high-density digital video disc (DVD), or a semiconductor medium (for example, solid state disk (SSD), etc.

[0319] In various embodiments of the present application, the terms and / or descriptions among different embodiments are consistent and can be referred to each other if there is no special description and logical conflict, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0320] It can be understood that various numerical numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for convenient differentiation, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the serial number of each process does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined according to its function and inherent logic.

[0321] The above only describes the preferred embodiments of the technical solutions of the present application, and is not used to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to a first network device, and the method comprises: receiving a first message from a second network device, the first message being used to indicate that a first terminal currently connected to the first network device has a service access requirement; establishing a service packet forwarding path between the first network device and a third network device according to the first message, the third network device being a network device for providing a service to the first terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first message is carried by a second message sent by the second network device, and the second message is used to request switching of air interface configuration of the first terminal. The method further comprises: sending a confirmation message to the second network device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The establishing of the service packet forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device according to the first message comprises: sending first tunnel information, the first tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the first network device, the first tunnel information being used to establish a first tunnel, the first tunnel being a downlink tunnel from the third network device to the first network device; receiving second tunnel information, the second tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the third network device, the second tunnel information being used to establish a second tunnel, the second tunnel being an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the third network device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The service packet forwarding path comprises at least the first tunnel and the second tunnel.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The establishing of the service packet forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device comprises: establishing a tunnel connection between the first network device and the second network device; establishing the service packet forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device based on the tunnel connection between the first network device and the second network device and a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, The establishing of the tunnel connection between the first network device and the second network device comprises: sending third tunnel information, the third tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the first network device, the third tunnel information being used to establish a third tunnel, the third tunnel being a downlink tunnel from the second network device to the first network device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving fourth tunnel information, the fourth tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the second network device, the fourth tunnel information being used to establish a fourth tunnel, the fourth tunnel being an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the second network device.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein, The first message comprises the fourth tunnel information.

9. The method according to any one of claims 6-8, characterized in that, The service packet forwarding path comprises at least the third tunnel, the fourth tunnel and a fifth tunnel, the fifth tunnel being a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The method further comprises: sending fifth tunnel information, the fifth tunnel information comprising forwarding tunnel information of the first network device, the fifth tunnel information being used to establish a forwarding tunnel between the first network device and the second network device, the forwarding tunnel being used for the second network device to forward downlink service packets to the first network device.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, The method further comprises: buffering first packets received on the service packet forwarding path; receive a first end identifier on another path, the another path including a path other than the service message forwarding path, the first end identifier being used to indicate that a current path stops transmitting service messages; send the first message to the first terminal.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein, The first tunnel information, the third tunnel information or the fifth tunnel information is carried in the confirmation message, the first tunnel information being used to establish a first tunnel, the first tunnel being a downlink tunnel from the third network device to the first network device.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein, The second tunnel information is carried in the second message.

14. A communication method, comprising: The method is applied to a second network device, and the method comprises: sending a first message to a first network device, the first message being used to indicate that a first terminal currently connected to the first network device has a service access requirement; establishing a service message forwarding path between the first network device and a third network device, the third network device being a network device providing a service for the first terminal.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The service message forwarding path comprises at least a first tunnel and a second tunnel, the first tunnel being a downlink tunnel from the third network device to the first network device, and the second tunnel being an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the third network device, and the establishing of the service message forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device comprises: receiving first tunnel information; and forwarding the first tunnel information to the third network device, wherein the first tunnel information comprises tunnel information of the first network device, and the first tunnel information is used to establish the first tunnel; sending second tunnel information to the first network device, the second tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the third network device, and the second tunnel information being used to establish the second tunnel.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The sending of the first tunnel information to the third network device comprises: sending a third message, the third message being used to indicate that a tunnel connection between the first network device and the third network device is established, and the third message comprising the first tunnel information. The method further comprises: receiving the second tunnel information.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, The sending of the third message comprises: sending the third message when a first condition is met, the first condition comprising one or more of the following: receiving tunnel information of the first network device, or storing tunnel information of the third network device.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14-17, characterized by, The method further comprises: sending a fourth message, the fourth message being used to indicate that the third network device sends a second end identifier through a fifth tunnel, the fifth tunnel being a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device, and the second end identifier being used to indicate that the fifth tunnel stops transmitting service messages; receiving the second end identifier on the fifth tunnel.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein, The service message forwarding path comprises at least a third tunnel, a fourth tunnel and a fifth tunnel, the third tunnel is a downlink tunnel from the second network device to the first network device, the fourth tunnel is an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the second network device, and the fifth tunnel is a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device, and the method of establishing the service message forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device comprises: receiving third tunnel information, the third tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the first network device, and the third tunnel information being used for establishing the third tunnel; sending fourth tunnel information, the fourth tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the second network device, and the fourth tunnel information being used for establishing the fourth tunnel.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein, The service message forwarding path comprises at least a third tunnel, a fourth tunnel and a fifth tunnel, the third tunnel is a downlink tunnel from the second network device to the first network device, the fourth tunnel is an uplink tunnel from the first network device to the second network device, and the fifth tunnel is a tunnel connection between the second network device and the third network device, and the first message comprises fourth tunnel information, and the method of establishing the service message forwarding path between the first network device and the third network device comprises: receiving third tunnel information, the third tunnel information comprising tunnel information of the first network device, and the third tunnel information being used for establishing the third tunnel.

21. The method according to any one of claims 14-20, characterized by, The first message is carried by a second message sent by the second network device to the first network device, and the second message is used for requesting to switch the air interface configuration of the first terminal; The method further comprises: receiving an acknowledgement message from the first network device.

22. The method according to any one of claims 14-21, characterized by, The method further comprises: receiving fifth tunnel information, the fifth tunnel information comprising forwarding tunnel information of the first network device, and the fifth tunnel information being used for establishing a forwarding tunnel between the first network device and the second network device, and the forwarding tunnel being used for forwarding downlink service messages from the second network device to the first network device.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein, The method further comprises: sending a third end identifier through the forwarding tunnel, and the third end identifier being used for instructing the forwarding tunnel to stop transmitting service messages.

24. The method of any one of claims 21-23, wherein, The first tunnel information, the third tunnel information or the fifth tunnel information is carried by the acknowledgement message.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein, The second tunnel information is carried by the second message.

26. A communications device, characterized by The communication device comprises a processor, and the processor is used for running computer programs or instructions to make the communication device execute the method according to any one of claims 1-25.

27. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that, A computer readable storage medium stores computer instructions or programs, and when the computer instructions or programs are run on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1-25 is executed.

28. A communication system, characterized by The communication system comprises at least a first terminal, a first network device, a second network device and a third network device, the first network device is used for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1-13, and the second network device is used for implementing the method according to any one of claims 14-25.

29. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product comprises computer instructions; when some or all of the computer instructions are run on a computer, the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-25 is caused to be performed.

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