Communication method and apparatus, and storage medium and program product

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure are a communication method and apparatus, and a storage medium and a program product. The communication method comprises: receiving first data forwarding configuration information from a second node, wherein the first data forwarding configuration information is data forwarding configuration information associated with a third node.

Description

Communication method and apparatus, storage medium, and program product

[0001] The present disclosure claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411379844.1, filed on September 29, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communication, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus, a storage medium, and a program product. BACKGROUND

[0003] In the protocol of Release 18 of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) new radio (NR), layer 1 or layer 2 triggered mobility (LTM) is introduced. LTM is a procedure of user equipment (UE) handover. In the LTM procedure, a next generation nodeB (gNB) receives a L1 (layer 1) measurement report from a UE, and sends a cell switch command to the UE through MAC CE signaling according to the measurement report, so as to change the serving cell of the UE. The cell switch command indicates a LTM candidate cell configuration, which is prepared by the gNB and provided to the UE through radio resource control (RRC) signaling before this time. Then, the UE switches to a target cell according to the cell switch command. The cell switch command is contained in a media access control control element (MAC CE), which contains the necessary information required to perform LTM cell switching. In the discussion of Release 19 of 3GPP NR, LTM function across NR radio access network (RAN) nodes will be introduced, i.e., the target cell and the source cell belong to different RAN nodes, for example, belong to different gNBs, or belong to different distributed units (DUs) under the centralized unit (CU) of different gNBs. SUMMARY

[0004] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a first node. The communication method comprises: receiving first data forwarding configuration information from a second node. The first data forwarding configuration information is data forwarding configuration information associated with a third node.

[0005] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a second node. The communication method comprises: sending first data forwarding configuration information to a first node. The first data forwarding configuration information is data forwarding configuration information associated with a third node.

[0006] In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which is applied to a first node. The communication apparatus comprises: a receiving unit, configured to receive first data forwarding configuration information from a second node. The first data forwarding configuration information is data forwarding configuration information associated with a third node.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which is applied to a second node. The communication apparatus comprises: a sending unit, configured to send first data forwarding configuration information to a first node. The first data forwarding configuration information is data forwarding configuration information associated with a third node.

[0008] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises: a processor and a memory. The memory is coupled to the processor. The memory is configured to store instructions executable by the processor. The memory stores instructions executable by the processor. The processor is configured to execute the instructions, so that the communication apparatus implements the communication method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0009] In a sixth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which stores computer instructions. When the computer instructions are run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the communication method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0010] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, which contains computer instructions. When the computer instructions are run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0011] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the technical solutions of the present disclosure, and constitute a part of the specification, and are used to explain the technical solutions of the present disclosure together with the embodiments of the present disclosure, and do not constitute a limitation to the technical solutions of the present disclosure.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an LTM process across RAN nodes according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of yet another communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 6 is a constituent diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 7 is a constituent diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 8 is a structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without creative work, fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0021] Unless otherwise required by context, the term “comprise” and other forms such as “comprises”, “comprises”, and “comprising” are to be construed as open, inclusive, meaning, i.e., “including, but not limited to”. In the description of the specification, the terms “one embodiment”, “some embodiments”, “exemplary embodiments”, “example”, “specific example” or “some examples” are intended to mean that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics related to the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. The exemplary representation of the above terms does not necessarily mean the same embodiment or example. In addition, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics can be included in any one or more embodiments or examples in any appropriate manner.

[0022] The terms "first", "second", etc. are used only for descriptive purposes and do not connote or imply relative importance or a quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, features defined by "first", "second", etc. can explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present disclosure, the meaning of "a plurality of" is two or more, unless otherwise specified.

[0023] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the words "exemplary" or "for example" are used to describe examples, instances, or illustrations. Any embodiment or design scheme described by "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present disclosure should not be interpreted as being more preferred or having more advantages than other embodiments or design schemes. Rather, "exemplary" or "for example" is used to present the relevant concept in a specific manner.

[0024] In addition, the use of "based on" means open and inclusive, because the process, step, calculation or other action "based on" one or more stated conditions or values can be based on additional conditions or beyond the stated values in practice.

[0025] Before introducing the technical solutions of the present disclosure, the LTM process is first described.

[0026] Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a process for implementing LTM across RAN nodes (e.g., inter-CU, inter-gNB) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is used to illustrate the content of the present disclosure. The first node can be understood as a node to which the target cell belongs in the cell handover process of the UE, which can be referred to as the target node, the second node can be understood as a node to which the current serving cell of the UE belongs, which can be referred to as the source node, and the third node can be understood as a node to which the candidate cell belongs in the cell handover process of the UE, which can be referred to as the candidate node, and the same applies to the following embodiments. Referring to Fig. 1, the process for implementing LTM across RAN nodes can include the following: S1 to S18.

[0027] In S1, the second node decides to configure LTM and starts LTM configuration.

[0028] In S2, the second node sends a 10th message, for example, a handover request (HANDOVER REQUEST) message, to the third node.

[0029] In S3, the first node can perform admission control.

[0030] In S4, the third node prepares the configuration related to LTM and sends a 11th message, e.g., a HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message, to the second node. The message includes the configuration of one or more LTM candidate cells and can include CSI (Channel State Information) resource configuration (e.g., for L1 measurement) and / or security related configuration (e.g., for primary key update). If the request indication of reference configuration is included in the 11th message, the third node will include the generated reference configuration in a 12th message, e.g., a HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message.

[0031] In S5, the second node can initiate a modification procedure to each third node to update the candidate cell configuration (e.g., L1 measurement reporting configuration) and / or inform the candidate information in other third nodes.

[0032] For example, in S5a, the second node sends a 13th message, e.g., a modification message (e.g., a HANDOVER MODIFICATION REQUEST message or other Xn message), to the third node. The 13th message can include the CSI resource configuration, TCI-state information, UL early synchronization configuration and / or LTM configuration identification (ID) of the candidate cell in other third nodes. The second node can also provide the reference configuration and / or security related configuration to the third node.

[0033] In S5b, the third node sends a 14th message, e.g., a modification request acknowledgement message (e.g., a HANDOVER MODIFICATION REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message or other Xn message), to the second node. The 14th message can include the updated candidate configuration to the second node.

[0034] In S6, the second node can send a 15th message, e.g., a RRC Reconfiguration message, to the UE including the LTM related configuration. The 15th message can contain one or more LTM candidate configurations.

[0035] In S7, the UE can save the LTM candidate configuration and send a 16th message, e.g., a RRC Reconfiguration Complete message, to the second node.

[0036] In S7a, if early data forwarding is applied, the second node can send a 17th message, e.g., an EARLY STATUS TRANSFER message, to the third node.

[0037] In S8a, the UE can perform downlink synchronization with the candidate cell before receiving the cell switch command.

[0038] In S8b, the UE can perform UL synchronization with the candidate cell (e.g., early RACH triggered by UE-based timing advance (TA) TA measurement, PDCCH order) according to network indication. For example, in 8b-1, early TA acquisition, e.g., uplink (UL) synchronization can be triggered by a physical downlink control channel order (PDCCH order) from the source cell, the UE sends a preamble to the indicated candidate cell. The third node calculates the TA value of the candidate cell based on the received preamble.

[0039] In S8b-2, the third node can send the TA value, associated contention-free random access channel (CFRA) resource information, candidate cell ID and / or source DU ID to the second node through an 18th message, e.g., a TA INFORMATION TRANSFER message or other Xn message.

[0040] In S9, the UE performs low-layer measurement reporting. The UE can perform L1 measurement on the configured candidate cell and can send L1 measurement report to the second node (e.g., source DU) according to the L1 measurement related configuration in the received RRC reconfiguration message. The UE starts to perform L1 measurement as long as the L1 measurement related configuration is applicable.

[0041] In S10, the second node can decide to perform cell switch to the target cell according to the L1 measurement result.

[0042] In S11, the second node can send a cell switch command (e.g., a cell switch MAC CE) triggering cell switch, which includes the candidate configuration index of the target cell. The UE switches to the target cell and applies the configuration corresponding to the indicated candidate configuration index.

[0043] In S12, the second node can send a 19th message, e.g., a notification message (e.g., a Cell Switch Notification (CELL SWITCH NOTIFICATION) message), to the first node to indicate that the LTM is initiated / triggered by the first node to the UE. The 19th message includes the target cell ID and / or the selected TCI-state ID of the target cell.

[0044] In S12a, if early data forwarding is applied, the second node can send a 20th message, e.g., an Early Status Transfer (EARLY STATUS TRANSFER) message, to the first node.

[0045] In S13, a random access procedure. If the UE does not have a valid TA for the target cell, the UE can perform a random access procedure to the target cell. If the UE has a valid TA for the target cell, the UE skips the random access procedure to the target cell, i.e., performs a RACH-less LTM.

[0046] In S14, a cell switch complete. After the cell switch is complete, the UE can complete the LTM cell switch procedure by sending a 21st message, e.g., a Cell Switch Complete message, to the target cell. If the UE has performed a RA procedure, the UE considers the LTM cell switch execution successfully completed when the random access procedure is successfully completed. For RACH-less LTM, the UE considers the LTM cell switch execution successfully completed when the UE determines that its first UL data has been successfully received by the network.

[0047] In S15a, the first node can send a 22nd message, e.g., a Handover Success (HANDOVER SUCCESS) message, to the second node to inform that the UE has successfully accessed the target cell. The 22nd message can include the target cell ID.

[0048] In S15b, in response, the second node can send a 23rd message, e.g., a Sequence Number Status Transfer (STATUS TRANSFER) message, to the first node and can start data forwarding.

[0049] In S16, the first node can send a 24th message, e.g., a PATH SWITCH REQUEST message, to an access and mobility management function (AMF), triggering the core network to switch the downlink data path to the first node and establish an instance of the interface (e.g., NG-C interface) pointing to the first node. This message can include an indication of whether the second node is configured as the LTM, or an indication of whether to keep the DL (Down link) data path (or UP (User Plane) TNL resources) to the second node and / or switch the DL data path (or UP TNL resources) to the second node to a ready state.

[0050] In S17, path switching in the user plane function (UPF). The core network can switch the downlink data path to the first node. If the second node is not configured as the third node, the core network (e.g., UPF) can send one or more “end marker” packets to the second node per protocol data unit (PDU) session / tunnel, and can then release any U-plane (User Plane) / transport network layer information (TNL) resources facing the second node. If the second node is configured as the third node, the core network (e.g., UPF) can send one or more “end marker” packets to the second node per PDU session / tunnel, and can keep the U-plane / TNL resources pointing to the second node and switch to a ready state.

[0051] In S18, the AMF can acknowledge the 24th message by a 25th message, e.g., a PATH SWITCH REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message.

[0052] It is noted that the above content shown in FIG. 1 can also apply to other similar switching procedures to the LTM, e.g., conditional handover (CHO).

[0053] In related 3GPP technologies, there is a data forwarding technique in inter RAN node mobility procedures, or handover procedures.

[0054] In the data forwarding technique, a user plane tunnel is established between a source node where a source cell connected by the UE before handover and a target node where a target cell connected by the UE after handover, and the source node forwards downlink data and / or uplink data of the UE to the target node during the handover or before the handover is triggered, so as to achieve lossless handover during the handover.

[0055] The end point of the user plane tunnel is identified by transport network layer information (TNL), which includes a transport layer address (for example, an IP address) and a tunnel end point identifier. One TNL represents one user plane tunnel.

[0056] The types of the above data forwarding and the corresponding conditions in the related 3GPP technology are as follows 1 to 4.

[0057] 1. For at least one quality of service flow (QoS flow) contained in one PDU session configured for the UE, the source node can suggest the target node to perform downlink data forwarding. If the target node accepts the downlink data forwarding of the at least one QoS flow, the target node replies to the source node with a PDU session level downlink data forwarding TNL of the PDU session.

[0058] 2. If the source node performs a QoS flow re-mapping operation on one PDU session before the handover occurs, and the source node has not received a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) end marker sent by the UE, that is, the QoS flow re-mapping process has not ended, the source node should suggest the target node to perform uplink data forwarding for the QoS flow of the PDU session. If the target node accepts the uplink data forwarding suggestion of at least one QoS flow of the PDU session, the target node provides a PDU session level uplink data forwarding TNL of the PDU session.

[0059] 3. The source node can suggest to the target node to perform uplink data forwarding and / or downlink data forwarding for one data radio bearer (DRB), in which case the source node provides the information of the QoS flow mapped to the DRB in the data forwarding suggestion information. If the target node uses the same configuration and / or QoS flow mapping as the source node for the DRB, the target node can provide the DRB level downlink data forwarding TNL for the DRB.

[0060] 4. If the target node accepts the source node's suggestion of DRB level uplink data forwarding for one DRB, the target node includes the DRB level uplink data forwarding TNL for the DRB in the data forwarding configuration information sent to the source node, then the source node uses the TNL for DRB level uplink data forwarding for the DRB.

[0061] In the handover procedure in 3GPP technology, there is a function called subsequent handover, such as subsequent LTM (subsequent LTM) and subsequent CHO (subsequent CHO). The common features of the two subsequent handover functions include the following 1 to 5.

[0062] 1. The source node first negotiates with multiple candidate nodes to pre-configure the RRC configuration of multiple candidate cells for the UE. At the same time, the source node can provide a data forwarding suggestion for a QoS flow or a DRB to each candidate node, and the candidate node can provide the corresponding data forwarding configuration information (including data forwarding TNL information) to the source node according to the suggestion.

[0063] 2. According to the pre-configured condition or according to the indication of the source node, the UE is triggered to perform the first handover procedure, and the UE switches to a candidate node.

[0064] 3. Before triggering the first handover or during the handover procedure, the source node can forward the data of the terminal to the candidate node according to the data forwarding configuration information provided by the candidate node.

[0065] 4. After the completion of the first handover procedure, the above-mentioned candidate node becomes the new source node.

[0066] 5. After the completion of the first handover procedure, the UE can be triggered to perform the second handover procedure to switch to a new candidate node according to the pre-configured condition or according to the indication of the source node. At this time, the second handover procedure is also called the subsequent handover procedure. In the subsequent handover procedure, the candidate node or the new source node does not need to provide the RRC configuration of the UE for the UE, because the RRC configuration of the UE on each candidate node has been sent to the UE in advance. Therefore, in the continuous handover procedure of the UE, the subsequent handover method can save the signaling delay and signaling overhead required for reconfiguring the UE.

[0067] In summary, according to the related 3GPP technology, the data forwarding TNL provided by the candidate node in the first handover process, that is, the data forwarding configuration information, is obtained based on the data forwarding suggestion of the source node in the first handover process. After the completion of the first handover process, the target node in the first handover process becomes the source node in the subsequent handover process. If the new source node wants to perform data forwarding in the subsequent handover process, the new source node needs to re-negotiate data forwarding with the candidate node, that is, the new source node and each candidate node again negotiate data forwarding configuration, which is not conducive to reducing the signaling overhead between nodes. Therefore, how to reduce the signaling overhead between RAN nodes in the inter-RAN node cell handover process is an urgent problem to be solved.

[0068] Based on this, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method and device, a storage medium and a program product. The first data forwarding configuration information received by the first node is the data forwarding configuration information associated with the third node, that is, the second node sends the data forwarding configuration information associated with the third node to the first node in advance. In this way, after the UE switches the connection to the first node, that is, after the first node becomes the source node, the first node does not need to re-interact with the third node to negotiate the data forwarding configuration, thereby reducing the signaling overhead between RAN nodes in the inter-RAN node cell handover process, and shortening the delay required for triggering the subsequent handover process.

[0069] The scheme of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be introduced below in combination with the drawings.

[0070] The technical scheme provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various mobile communication networks, for example, a new radio (NR) mobile communication network using the fifth generation mobile communication technology (5th generation mobile communication technology, 5G), a future mobile communication network (for example, a 6G wireless communication system) or a multi-communication fusion system, etc., and the present disclosure does not limit this.

[0071] FIG. 2 shows a structural schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication system includes a 5G core network (5GC) and a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN). The 5GC includes a plurality of network elements (for example, network element 11 and network element 12), and the NG-RAN includes a plurality of RAN nodes (for example, RAN node 21, RAN node 22, RAN node 23 and RAN node 24). The plurality of network elements and the plurality of RAN nodes can perform wireless signal transmission, reception and related interaction, etc.

[0072] In some embodiments, the network element 11 is an AMF network element / UPF network element, and the network element 12 is an AMF network element / UPF network element.

[0073] For each of the plurality of RAN nodes, the RAN node can be one of the following two: a gNB, configured to provide NR user plane and control plane protocol for a UE;

[0074] a next generation evolved Node B (ng-eNB), configured to provide evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) user plane and control plane protocol termination for a UE.

[0075] For example, the RAN node 21 and the RAN node 22 are gNBs, and the RAN node 23 and the RAN node 24 are ng-eNBs.

[0076] In some embodiments, the gNBs are connected to each other, or the gNBs are connected to the ng-eNBs, through an Xn interface.

[0077] In some embodiments, the gNBs and the ng-eNBs are connected to the 5GC through an NG interface, for example, connected to the AMF network element through an NG-C interface, and connected to the UPF network element through an NG-U interface.

[0078] It should be understood that FIG. 2 is an exemplary structural diagram, and the number of devices included in the communication system shown in FIG. 2 is not limited, for example, the number of network elements and the number of RAN nodes are not limited. In addition to the devices shown in FIG. 2, the communication system shown in FIG. 2 can also include other devices, for example, it can also include a UE, which is not limited by the present disclosure.

[0079] Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the embodiment of the disclosure provides a communication method applied to a first node, which can be one of the plurality of RAN nodes shown in FIG. 2. The communication method can include the following S101.

[0080] In S101, first data forwarding configuration information from a second node is received.

[0081] The first data forwarding configuration information is data forwarding configuration information associated with a third node.

[0082] The first node can be understood as a node to which a target cell belongs in a cell handover process of a UE, which can be referred to as a target node; the second node can be understood as a node to which a current serving cell of the UE belongs, which can be referred to as a source node; and the third node can be understood as a node to which a candidate cell belongs in the cell handover process of the UE, which can be referred to as a candidate node. In combination with the communication system shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the node to which the UE is currently connected is the RAN node 21, the RAN node 21 is the second node, the UE will be subsequently handed over to the RAN node 22, the RAN node 22 is the first node, and the RAN node 23 and the RAN node 24 are the third nodes. Before the target cell is determined, the target node can be the candidate node. After the handover process is completed, the target node becomes the (new) source node in the next subsequent handover process.

[0083] In some embodiments, the first node, the second node, and the third node can have other names, for example, the first node can be referred to as a first network element, the second node can be referred to as a second network element, and the third node can be referred to as a third network element, and the like, which are not limited by the disclosure.

[0084] In some embodiments, the first data forwarding configuration information includes at least one of the following: first data forwarding suggestion information of the second node to the third node; second data forwarding configuration information of the third node to the second node; information of a first quality of service flow, the first quality of service flow being a quality of service flow that is not accepted by the third node among quality of service flows suggested by the second node to the third node for data forwarding; and information of a first DRB, the first DRB being a DRB that is not accepted by the third node among DRBs suggested by the second node to the third node for data forwarding.

[0085] The first data forwarding suggestion information of the second node to the third node can be understood as data forwarding suggestion information of the second node to the third node (i.e., the source node to the candidate node) in the first handover process, and the second data forwarding configuration information of the third node to the second node can be understood as data forwarding configuration information determined by the third node based on the first data forwarding suggestion information in the first handover process, and then the data forwarding configuration information is sent to the second node, so that the second node learns the data forwarding configuration of the third node to the terminal.

[0086] In some embodiments, the first data forwarding configuration information is obtained based on the second data forwarding configuration information.

[0087] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first switching process and the second switching process are two switching processes occurring in time dimension in sequence.

[0088] The second node is a source node in the first switching process.

[0089] The first node is a target node in the first switching process, and is also a source node in the second switching process.

[0090] The third node is a candidate node in the first switching process, and is also a candidate node in the second switching process.

[0091] According to different ways of triggering switching, the switching method involved in the present disclosure can be divided into the following way 1 and way 2.

[0092] 1. Condition-based switching: the UE is pre-configured to select a target cell and / or a condition for triggering switching to the target cell, the UE selects the target cell according to the condition, and triggers a switching process to access the target cell. The target cell is one of a plurality of candidate cells pre-configured to the UE, and the network side pre-configures the UE with the configuration of the UE in the plurality of candidate cells. After successfully accessing the target cell, the UE indicates to the target node that it has successfully accessed the target cell. After receiving the indication sent by the UE, the target node sends a message, such as a switching success message, to the source node to indicate that the UE has switched to the target cell. After accessing the target cell, the UE can trigger a second switching process (subsequent CHO) according to the pre-configured condition. That is, the UE can continuously trigger multiple switching processes by itself without receiving the command of the network side.

[0093] 2. Network signaling-based switching: the source node indicates the identity of the target cell of the UE through signaling, and triggers the UE to access the target cell. The target cell is one of a plurality of candidate cells pre-configured to the UE, and the network side pre-configures the UE with the configuration of the UE in the plurality of candidate cells. After successfully accessing the target cell, the UE indicates to the target node that it has successfully accessed the target cell. After receiving the indication sent by the UE, the target node sends a message, such as a switching success message, to the source node to indicate that the UE has switched to the target cell. The UE in the target cell can receive a cell switching command sent by a new source node, and triggers switching according to the cell switching command to access a new target cell.

[0094] The above condition-based handover and network signaling-based handover both support subsequent handover. For example, the condition-based handover includes CHO, and supports subsequent CHO; the network signaling-based handover includes LTM, and supports subsequent LTM.

[0095] The following describes the determination process of the first data forwarding suggestion information and the second data forwarding configuration information.

[0096] In the first handover process, the second node negotiates with the third node the data forwarding configuration for a terminal. The second node suggests the third node to perform uplink data forwarding and / or downlink data forwarding on at least one QoS flow contained in a PDU session configured for the UE, and / or at least one DRB. The third node determines the corresponding data forwarding configuration information and sends it to the second node.

[0097] For example, the second node sends the first data forwarding suggestion information to the third node. The first data forwarding suggestion information includes at least one of the following: (1) information about a QoS flow contained in a PDU session, and (2) information about a DRB configured by the second node and suggested to perform data forwarding.

[0098] (1) The information about a QoS flow contained in a PDU session can include at least one of the following:

[0099] ① An identifier of a QoS flow suggested to perform data forwarding, the data forwarding including uplink data forwarding and downlink data forwarding;

[0100] ② Indication information about the QoS flow suggested to perform uplink data forwarding;

[0101] ③ Indication information about the QoS flow suggested to perform downlink data forwarding.

[0102] (2) The information about a DRB configured by the second node and suggested to perform data forwarding can include at least one of the following:

[0103] ① An identifier of the DRB;

[0104] ② A mapping relationship between the DRB and a QoS flow, which can include at least one of the following:

[0105] 1) An identifier of a QoS flow mapped by the DRB;

[0106] 2) Indication information about a QoS flow contained in the DRB and suggested to perform uplink data forwarding;

[0107] 3) Indication information about a QoS flow contained in the DRB and suggested to perform downlink data forwarding.

[0108] The third node, after receiving the first data forwarding suggestion information, determines the second data forwarding configuration information based on the first data forwarding suggestion information. Then, the third node sends the second data forwarding configuration information to the second node. And, the third node locally saves the second data forwarding configuration information.

[0109] The second data forwarding configuration information includes at least one PDU session associated data forwarding configuration, and the data forwarding configuration associated with one PDU session includes at least one of the following: (1) PDU session level data forwarding configuration information, (2) data forwarding configuration information of DRB accepted by the third node for data forwarding, and (3) direct data forwarding path indication information.

[0110] (1) The PDU session level data forwarding configuration information can include at least one of the following:

[0111] ① The identification of one or more QoS flows accepted by the third node for data forwarding.

[0112] In some embodiments, the PDU session level data forwarding configuration information can further include QoS parameter information of each QoS flow, for example, parameter set index.

[0113] ② PDU session level downlink data forwarding user plane TNL information (PDU session level DL data forwarding UP TNL Information), which is used for the second node to forward downlink data of the PDU session to the third node.

[0114] ③ PDU session level uplink data forwarding user plane TNL information (PDU session level UL data forwarding UP TNL Information), which is used for the second node to forward uplink data of the PDU session to the third node.

[0115] (2) The data forwarding configuration information of DRB accepted by the third node for data forwarding can include at least one of the following:

[0116] ① The identification of DRB;

[0117] ② DRB level uplink data forwarding TNL information, which is used for the second node to forward uplink data of the DRB to the third node;

[0118] ③ DRB level downlink data forwarding TNL information, which is used for the second node to forward downlink data of the DRB to the third node.

[0119] (3) Direct data forwarding path indication information, used to indicate whether there is a direct data forwarding path between the third node and a secondary node (SN) of the second node for the PDU session.

[0120] The first data forwarding suggestion information can be included in a handover request message (HANDOVER REQUES), or a handover update request message (HANDOVER UPDATE REQUEST), or other inter-node messages.

[0121] The second data forwarding configuration information can be included in a handover request acknowledgement message (HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE), or a handover update request acknowledgement message (HANDOVER UPDATE REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE), or other inter-node messages.

[0122] In some embodiments, the first data forwarding configuration information can further include identification information of an associated third network element, or a candidate cell configuration identifier, such as a candidate LTM configuration identifier, or a candidate CHO configuration identifier, etc., used to identify a candidate node or a candidate cell.

[0123] In some embodiments, the information of the first quality of service flow includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the first quality of service flow; an identifier of a protocol data unit (PDU) session to which the first quality of service flow belongs; and data forwarding suggestion information corresponding to the first quality of service flow in the first data forwarding suggestion information.

[0124] In some embodiments, the information of the first DRB includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the first DRB; an identifier of a PDU session to which the first DRB belongs; and data forwarding suggestion information corresponding to the first DRB in the first data forwarding suggestion information.

[0125] It can be understood that after receiving the first data forwarding configuration information, the first node can determine whether the first data forwarding configuration information can be multiplexed according to the first data forwarding configuration information. For example, the first node can learn, based on the first data forwarding configuration information, a QoS flow related to a PDU session level or DRB level data forwarding TNL configuration of the first node, i.e., a QoS flow for which the third node accepts the data forwarding suggestion. This enables the first node to determine whether the PDU session level or DRB level data forwarding TNL information can be directly used or a new data forwarding configuration needs to be re-negotiated. Further, in the case that the data forwarding configuration can be multiplexed, the signaling overhead required for data forwarding negotiation between the first node and the third node and the signaling delay caused thereby are saved, i.e., the signaling overhead between RAN nodes in the inter-RAN node cell handover process is reduced, and the delay required for triggering the subsequent handover process is shortened.

[0126] That is, based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the first data forwarding configuration information received by the first node is the data forwarding configuration information associated with the third node, i.e., the second node previously sends the data forwarding configuration information associated with the third node to the first node. In this way, after the UE switches the connection to the first node, i.e., the first node becomes the source node, in the case that the data forwarding configuration indicated by the first data forwarding configuration information can be multiplexed, the first node does not need to re-interact with the third node for signaling to negotiate the data forwarding configuration, thereby reducing the signaling overhead between RAN nodes in the inter-RAN node cell handover process, and shortening the delay required for triggering the subsequent handover process.

[0127] In some embodiments, the first data forwarding configuration information further includes PDU session level data forwarding TNL information associated with the PDU session. After receiving the first data forwarding configuration information, the first node can perform at least one of the following operation 1 to operation 3.

[0128] Operation 1, for a second quality of service flow in the PDU session, performing data forwarding on the second quality of service flow based on the TNL information.

[0129] The PDU session level data forwarding TNL information associated with the PDU session includes PDU session level downlink data forwarding TNL information associated with the PDU session and PDU session level uplink data forwarding TNL information associated with the PDU session. That is, the data forwarding in the embodiments of the present disclosure includes uplink data forwarding and downlink data forwarding, which will not be described below.

[0130] For example, in a case where the first data forwarding configuration information includes PDU session level downlink data forwarding TNL information associated with the PDU session, for a second quality of service flow in the PDU session, the second quality of service flow is downlink data forwarded based on the TNL information. For another example, in a case where the first data forwarding configuration information includes PDU session level uplink data forwarding TNL information associated with the PDU session, for a second quality of service flow in the PDU session, the second quality of service flow is uplink data forwarded based on the TNL information.

[0131] That is, for a QoS flow contained in the PDU session, which is accepted by the third network element for data forwarding, and for which the first network element also wishes to perform data forwarding, the first network element uses the TNL information to perform data forwarding for the QoS flow in the PDU session.

[0132] It should be understood that for operation 1, it is a condition that needs to be met for the first node to use the PDU session level data forwarding TNL information associated with the PDU session.

[0133] Operation 2, in a case where there is a third quality of service flow in the PDU session, sending second data forwarding suggestion information to the third node, so as to negotiate a new data forwarding configuration with the third node.

[0134] The third quality of service flow is a quality of service flow in the PDU session, which is accepted by the third node for data forwarding, and which is not wished by the second node to be data forwarded.

[0135] That is, for one or more QoS flows in the PDU session, which are accepted for data forwarding, and for which the second network element does not wish to perform data forwarding, the second network element can send second data forwarding suggestion information to negotiate a new data forwarding configuration with the third node.

[0136] Operation 3, in a case where there is a fourth quality of service flow in the PDU session, not sending suggestion information to the third node for suggesting data forwarding for the fourth quality of service flow.

[0137] Among them, the fourth quality of service flow is a quality of service flow in the PDU session, which is suggested by the second node to be data forwarded, and which is not accepted by the third node to be data forwarded.

[0138] That is, in a case where there is a QoS flow in the PDU session that meets the condition that the second node suggests to the third node to perform data forwarding for the QoS flow, but the third network element does not accept, the first node does not suggest to the third node to perform data forwarding for the QoS flow.

[0139] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned suggestion information can be a HANDOVER UPDATE REQUEST message or a HANDOVER REQUEST message.

[0140] In some embodiments, the first data forwarding configuration information further comprises DRB level data forwarding TNL information associated with the DRB. After receiving the first data forwarding configuration information, the first node can perform at least one of the following operation 4 and operation 5.

[0141] Operation 4, in the case that the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping to the quality of service flow in the first node is the same as the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping to the quality of service flow contained in the first data forwarding suggestion information, data forwarding of the DRB is performed based on the TNL information.

[0142] That is, in the case that the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping to the QoS flow in the first node is the same as the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping to the QoS flow contained in the first data forwarding suggestion information, the first node can use the TNL information for data forwarding of the DRB.

[0143] It should be understood that for operation 4, it is a condition that the first node needs to meet to use the DRB level data forwarding TNL information associated with the DRB.

[0144] Operation 5, in the case that the configuration of the DRB does not exist in the first node, data forwarding is not performed using the TNL information; or, in the case that the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping to the quality of service flow in the first node is different from the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping to the quality of service flow contained in the first data forwarding suggestion information, data forwarding is not performed using the TNL information.

[0145] That is, if there is no configuration of the DRB in the configuration of the UE in the first node, for example, the DRB is deleted, or the QoS flow contained in the DRB is re-mapped, or the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping to the QoS flow is different from the configuration of the DRB and / or the QoS flow mapping contained in the first data forwarding suggestion information, the first node does not use the TNL information for data forwarding.

[0146] It should be understood that if the DRB configuration (in the first data forwarding configuration information) associated with a TNL is different from the configuration of the DRB in the first node, the first node cannot use the TNL for data forwarding.

[0147] In some embodiments, after receiving the first data forwarding configuration information, the first node can further perform at least one of the following operation 6 and operation 7.

[0148] Operation 6, in a case where, in the configuration of the first node for the terminal, there exists a DRB satisfying that the DRB related data forwarding TNL information is not contained in the second data forwarding configuration information, and the downlink data forwarding suggestion information of the DRB is contained in the first data forwarding suggestion information, the first node does not send the downlink data forwarding suggestion information of the DRB to the third node.

[0149] That is, if, in the configuration (candidate configuration) prepared by the first node for the UE, there exists a DRB satisfying that the DRB related downlink / uplink data forwarding TNL information is not contained in the second data forwarding configuration information, and the downlink data forwarding suggestion information of the DRB is contained in the first data forwarding suggestion information, the first node does not send the downlink data forwarding suggestion information of the DRB to the third node.

[0150] It should be understood that the uplink / downlink data forwarding suggestion information of this DRB sent by the second node to the third node is not accepted by the third node. If the configuration / QoS flow mapping of the DRB does not change, the first node does not need to initiate the same data forwarding suggestion information to the third node again, thereby reducing the signaling overhead between nodes.

[0151] Operation 7, sending the first information to the third node.

[0152] The first information is used to indicate to release or delete the fourth data forwarding configuration information. The fourth data forwarding configuration information includes at least one of the following: the data forwarding configuration information generated by the third node for the terminal; the data forwarding configuration information related to the first node, for example, the data forwarding configuration information determined based on the first data forwarding suggestion information.

[0153] In some embodiments, the first information is further used to indicate at least one of: PDU session level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be released or deleted; DRB level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be released or deleted; an identity of a PDU session associated with the PDU session level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be released or deleted; an identity of a quality of service flow associated with the PDU session level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be released or deleted; an identity of a DRB associated with the PDU session level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be released or deleted; an identity of a PDU session associated with the DRB level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be deleted or released; an identity of a quality of service flow associated with the DRB level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be deleted or released; an identity of a DRB associated with the DRB level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be deleted or released; an identity of a PDU session that needs to be deleted or has been deleted; an identity of a quality of service flow that needs to be deleted or has been deleted; an identity of a DRB that needs to be deleted or has been deleted.

[0154] Accordingly, after receiving the first information, the third node can delete the corresponding data forwarding TNL information and release the resources related to the corresponding data forwarding TNL information based on the first information.

[0155] In some embodiments, the first information further comprises second data forwarding suggestion information. The second data forwarding suggestion information is used to indicate at least one of: a data forwarding suggestion for a PDU session; a data forwarding suggestion for a DRB.

[0156] Accordingly, after receiving the first information, if the third node has saved uplink and / or downlink data forwarding TNL information associated with a PDU session, the third network element releases / deletes the locally saved uplink and / or downlink data forwarding TNL information of the PDU session. Or, if the third node has saved uplink and / or downlink data forwarding TNL information associated with a DRB, the third network element releases / deletes the locally saved uplink and / or downlink data forwarding TNL information of the DRB.

[0157] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned first information can be a HANDOVER UPDATE REQUEST message or a HANDOVER REQUEST message, or a network command based handover procedure, such as a CELL SWITCH NOTIFICATION message in LTM, or a message for establishing a signaling connection between the first node and the third node, or other inter-node messages.

[0158] In some embodiments, the first node sends the first information to the third node to release the part or all of the data forwarding configuration information stored by the third node, under the condition that the first node determines that the part or all of the data forwarding configuration information stored by the third node cannot be reused.

[0159] It should be understood that the new source node can have different data forwarding suggestion from the old source node, if the new source node wants to reuse the data forwarding configuration provided by the candidate node (also referred to as the old data forwarding configuration), the new source node needs to determine whether the old data forwarding configuration meets the data forwarding suggestion of the new source node. Moreover, if the new source node has data forwarding suggestion for a QoS flow or a DRB, and the old source node has made data forwarding suggestion for the QoS flow or the DRB to a candidate node, but the candidate node has not accepted the suggestion, the new source node needs to know whether such a situation exists, to determine whether to send data forwarding suggestion to the old candidate node, to avoid unnecessary data forwarding configuration negotiation process with the old candidate node.

[0160] As can be seen from the above operation 1 to operation 7, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure provides a method for a new source node to determine whether the old data forwarding configuration meets the data forwarding suggestion of the new source node. Moreover, after receiving the first data forwarding configuration information, the first node can determine the QoS flow or the DRB for which the third node has not accepted the data forwarding suggestion, and the first node can decide whether to send the data forwarding suggestion for the QoS flow or the DRB to the third node again. In this way, the data forwarding configuration for these QoS flows and DRBs can be avoided to be negotiated again, to save the signaling overhead between nodes.

[0161] In some embodiments, the first node can also send the indication information to the third node, to indicate the third node to release part or all of the data forwarding configuration information, so that when the previously configured data forwarding configuration information is no longer needed, the third node can delete the data forwarding configuration information, to save the resources of the data forwarding TNL.

[0162] In the handover process supporting subsequent handover, before the handover occurs, the source node can make early data forwarding to multiple candidate nodes, which can be referred to as early data forwarding. In the handover process, the UE switches to the target node, and the target node sends the received downlink data to the UE, and sends the uplink data to the core network element.

[0163] For the candidate nodes that are not the target node, the data of the terminal received by the candidate nodes can become useless data, because the copies of the data have been processed by the target node. Moreover, in the next handover process, the new source node can forward data to the candidate nodes. If the candidate nodes do not delete the data of the terminal received before, the candidate nodes will save the data of the terminal received in multiple handover processes. If the candidate nodes become the target node in the handover process, the candidate nodes can send the data of the terminal saved to the terminal or the core network, which will cause resource waste, or cause confusion of the sequence number of the data of the terminal. There is no corresponding method in the related art to solve the problems in the scenarios described above.

[0164] Based on this, in some embodiments, in the case that the first node becomes the new source node in the subsequent handover process, the first node sends second information to the third node. The second information is used to instruct the third node to delete the data of the terminal received.

[0165] The third node deletes the data of the terminal received in response to the second information after receiving the second information.

[0166] In this way, before the first node forwards the data of the terminal to the third node, the third node has already deleted the data of the terminal received in the previous handover process, avoiding the third node (candidate node) to continue to save the data of the terminal that has been sent to the terminal or the core network through the first node, thereby avoiding resource waste, and avoiding the problem of confusion of the data of the terminal received in the previous handover process and the data of the terminal in the current handover process.

[0167] In some embodiments, the second information is also used to instruct at least one of the following: an identifier of a DRB for which the data needs to be deleted; an identifier of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) session for which the data needs to be deleted.

[0168] In this way, the third node can delete the DRB and / or the PDCP session of the data based on the second information, thereby improving the accuracy of the third node in deleting the data.

[0169] In some embodiments, the second information is: a message for early sequence number transmission status, for example, an EARLY STATUS TRANSFER message in an NR system, which is used to indicate sequence number information of a user plane required for early data forwarding; or an inter-node message for establishing a signaling connection between the first node and the third node, which is a message sent by the first node to the third node; or a message for updating a terminal configuration, which is a message sent by the first node to the third node, for example, a HANDOVER UPDATE REQUEST message; or another message sent by the first node to the third node.

[0170] In some embodiments, when the first node detects that the terminal successfully accesses the first node, the first node sends third information to the second node. The third information is used to indicate that the terminal successfully accesses the first node, so that the second node can timely instruct the third node to delete data of the terminal, thereby avoiding resource waste or avoiding a situation where confusion of sequence numbers of data of the terminal occurs.

[0171] In some embodiments, when the number of nodes involved in the above-mentioned handover process is greater than 2, for example, the source node is configured in dual connection (DC), the source node includes a master node (MN) of the source node and a SN of the source node, and / or the target node is configured in DC, that is, the target node includes an MN of the target node and a SN of the target node, the related art supports a direct data forwarding path between the SN of the source node and the target node or the MN of the target node, and between the MN of the source node or the source node and the SN of the target node, and between the SN of the source node and the SN of the target node.

[0172] The above-mentioned direct data forwarding refers to that data transmission between two nodes does not pass through a third node, and a data sender uses TNL information provided by a data receiver, otherwise, data forwarding needs to pass through an intermediate node, for example, data of a terminal sent by a SN passes through forwarding of an MN.

[0173] Exemplarily, in message interaction between nodes, whether there is a direct data forwarding path between nodes is judged and indicated by the following method.

[0174] In the handover preparation procedure (including HANDOVER REQUEST and HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE messages), if the source node is DC configured, the candidate node indicates in the data forwarding configuration information provided to the source node whether there is a direct data forwarding path between the candidate node and the SN of the source node for one PDU session. If there is no direct data forwarding path, the data of the PDU session sent by the SN of the source node to the candidate node needs to be forwarded at the MN of the source node. At this time, the SN of the source node uses one data forwarding TNL information provided by the MN of the source node for the data forwarding of the PDU session.

[0175] If the target node is DC configured, the MN of the target node indicates to the SN of the target node: the identity of the source node or the identity of the MN of the source node, and the SN of the target node indicates to the MN of the target node: whether there is a direct data forwarding path between the SN of the target node and the source node or the MN of the source node. This process is completed through the SN addition procedure between the MN of the target node and the SN of the target node (for example, source NG-RAN node addition preparation, including S-NODE ADDITION REQUEST and S-NODE ADDITION REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE messages).

[0176] In the SN modification procedure between the MN of the source node and the SN of the source node (SN MODIFICATION procedure), the MN of the source node indicates to the SN of the source node: the identity of the target node, and the SN of the source node indicates to the MN of the source node: whether there is a direct data forwarding path between the SN of the source node and the target node.

[0177] In the above embodiment shown in FIG. 3, if the first node in the second handover procedure wants to multiplex the data forwarding configuration sent by the third node to the second node in the first handover procedure to avoid the repeated negotiation process of the data forwarding configuration between the first node and the third node, the related 3GPP method still has the following problems.

[0178] If the second node is DC configured, the direct data forwarding path indication sent by the third node to the second node in the first handover procedure represents whether there is a direct data forwarding path between the SN of the second node and the third node. The existence of the direct data forwarding path between the SN of the second node and the third node cannot infer the existence of the direct data forwarding path between the SN of the first node and the third node.

[0179] If the third node is a DC configuration, the MN of the third node has learned in the first handover process whether there is a direct data forwarding path between the SN of the third node and the second node, so the data forwarding TNL information provided by the third node is determined based on whether there is a direct forwarding path. For example, if there is a direct data forwarding path between the SN of the third node and the second node, the TNL information provided by the third node can be the TNL information configured by the SN of the third node. If there is no direct data forwarding path, the TNL information provided by the third node to the second node can be the TNL information provided by the MN of the third node. In the second handover process, the source node becomes the first node, and whether there is a direct data forwarding path between the first node and the SN of the third node can be different from the SN of the second node. If the TNL information provided by the third node in the first handover process is the TNL provided by the SN of the third node (i.e., there is a direct data forwarding path between the SN of the second node and the third node), but there is no direct data forwarding path between the SN of the first node and the third node, the SN of the first node will not be able to use the TNL information provided by the third node in the first handover process (because the SN of the first node cannot directly access the SN of the third node). For the above problem, there is no corresponding solution in the related art.

[0180] Based on this, in some embodiments, the first data forwarding configuration information includes at least one PDU session associated data forwarding configuration, as shown in FIG. 4, the communication method can further include the following S201.

[0181] In S201, third data forwarding configuration information from the second node is received.

[0182] In some embodiments, in order to facilitate the first node to determine whether it can reuse the direct data forwarding path between the second node and the third node, to reduce signaling overhead, the second node sends the third data forwarding configuration information to the first node. Correspondingly, the first node receives the third data forwarding configuration information sent by the second node. The third data forwarding configuration information includes the identity of the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session, which is one of the at least one PDU session indicated by the first data forwarding configuration information.

[0183] The data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session includes PDU session level data forwarding TNL information and DRB level data forwarding TNL information. The third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session can also be called by other names, for example, the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information, or the third network element associated with the QoS flow or DRB of the target PDU session.

[0184] In some embodiments, the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is an MN of the third node or an SN of the third node.

[0185] In some embodiments, the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is a third network element that allocates the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session; or, a third network element where the data forwarding TNL information address related to the target PDU session is located.

[0186] In some embodiments, the third data forwarding configuration information further comprises type information of the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session. The type information is used to indicate that the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is an MN or an SN in a DC configuration, or, is used to indicate that the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is an independent networking SA configuration.

[0187] In some embodiments, the third data forwarding configuration information further comprises indication information used to indicate whether there is a direct data forwarding path for the target PDU session between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node. As an example, the indication information is used to indicate whether there is a direct data forwarding path for the target PDU session between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the SN of the second node.

[0188] In some embodiments, the second data forwarding configuration information comprises part or all of the third data forwarding configuration information. That is, part or all of the third data forwarding configuration information can come from the second data forwarding configuration information sent by the third node to the second node, that is, the second data forwarding configuration information mentioned above also contains the content of the third data forwarding configuration information mentioned above.

[0189] In some embodiments, after receiving the third data forwarding configuration information, the first node determines whether there is a direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the first node. In the case that it is determined that there is no direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the first node, and there is a direct data forwarding path for the target PDU session between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node, the third data forwarding suggestion information is sent to the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session.

[0190] Alternatively, in a case where it is determined that there is no direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the first node, and there is no direct data forwarding path for the target PDU session between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node, the MN of the first node sends the data forwarding TNL information for forwarding data of the target PDU session to the SN of the first node.

[0191] As an example, for a target PDU session, the first node can determine that there is no direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the first node based on the following example 1 and example 2.

[0192] Example 1, for a QoS flow or DRB contained in a target PDU session terminated at the MN of the first node, there is no direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the SN of the first node. The third node can be the MN of the third node or the SN of the third node. The judgment basis can be based on the identification and / or type information of the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session contained in the third data forwarding configuration information.

[0193] Example 2, for a QoS flow or DRB contained in a target PDU session terminated at the SN of the first node, whether there is no direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the SN of the first node. The judgment basis is based on the identification and / or type information of the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session contained in the third data forwarding configuration information. Before this judgment, the MN of the first node sends the identification and / or type information of the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session, or the identification of the MN of the third node and the identification of the SN of the third node, to the SN of the first node, which is judged by the SN of the first node.

[0194] In some embodiments, the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session described above is the SN of the third node.

[0195] In some embodiments, the first node can determine whether there is a direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node based on the indication information described above for indicating whether there is a direct data forwarding path for the target PDU session between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node.

[0196] For example, in a case that the indication information indicates that there is a direct data forwarding path for the target PDU session between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node, the first node determines that there is a direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node. Or, in a case that the indication information indicates that there is no direct data forwarding path for the target PDU session between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node, the first node determines that there is no direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node.

[0197] Further, in a case that it is determined that there is no direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the first node, and there is a direct data forwarding path for the target PDU session between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node, it means that the first node cannot reuse the direct data forwarding path for the target PDU session between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node. Therefore, the first node sends a third data forwarding suggestion information to the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session to negotiate a new data forwarding configuration information. The negotiation process can refer to the negotiation process for the second data forwarding configuration information in the above embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0198] In a case that it is determined that there is no direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the first node, and there is no direct data forwarding path for the target PDU session between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node, it means that the first node needs to generate the TNL information for the target PDU session by itself. The MN of the first node can generate the data forwarding TNL information for forwarding the target PDU session, and then the MN of the first node sends the data forwarding TNL information for forwarding the target PDU session to the SN of the first node, so that the SN of the first node can forward the target PDU session based on the TNL information in the future.

[0199] It should be understood that in the handover method supporting the subsequent handover, if the target node is configured for dual connectivity, by the communication method provided in this embodiment, the source node (the first node) in the second handover process can determine whether it is necessary to re-negotiate the data forwarding configuration information with the candidate node (the third node) and whether it is possible to directly use the data forwarding configuration information negotiated between the second node and the third node, thereby saving the re-negotiation overhead, improving the efficiency of the subsequent handover, that is, reducing the signaling overhead between RAN nodes in the inter-RAN node cell handover process, and shortening the delay required for triggering the subsequent handover process.

[0200] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 5, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides another communication method applied to the second node. The communication method can include the following S301.

[0201] In S301, the first data forwarding configuration information is sent to the first node.

[0202] The first data forwarding configuration information is the data forwarding configuration information associated with the third node.

[0203] For the description of the first node, the second node, and the third node, reference can be made to the corresponding description in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0204] In some embodiments, the first data forwarding configuration information includes at least one of the following: first data forwarding suggestion information of the second node to the third node; second data forwarding configuration information of the third node to the second node; information of a first quality of service flow, the first quality of service flow being a quality of service flow that is not accepted by the third node among the quality of service flows suggested by the second node to the third node for data forwarding; and information of a first DRB, the first DRB being a DRB that is not accepted by the third node among the DRBs suggested by the second node to the third node for data forwarding.

[0205] In some embodiments, the information of the first quality of service flow includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the first quality of service flow; an identifier of a protocol data unit (PDU) session to which the first quality of service flow belongs; and data forwarding suggestion information corresponding to the first quality of service flow in the first data forwarding suggestion information.

[0206] In some embodiments, the information of the first DRB includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the first DRB; an identifier of a PDU session to which the first DRB belongs; and data forwarding suggestion information corresponding to the first DRB in the first data forwarding suggestion information.

[0207] For the description of the first data forwarding configuration information, reference can be made to the corresponding description in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0208] In some embodiments, to facilitate the first node to determine whether it is necessary to re-negotiate the data forwarding configuration information with the candidate node (the third node) and whether it is possible to directly use the data forwarding configuration information negotiated between the second node and the third node, so as to save the signaling overhead of re-negotiation and improve the efficiency of subsequent handover, the second node sends third data forwarding configuration information to the first node. The third data forwarding configuration information includes an identifier of the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session. The target PDU session is one of the at least one PDU session.

[0209] In some embodiments, the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is the MN of the third node or the SN of the third node.

[0210] In some embodiments, the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is: a third network element that allocates the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session; or a third network element in which the address of the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is located.

[0211] In some embodiments, the third data forwarding configuration information further includes type information of the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session. The type information is used to indicate that the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is the MN or the SN in the DC configuration, or to indicate that the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is the SA configuration.

[0212] In some embodiments, the third data forwarding configuration information further includes indication information used to indicate whether there is a direct data forwarding path for the target PDU session between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node.

[0213] In some embodiments, the second data forwarding configuration information includes part or all of the information in the third data forwarding configuration information.

[0214] For the description of the third data forwarding configuration information, reference can be made to the description of the third data forwarding configuration information in the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0215] In some embodiments, to avoid resource waste or avoid causing confusion of the sequence number of the data of the terminal, after receiving the third information from the first node, the second node sends fourth information to the third node. The third information is used to indicate that the terminal successfully accesses the first node, and the fourth information is used to indicate to delete the data of the terminal.

[0216] In some embodiments, the fourth information further indicates at least one of: an identity of the DRB for which the data is required to be deleted; an identity of the PDCP session for which the data is required to be deleted.

[0217] That is, after the second node receives the third information sent by the terminal that the terminal successfully accesses to the target cell, the fourth information is sent to the candidate node other than the target node, that is, the fourth information is sent to the third node. After the candidate node (that is, the third node) receives the fourth information, the third node deletes the data of the terminal received by the third node in response to the fourth information. In this way, before the subsequent handover process starts, the candidate node has deleted the data of the terminal received in the previous handover process, so as to prevent resource waste or prevent the situation of confusing the sequence number of the data of the terminal from occurring.

[0218] Exemplarily, in the first handover process and / or the second handover process described in the above embodiments: the first node (the target node) sends a message to the second node (the source node) to indicate that the terminal successfully accesses to the target cell, that is, successfully accesses to the first node;

[0219] After the second node receives the above message, the second node (the source node) sends the fourth information to the third node (the candidate node);

[0220] The third node receives the fourth information and deletes the data of the terminal saved by the third node according to the fourth information.

[0221] The data of the terminal can be the data of the terminal forwarded by the second node to the third node in the first handover process.

[0222] The fourth information can also indicate the identity of the DRB for which the data is required to be deleted, or the identity of the PDCP session for which the data is required to be deleted, and the third node can delete the corresponding DRB based on the identity of the DRB for which the data is required to be deleted, or delete the corresponding PDCP session based on the identity of the PDCP session for which the data is required to be deleted.

[0223] In this way, before the first node forwards the data of the terminal to the third node, the third node has deleted the data of the terminal received in the previous handover process, avoiding the third node (the candidate node) continuing to save the data of the terminal which has been sent to the terminal or the core network through the first node, thereby avoiding resource waste and avoiding the problem of confusing the data of the terminal received in the previous handover process with the data of the terminal in the current handover process.

[0224] It should be noted that the method described in the above conditional handover process is also applicable to the handover process based on the network handover command.

[0225] In some embodiments, the fourth information further comprises a serial number status transfer message of the second node to the first node, for example, a SN STATUS TRANSFER message in the NR system. The message is used for the second node to send the first node a message of the uplink / downlink PDCP serial number and hyper frame number (HFN) status of the data of the terminal. The second node can send the first node the message after receiving the HANDOVER SUCESSS message (i.e., the third information described above) sent by the first node. The serial number status message can be the serial number status message sent by the second node to the first node in the first handover process described above, or the serial number status message sent by the second node to the first node in the second handover process described above, and the embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit this.

[0226] The above mainly introduces the scheme provided by the present disclosure from the perspective of the interaction between the nodes. It can be understood that each node, for example, the first node or the second node, includes a hardware structure and / or a software module for executing each function in order to achieve the above functions. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present disclosure can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present disclosure.

[0227] The embodiments of the present disclosure can divide the function modules of the first node or the second node according to the method embodiments described above, for example, each function module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated in one function module. The integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or software. It should be noted that the division of the modules in the embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. When actually implemented, there can be another division manner. Hereinafter, taking the example of dividing each function module according to each function is described.

[0228] FIG. 6 is a constituent schematic diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, the communication apparatus 40 comprises a receiving unit 401. In some embodiments, the communication apparatus 40 further comprises a sending unit 402.

[0229] The communication apparatus 40 can be the first node or a chip in the first node. When the communication apparatus 40 is used to realize the functions of the first node in the embodiments described above, each unit is used to realize the following functions.

[0230] The receiving unit 401 is configured to receive first data forwarding configuration information from the second node. The first data forwarding configuration information is data forwarding configuration information associated with the third node.

[0231] In some embodiments, the sending unit 402 is configured to perform data forwarding on a second quality of service flow in the PDU session based on the TNL information. The second quality of service flow is a quality of service flow in the PDU session that is accepted by the third node for data forwarding and is expected by the first node to be forwarded.

[0232] In some embodiments, the sending unit 402 is configured to send second data forwarding suggestion information to the third node in a case where there is a third quality of service flow in the PDU session. The third quality of service flow is a quality of service flow in the PDU session that is accepted by the third node for data forwarding and is not expected by the second node to be forwarded.

[0233] In some embodiments, the sending unit 402 is configured to not send suggestion information for suggesting data forwarding on a fourth quality of service flow to the third node in a case where there is the fourth quality of service flow in the PDU session. The fourth quality of service flow is a quality of service flow in the PDU session that is suggested by the second node to be forwarded and is not accepted by the third node to be forwarded.

[0234] In some embodiments, the sending unit 402 is configured to perform data forwarding on the DRB based on the TNL information in a case where the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping with the quality of service flow in the first node is the same as the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping with the quality of service flow included in the first data forwarding suggestion information.

[0235] In some embodiments, the sending unit 402 is configured to not perform data forwarding using the TNL information in a case where there is no configuration of the DRB in the first node; or in a case where the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping with the quality of service flow in the first node is different from the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping with the quality of service flow included in the first data forwarding suggestion information.

[0236] In some embodiments, the sending unit 402 is configured to not send downlink data forwarding suggestion information of the DRB to the third node in a case where the configuration of the terminal in the first node includes the DRB, the data forwarding TNL information related to the DRB is not included in the second data forwarding configuration information, and the downlink data forwarding suggestion information of the DRB is included in the first data forwarding suggestion information.

[0237] In some embodiments, the sending unit 402 is configured to send, to the third node, first information, the first information being used to indicate to release or delete fourth data forwarding configuration information. The fourth data forwarding configuration information comprises at least one of the following: data forwarding configuration information generated by the third node for the terminal; data forwarding configuration information related to the first node.

[0238] In some embodiments, the sending unit 402 is configured to send, to the third node, second information, the second information being used to indicate to the third node to delete the received data of the terminal.

[0239] In some embodiments, the receiving unit 401 is further configured to receive, from the second node, third data forwarding configuration information, the third data forwarding configuration information comprising an identity of the third node associated with data forwarding TNL information related to a target PDU session, the target PDU session being one of the at least one PDU session.

[0240] In some embodiments, the sending unit 402 is configured to determine whether there is a direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the first node; and in a case where it is determined that there is no direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the first node, and there is a direct data forwarding path for the target PDU session between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node, send, to the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session, third data forwarding suggestion information.

[0241] FIG. 7 is a constituent schematic diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7, the communication apparatus 50 comprises a sending unit 501. In some embodiments, the communication apparatus 50 further comprises a receiving unit 502.

[0242] The communication apparatus 50 can be the second node or a chip in the second node. When the communication apparatus 50 is used to implement the functions of the second node in the above embodiments, each unit is configured to implement the following functions.

[0243] The sending unit 501 is configured to send, to the first node, first data forwarding configuration information. The first data forwarding configuration information is data forwarding configuration information associated with the third node.

[0244] In some embodiments, the sending unit 501 is further configured to send, to the first node, third data forwarding configuration information, the third data forwarding configuration information comprising an identity of the third node associated with data forwarding TNL information related to a target PDU session, the target PDU session being one of the at least one PDU session.

[0245] In some embodiments, the receiving unit 502 is configured to receive third information from the first node, the third information being used to indicate that the terminal successfully accesses the first node.

[0246] The sending unit 501 is further configured to send fourth information to the third node, the fourth information being used to instruct to delete data of the terminal.

[0247] It should be noted that the units in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 can also be referred to as modules, for example, the sending unit can be referred to as a sending module. In addition, in the embodiments shown in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7, the name of each unit can also be different from that shown in the figure, for example, the sending unit can also be referred to as a communication unit, and the receiving unit can also be referred to as a communication unit.

[0248] If each unit in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 is implemented in the form of a software function module and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure essentially or the part that makes contributions to the related art or the whole or part of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor to perform all or part of the steps of the methods in the various embodiments of the present disclosure. The storage medium storing the computer software product includes: a universal serial bus flash disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various other media that can store program codes.

[0249] In the case where the above-mentioned communication apparatus 40 or communication apparatus 50 implements the functions of the above-mentioned integrated modules in the form of hardware, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a structural diagram of a communication apparatus. As shown in FIG. 8, the communication apparatus 60 includes a processor 602, a communication interface 603, and a bus 604. In some embodiments, the communication apparatus 60 can further include a memory 601.

[0250] The processor 602 can implement or execute various example logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure. The processor 602 can be a central processing unit, a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, transistor logic, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The processor 602 can implement or execute various example logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure. The processor 602 can also be a combination of computing functionality, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, and so on.

[0251] The communication interface 603 is configured to connect with other devices through a communication network. The communication network can be an Ethernet, a wireless access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and the like.

[0252] The memory 601 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto.

[0253] As an implementation manner, the memory 601 can exist independently of the processor 602, and the memory 601 can be connected with the processor 602 through the bus 604, for storing instructions or program codes. When the processor 602 invokes and executes the instructions or program codes stored in the memory 601, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

[0254] In another implementation manner, the memory 601 can also be integrated with the processor 602.

[0255] The bus 604 can be an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus or the like. The bus 604 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For the convenience of representation, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 8, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0256] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, only the division of the above functional modules is exemplified, and in actual application, the above functions can be completed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the first node or the second node is divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above.

[0257] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer readable storage medium (for example, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium). All or part of the processes in the above method embodiments can be completed by the relevant hardware instructed by the computer instructions, which can be stored in the above computer readable storage medium. When the computer instructions are executed, the computer instructions can include the processes of the above method embodiments. The above computer readable storage medium can also be an external storage device of the above first node or second node, for example, a plug-in hard disk, a smart media card (SMC), a secure digital (SD) card, a flash card, and the like equipped on the above first node or second node. Further, the above computer readable storage medium can also include both the internal storage unit of the above first node or second node and the external storage device. The above computer readable storage medium is used to store the above computer program and other programs and data required by the above first node or second node. The above computer readable storage medium can also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or will be output.

[0258] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer program product, which contains a computer program, when the computer program runs on a computer, makes the computer execute any one of the communication methods provided in the above embodiments.

[0259] Although the present disclosure is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed disclosure, from the appended figures, the disclosure itself, and the attached claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit can implement several of the functions recited in the claims. Measures described in mutually different dependent claims can be combined and can produce good results.

[0260] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to specific features and embodiments thereof, it is evident that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the description and drawings are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and are not intended as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0261] The above merely provides specific embodiments of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and any changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed by the present disclosure should be covered within the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method applied to a first node, comprising: receiving first data forwarding configuration information from a second node, wherein the first data forwarding configuration information is data forwarding configuration information associated with a third node.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first data forwarding configuration information comprises at least one of the following: first data forwarding suggestion information of the second node to the third node; second data forwarding configuration information of the third node to the second node; information of a first quality of service flow, which is a quality of service flow that the second node suggests the third node to forward data, and is not accepted by the third node; information of a first data radio bearer (DRB), which is a DRB that the second node suggests the third node to forward data, and is not accepted by the third node.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The information of the first quality of service flow comprises at least one of the following: an identifier of the first quality of service flow; an identifier of a protocol data unit (PDU) session to which the first quality of service flow belongs; data forwarding suggestion information corresponding to the first quality of service flow in the first data forwarding suggestion information.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein, The information of the first DRB comprises at least one of the following: an identifier of the first DRB; an identifier of a PDU session to which the first DRB belongs; data forwarding suggestion information corresponding to the first DRB in the first data forwarding suggestion information.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein, The first data forwarding configuration information further comprises PDU session level data forwarding transport network layer (TNL) information associated with a PDU session, and the method further comprises: for a second quality of service flow in the PDU session, forwarding data of the second quality of service flow based on the TNL information, wherein the second quality of service flow is a quality of service flow in the PDU session that is accepted by the third node to forward data, and is expected by the first node to forward data.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein, The first data forwarding configuration information further comprises PDU session level data forwarding TNL information associated with a PDU session, and the method further comprises: in a case where a third quality of service flow exists in the PDU session, sending second data forwarding suggestion information to the third node, wherein the third quality of service flow is a quality of service flow in the PDU session that is accepted by the third node to forward data, and is not expected by the second node to forward data.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein, The first data forwarding configuration information further comprises PDU session level data forwarding TNL information associated with a PDU session, and the method further comprises: in a case where a fourth quality of service flow exists in the PDU session, not sending suggestion information for suggesting to forward data of the fourth quality of service flow to the third node, wherein the fourth quality of service flow is a quality of service flow in the second node suggested to forward data in the PDU session, and is not accepted by the third node to forward data.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein, The first data forwarding configuration information further comprises DRB level data forwarding TNL information associated with a DRB, and the method further comprises: in a case where the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping to a quality of service flow in the first node is the same as the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping to a quality of service flow contained in the first data forwarding suggestion information, performing data forwarding of the DRB based on the TNL information.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein, The first data forwarding configuration information further comprises DRB-level data forwarding TNL information associated with the DRB, and the method further comprises: in a case where the configuration of the DRB does not exist in the first node, not using the TNL information for data forwarding; or in a case where the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping to a quality of service flow in the first node is different from the configuration of the DRB and / or the mapping to a quality of service flow contained in the first data forwarding suggestion information, not using the TNL information for data forwarding.

10. The method of claim 2, further comprising: in a case where the DRB in the configuration of the terminal in the first node satisfies that the data forwarding TNL information related to the DRB is not contained in the second data forwarding configuration information and the downlink data forwarding suggestion information of the DRB is contained in the first data forwarding suggestion information, not sending the downlink data forwarding suggestion information of the DRB to the third node.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending first information to the third node, the first information being used to indicate releasing or deleting fourth data forwarding configuration information, wherein the fourth data forwarding configuration information comprises at least one of: data forwarding configuration information generated by the third node for a terminal; data forwarding configuration information related to the first node.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, the first information is further used to indicate at least one of: PDU session-level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be released or deleted; DRB-level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be released or deleted; an identity of a PDU session associated with the PDU session-level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be released or deleted; an identity of a quality of service flow associated with the PDU session-level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be released or deleted; an identity of a DRB associated with the PDU session-level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be released or deleted; an identity of a PDU session associated with the DRB-level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be deleted or released; an identity of a quality of service flow associated with the DRB-level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be deleted or released; an identity of a DRB associated with the DRB-level data forwarding TNL information that needs to be deleted or released; an identity of a PDU session that needs to be deleted or has been deleted; an identity of a quality of service flow that needs to be deleted or has been deleted; an identity of a DRB that needs to be deleted or has been deleted.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein, the first information further comprises second data forwarding suggestion information, the second data forwarding suggestion information being used to indicate at least one of: data forwarding suggestion for a PDU session; data forwarding suggestion for a DRB.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending second information to the third node, the second information being used to instruct the third node to delete data of the received terminal.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The second information is further used to indicate at least one of: an identity of a DRB for which data is needed to be deleted; an identity of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) session for which data is needed to be deleted.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein, The second information is one of: a message for early sequence number transmission status; or, an inter-node message for establishing a signaling connection between the first node and the third node; or, 17. The method of claim 2, wherein, a message for updating a terminal configuration. The first data forwarding configuration information comprises at least one PDU session associated data forwarding configuration, and the method further comprises:

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, receiving third data forwarding configuration information from the second node, the third data forwarding configuration information comprising an identity of a third node associated with data forwarding TNL information related to a target PDU session, the target PDU session being one of the at least one PDU session.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein, The third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is a master node (MN) of the third node or a secondary node (SN) of the third node. The third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is one of:

20. The method of claim 17, wherein, a third network element that allocates the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session; or, 21. The method of claim 17, wherein, a third network element in which the data forwarding TNL information address related to the target PDU session is located.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein, The third data forwarding configuration information further comprises type information, the type information being used to indicate that the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is an MN or an SN in a dual connectivity (DC) configuration, or being used to indicate that the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is in a standalone (SA) configuration. The third data forwarding configuration information further comprises indication information used to indicate whether there is a direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node for the target PDU session. The second data forwarding configuration information comprises part or all of the third data forwarding configuration information.

23. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

24. The method of claim 23, wherein, determining whether there is a direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the first node; in a case where it is determined that there is no direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the first node, and there is a direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node for the target PDU session, sending third data forwarding suggestion information to the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session. The first node comprises an MN of the first node and an SN of the first node, and the method further comprises: In a case that there is no direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the first node, and there is no direct data forwarding path for the target PDU session between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node, the MN of the first node sends data forwarding TNL information for forwarding the target PDU session to the SN of the first node.

25. A communication method applied to a second node, comprising: sending first data forwarding configuration information to a first node, wherein the first data forwarding configuration information is data forwarding configuration information associated with a third node.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, The first data forwarding configuration information comprises at least one of the following: first data forwarding suggestion information of the third node; second data forwarding configuration information of the second node; information of a first quality of service flow, the first quality of service flow being a quality of service flow that the second node suggests the third node to perform data forwarding, and not being accepted by the third node; information of a first data radio bearer (DRB), the first DRB being a DRB that the second node suggests the third node to perform data forwarding, and not being accepted by the third node.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein, The information of the first quality of service flow comprises at least one of the following: an identifier of the first quality of service flow; an identifier of a protocol data unit (PDU) session to which the first quality of service flow belongs; data forwarding suggestion information corresponding to the first quality of service flow in the first data forwarding suggestion information.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein, The information of the first DRB comprises at least one of the following: an identifier of the first DRB; an identifier of a PDU session to which the first DRB belongs; data forwarding suggestion information corresponding to the first DRB in the first data forwarding suggestion information.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein, The first data forwarding configuration information comprises data forwarding configuration associated with at least one PDU session, and the method further comprises: sending third data forwarding configuration information to the first node, the third data forwarding configuration information comprising an identifier of a third node associated with data forwarding transport network layer (TNL) information related to a target PDU session, the target PDU session being one of the at least one PDU session.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein, The third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is a master node (MN) of the third node or a secondary node (SN) of the third node.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein, The third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is a third network element that allocates the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session; or a third network element in which an address of the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is located.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein, The third data forwarding configuration information further comprises type information of a third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session, the type information being used to indicate that the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is an MN or an SN in a dual connectivity (DC) configuration, or to indicate that the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session is in a standalone (SA) configuration.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein, The third data forwarding configuration information further comprises indication information used to indicate whether there is a direct data forwarding path between the third node associated with the data forwarding TNL information related to the target PDU session and the second node for the target PDU session.

34. The method of claim 29, wherein, The second data forwarding configuration information comprises part or all of the third data forwarding configuration information.

35. The method of claim 25, further comprising: receiving third information from the first node, the third information being used to indicate that the terminal successfully accesses the first node; sending fourth information to the third node, the fourth information being used to indicate to delete data of the terminal.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein, The fourth information is further used to indicate at least one of: an identity of a DRB for which data needs to be deleted; an identity of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) session for which data needs to be deleted.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein, The fourth information further comprises a sequence number status message of the second node to the first node.

38. A communications device comprising: a memory and a processor; wherein the memory is coupled to the processor; the memory is used to store instructions executable by the processor; and the processor executes the instructions to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 37.

39. A computer readable storage medium, wherein, The computer readable storage medium stores computer instructions, and when the computer instructions run on a computer, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 37.

40. A computer program product, wherein, The computer program product contains computer instructions, and when the computer instructions run on a computer, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 37. The computer program product contains computer instructions, and when the computer instructions run on a computer, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 37.

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