Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Disclosed in the present application are a communication method and apparatus, which are applied to the technical field of communications. The method comprises: a first network element acquiring data scheduling information, wherein the data scheduling information comprises at least one of an occurrence time of data scheduling, a data transmission time, the number of instances of data scheduling, and a data scheduling frequency, and the first network element is a network element responsible for a network data analytics function; on the basis of the data scheduling information, the first network element determining a first analytics result; and the first network element sending the first analytics result to a second network element, wherein the first analytics result is used for determining a first data scheduling operation, and the second network element is a network element responsible for a data management function. By means of the present application, the efficiency of data collection can be improved.

Description

A communication method and apparatus

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411539164.1, filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on October 30, 2024, entitled "A Communication Method and Apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0003] With the continuous development of communication technology, in order to improve user experience and reduce network load, intelligent network architectures based on network data analytics function (NWDAF) network elements can be used to collect massive amounts of information from the network. Big data and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are then used to analyze this massive information, thereby assisting operators in policy formulation and network resource adjustment. During the information collection process, the data requester may need to collect the required information from one or more NWDAF network elements (referred to as distributed NWDAF network elements). Alternatively, the distributed NWDAF network elements may first store the data in a distributed analytics data repository function (ADRF) network element, and then the data requester collects the required information from the distributed ADRF network element. However, in distributed data collection scenarios, the amount of data to be transmitted and the transmission distance between the data requester and different distributed NWDAF (or ADRF) network elements vary, which may lead to a large overall data collection latency, failing to meet the needs of specific scenarios (such as real-time inference). Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method and apparatus that can improve the efficiency of data collection.

[0005] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which is applied to a first network element, or a chip or circuit configured in the first network element, comprising:

[0006] The first network element acquires data scheduling information, which includes at least one of the following: data scheduling occurrence time, data transmission time, number of data scheduling events, and data scheduling frequency. The first network element is a network element responsible for network data analysis functions.

[0007] The first network element determines the first analysis result based on the data scheduling information.

[0008] The first network element sends the first analysis result to the second network element. The first analysis result is used to determine the first data scheduling operation. The second network element is the network element responsible for data management functions.

[0009] By receiving and analyzing information such as the occurrence time of data scheduling, data transmission time, number of data scheduling operations, and / or data scheduling frequency in the data scheduling information, the first network element determines the first analysis result. By sending the first analysis result to the second network element, it helps the second network element determine the first data scheduling operation, thereby avoiding repeated cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0010] In one possible design, the data scheduling information further includes at least one of the following: data requester information, data producer information, data collection requirement information, or dataset-related information. This facilitates the first network element in analyzing the data scheduling information between different data requesters and data producers, thereby assisting the second network element in determining the first data scheduling operation. It can avoid repeated cross-domain data requests, reduce data collection latency, and improve data collection efficiency.

[0011] In another possible design, the first analysis result includes at least one of the following: the statistical result of the data scheduling information, the prediction result of the data scheduling information, or the second data scheduling operation. This helps the second network element determine the first data scheduling operation, thereby avoiding repeated cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0012] In another possible design, the first network element receives a first request from the second network element. This first request requests the first analysis result and includes the data scheduling information. By receiving the first request, the first network element can subsequently analyze the data scheduling information, thereby assisting the second network element in determining the first data scheduling operation. This avoids repeated cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, and improves data collection efficiency.

[0013] In another possible design, the data scheduling information includes first data scheduling information and second data scheduling information; the first network element receives a first request from the second network element, the first request being used to request the first analysis result, the first request including the first data scheduling information; the first network element receives a first message from a third network element, the first message including the second data scheduling information, the third network element being the data producer corresponding to the first network element. By receiving the first request and the first message, the first network element can subsequently analyze the first and second data scheduling information, thereby assisting the second network element in determining the first data scheduling operation, which can avoid repeated cross-domain data requests, reduce data collection latency, and improve data collection efficiency.

[0014] In another possible design, the first request may further include at least one of the following: an analysis identifier, a target for the analysis report, analysis report information, analysis filtering information, or first indication information; the first indication information is used to instruct the generation of the second data scheduling operation. This helps the second network element determine the first data scheduling operation, thereby avoiding repeated cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0015] In another possible design, the first network element sends a second request to a third network element, the second request being for the data scheduling information, wherein the third network element is the data generator corresponding to the first network element; the first network element receives a second message from the third network element, the second message including the data scheduling information. Sending the second request facilitates the third network element's collection of data scheduling information, while receiving the second message helps the first network element analyze information such as the occurrence time of data scheduling, data transmission time, number of data scheduling operations, and / or data scheduling frequency, thereby assisting the second network element in determining the first data scheduling operation. This avoids repeated cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, and improves data collection efficiency.

[0016] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which is applied to a second network element, or a chip or circuit configured in the second network element, including:

[0017] The second network element receives the first analysis result from the first network element. The first analysis result is determined based on data scheduling information. The data scheduling information includes at least one of the following: data scheduling occurrence time, data transmission time, number of data scheduling events, and data scheduling frequency. The first network element is the network element responsible for network data analysis functions, and the second network element is the network element responsible for data management functions.

[0018] The second network element determines the first data scheduling operation based on the first analysis result.

[0019] By receiving the first analysis results of information such as the occurrence time of data scheduling, data transmission time, number of data scheduling and / or data scheduling frequency from the data scheduling information, the second network element can determine the first data scheduling operation, which helps to avoid repeated cross-domain data requests, reduce data collection latency and improve data collection efficiency.

[0020] In one possible design, the data scheduling information further includes at least one of the following: data requester information, data producer information, data collection requirement information, or dataset-related information. This allows the second network element to determine the first data scheduling operation based on the first analysis result of the data scheduling information between different data requesters and data producers, thereby avoiding repeated cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0021] In another possible design, the first analysis result includes at least one of the following: the statistical result of the data scheduling information, the prediction result of the data scheduling information, or the second data scheduling operation. This allows the second network element to determine the first data scheduling operation based on the statistical result of the data scheduling information, the prediction result of the data scheduling information, and / or the second data scheduling operation, thereby avoiding repeated cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0022] In another possible design, the second network element sends a first request to the first network element. This first request requests the first analysis result and includes the data scheduling information. Sending the first request facilitates the first network element's subsequent analysis of the data scheduling information, thereby assisting the second network element in determining the first data scheduling operation. This avoids repeated cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, and improves data collection efficiency.

[0023] In another possible design, the second network element sends a first request to the first network element. This first request requests the first analysis result and includes first data scheduling information, which may be part or all of the data scheduling information itself. Sending the first request facilitates the first network element's subsequent analysis of the first and second data scheduling information, thereby assisting the second network element in determining the first data scheduling operation. This avoids redundant cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, and improves data collection efficiency.

[0024] In another possible design, the first request further includes at least one of the following: an analysis identifier, a target for the analysis report, analysis report information, analysis filtering information, or first instruction information; the first instruction information is used to instruct the first network element to generate the second data scheduling operation. This helps the second network element determine the first data scheduling operation, thereby avoiding repeated cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0025] In another possible design, the second network element receives a third request from the fourth network element, the third request being for requesting optimized data scheduling. By receiving the third request, the second network element can optimize data scheduling, thereby avoiding duplicate cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0026] In another possible design, the third request includes at least one of the following: the data scheduling information or the first data scheduling information. This facilitates data scheduling optimization by the second network element, thereby avoiding repeated cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0027] In another possible design, the second network element sends a first response to the fourth network element, the first response indicating whether the first data scheduling operation was successfully executed. Sending the first response helps the fourth network element determine whether the second network element performed data scheduling optimization.

[0028] In another possible design, the first response includes the first data scheduling operation. This helps the fourth network element determine how the second network element should optimize data scheduling.

[0029] In another possible design, the second network element performs data scheduling based on the first data scheduling operation, the data scheduling including data migration and / or data replication. This helps avoid duplicate cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, improves data collection efficiency, and reduces data transmission load.

[0030] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which is applied to a first network element, or a chip or circuit configured in the first network element, including:

[0031] The first network element acquires data scheduling information, which includes at least one of the following: data scheduling occurrence time, data transmission time, number of data scheduling events, and data scheduling frequency. The first network element is a network element responsible for data management functions, network data analysis functions, or data collection and coordination functions.

[0032] The first network element determines the first data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling information.

[0033] By receiving data scheduling information, the first network element can determine the first data scheduling operation based on information such as the occurrence time of data scheduling, data transmission time, number of data scheduling operations, and / or data scheduling frequency in the data scheduling information. This helps to avoid repeated cross-domain data requests, reduce data collection latency, and improve data collection efficiency.

[0034] In one possible design, the data scheduling information further includes at least one of the following: data requester information, data producer information, data collection requirement information, or dataset-related information. This allows the first network element to determine the first data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling information between different data requesters and data producers, thereby avoiding repeated cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0035] In another possible design, the first network element receives a first request from the second network element, the first request including the data scheduling information and / or a second data scheduling operation. Receiving the first request helps the first network element determine the first data scheduling operation, thereby avoiding repeated cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0036] In another possible design, the data scheduling information includes first data scheduling information and second data scheduling information; the first network element receives a first request from a second network element, the first request including the first data scheduling information; the first network element receives a first message from a third network element, the first message including the second data scheduling information, wherein the third network element is the data producer corresponding to the first network element. By receiving the first request and the first message, the first network element can determine the first data scheduling operation based on the first and second data scheduling information, thereby avoiding repeated cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0037] In another possible design, if the first request includes the second data scheduling operation, the first network element determines the first data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling information and / or the second data scheduling operation; or if the first request does not include the second data scheduling operation, the first network element determines the first data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling information. Receiving the first request helps the first network element determine the first data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling information and / or the second data scheduling operation, thereby avoiding duplicate cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0038] In another possible design, the first network element sends a first response to the second network element, the first response indicating whether the first data scheduling operation was successfully executed. By sending the first response, the second network element can determine whether the first network element performed data scheduling optimization.

[0039] In another possible design, the first response is also used to indicate whether data scheduling has been performed according to the second data scheduling operation. This helps the second network element determine whether the first network element has performed data scheduling optimization according to the second data scheduling operation.

[0040] In another possible design, the first response includes the first data scheduling operation. This helps the second network element determine how the first network element should optimize data scheduling.

[0041] In another possible design, the first network element sends a second request to a third network element, the second request being for the data scheduling information, wherein the third network element is the data generator corresponding to the first network element; the first network element receives a second message from the third network element, the second message including the data scheduling information. By sending the second request, the first network element receives the data scheduling information, which facilitates the subsequent determination of the first data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling information, thereby avoiding repeated cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0042] In another possible design, the first network element performs data scheduling based on the first data scheduling operation, the data scheduling including data migration and / or data replication. This helps avoid duplicate cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, improves data collection efficiency, and reduces data transmission load.

[0043] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which is applied to a first network element, or a chip or circuit configured in the first network element, including:

[0044] The first network element acquires data scheduling information, which includes at least one of the following: data scheduling occurrence time, data transmission time, number of data scheduling operations, and data scheduling frequency.

[0045] The first network element sends a first request to the second network element based on the data scheduling information. The first request includes a first data scheduling operation. The first request is used to request the execution of the first data scheduling operation. The second network element is the data generator or the target network element for data scheduling.

[0046] By acquiring and analyzing information such as the occurrence time of data scheduling, data transmission time, number of data scheduling operations, and / or data scheduling frequency in the data scheduling information, the first network element can determine the first data scheduling operation. By sending a first request containing the first data scheduling operation, it is beneficial to assist the second network element in data scheduling, avoid repeated cross-domain data requests, reduce data collection latency, and improve data collection efficiency.

[0047] In one possible design, the first network element determines the first data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling information. Determining the first data scheduling operation helps assist the second network element in data scheduling, avoids redundant cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, and improves data collection efficiency.

[0048] In another possible design, the first request further includes the identifier of the target network element and dataset information; the identifier of the target network element is used to indicate the target network element for data scheduling; the dataset information is used to indicate the dataset that needs to be scheduled. This helps the second network element determine the target network element and the dataset that needs to be scheduled, avoids repeated cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, and improves data collection efficiency.

[0049] In another possible design, the dataset information includes at least one of the following: dataset identifier, dataset address, dataset storage identifier, dataset description information, or dataset characteristic information. This helps the second network element determine the dataset that needs to be scheduled, avoids repeated cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, and improves data collection efficiency.

[0050] In another possible design, the first network element receives a first response from the second network element, the first response indicating whether the first data scheduling operation was successfully executed. Receiving the first response helps the first network element determine whether the second network element performed data scheduling.

[0051] In another possible design, the first response is also used to indicate whether data scheduling has been performed according to the first data scheduling operation. This helps the first network element determine whether the second network element has performed data scheduling according to the first data scheduling operation.

[0052] In another possible design, if the second network element has already performed data scheduling according to the second data scheduling operation, then the first response includes the second data scheduling operation. This is beneficial for the first network element to determine that the second network element has performed data scheduling according to the second data scheduling operation.

[0053] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which is applied to a second network element, or a chip or circuit configured in a second network element, including:

[0054] The second network element receives a first request from the first network element. The first request includes a first data scheduling operation, which is determined based on data scheduling information. The data scheduling information includes at least one of the following: the occurrence time of data scheduling, the data transmission time, the number of data scheduling operations, and the data scheduling frequency. The second network element is either the data generator or the target network element for data scheduling.

[0055] The second network element executes the first data scheduling operation based on the first request.

[0056] By receiving the first request, the second network element determines the first data scheduling operation based on the analysis of information such as the occurrence time of data scheduling, data transmission time, number of data scheduling and / or data scheduling frequency in the data scheduling information. The second network element performs data scheduling according to the first data scheduling operation, which helps to avoid repeated cross-domain data requests, reduce data collection latency, and improve data collection efficiency.

[0057] In one possible design, the first request further includes an identifier of the target network element and dataset information; the identifier of the target network element is used to indicate the network element for data scheduling; the dataset information is used to indicate the dataset to be scheduled. This helps the second network element to determine the target network element for data scheduling and the dataset to be scheduled, avoiding repeated cross-domain data requests, reducing data collection latency, and improving data collection efficiency.

[0058] In another possible design, the dataset information includes at least one of the following: dataset identifier, dataset address, dataset storage identifier, dataset description information, or dataset characteristic information. This helps the second network element determine the dataset that needs to be scheduled, avoids repeated cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, and improves data collection efficiency.

[0059] In another possible design, the second network element sends a first response to the first network element, the first response indicating whether the first data scheduling operation was successfully executed. By sending the first response, the first network element can determine whether the second network element performed data scheduling.

[0060] In another possible design, the first response is also used to indicate whether data scheduling has been performed according to the first data scheduling operation. This helps the first network element determine whether the second network element has performed data scheduling according to the first data scheduling operation.

[0061] In another possible design, if the second network element has already performed data scheduling according to the second data scheduling operation, then the first response includes the second data scheduling operation. This is beneficial for the first network element to determine that the second network element has performed data scheduling according to the second data scheduling operation.

[0062] In another possible design, the second network element performs data scheduling based on the first data scheduling operation, the data scheduling including data migration and / or data replication. This helps avoid duplicate cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, improves data collection efficiency, and reduces data transmission load.

[0063] In another possible design, the second network element sends a second request to the third network element. This second request includes the dataset information and / or the dataset to be scheduled. The second request is used to request the transmission of the dataset to be scheduled. By sending the second request, the second network element receives the dataset to be scheduled, which facilitates subsequent data scheduling, avoids repeated cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, improves data collection efficiency, and reduces data transmission load.

[0064] In another possible design, the second network element receives a second response from the third network element, the second response indicating whether the dataset to be scheduled has been successfully transmitted. By receiving the second request, the second network element can determine whether the third network element has successfully transmitted the dataset to be scheduled, which is beneficial for subsequent data scheduling, avoids repeated cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, improves data collection efficiency, and reduces data transmission load.

[0065] In another possible design, if the second request does not include the dataset to be scheduled, the second network element obtains the dataset to be scheduled from a fourth network element based on the dataset information. The fourth network element is the data producer corresponding to the dataset to be scheduled. Obtaining the dataset to be scheduled from the fourth network element facilitates subsequent data scheduling, avoids repeated cross-domain data requests, reduces data collection latency, improves data collection efficiency, and reduces data transmission load.

[0066] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device configured to implement the methods and functions of the first aspect described above, implemented by hardware / software, the hardware / software including modules corresponding to the functions described above.

[0067] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device configured to implement the methods and functions of the second aspect described above, implemented by hardware / software, the hardware / software including modules corresponding to the functions described above.

[0068] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device configured to implement the methods and functions of the third aspect described above, implemented by hardware / software, the hardware / software including modules corresponding to the functions described above.

[0069] Ninthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device configured to implement the methods and functions of the fourth aspect described above, implemented by hardware / software, the hardware / software including modules corresponding to the functions described above.

[0070] In a tenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device configured to implement the methods and functions of the fifth aspect described above, implemented by hardware / software, the hardware / software including modules corresponding to the functions described above.

[0071] Eleventhly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device applied in an NWDAF network element. The communication device can be an NWDAF network element or a chip in an NWDAF network element. The communication device includes a processor, a memory, and a communication bus. The communication bus is used to realize communication between the processor and the memory. The processor executes a program stored in the memory to enable the communication device to perform the steps of the first aspect described above.

[0072] In a twelfth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device applied in a data management function (DMF) network element. The communication device can be a DMF network element or a chip in a DMF network element. The communication device includes a processor, a memory, and a communication bus. The communication bus is used to enable communication between the processor and the memory. The processor executes a program stored in the memory to enable the communication device to perform the steps of the second and third aspects described above.

[0073] In a thirteenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device applied to a network element requesting data scheduling. The communication device can be the network element requesting data scheduling or a chip within the network element requesting data scheduling. The communication device includes a processor, a memory, and a communication bus, wherein the communication bus is used to enable communication between the processor and the memory, and the processor executes a program stored in the memory to enable the communication device to perform the steps of the fourth aspect described above.

[0074] In a fourteenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device applied in a target network element of a data generator / data scheduling entity. The communication device can be a target network element of a data generator / data scheduling entity or a chip in the target network element of a data generator / data scheduling entity. The communication device includes a processor, a memory, and a communication bus, wherein the communication bus is used to realize communication between the processor and the memory, and the processor executes a program stored in the memory to enable the communication device to perform the steps of the fifth aspect described above.

[0075] In a fifteenth aspect, this application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described above.

[0076] In a sixteenth aspect, this application provides a computer program product containing instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described above.

[0077] In a seventeenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a chip including a processor and a communication interface for communicating with external or internal devices, the processor enabling the chip to implement the methods described above.

[0078] In one possible design, the chip may further include a memory storing computer programs or instructions, which the processor executes, either from the stored computer programs or instructions or derived from other programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the chip performs the methods described above.

[0079] In one possible design, the chip can be integrated on the NWDAF network element, the DMF network element, the network element requesting data scheduling, and the data generator / target network element for data scheduling.

[0080] In an eighteenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication system including an NWDAF network element and a DMF network element, wherein the NWDAF network element is used to perform the method described in the first aspect, and the DMF network element is used to perform the method described in the second aspect.

[0081] In a nineteenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication system including a DMF network element, the DMF network element being used to perform the method described in the third aspect above.

[0082] In a twentieth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication system comprising a network element requesting data scheduling and a data generator / target network element for data scheduling. The network element requesting data scheduling is used to execute the method described in the fourth aspect above, and the data generator / target network element for data scheduling is used to execute the method described in the fifth aspect above.

[0083] In a twentieth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication system comprising an NWDAF network element, a DMF network element, a network element requesting data scheduling, and a data generator / data scheduling target network element, wherein the NWDAF network element is used to execute the method of the first aspect described above, the DMF network element is used to execute the methods of the second and third aspects described above, the network element requesting data scheduling is used to execute the method of the fourth aspect described above, and the data generator / data scheduling target network element is used to execute the method of the fifth aspect described above. Attached Figure Description

[0084] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the background art, the accompanying drawings used in the embodiments of this application or the background art will be described below.

[0085] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture;

[0086] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a 6G network structure;

[0087] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating a data collection method;

[0088] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating another data collection method;

[0089] Figure 5 is an example diagram of distributed data collection;

[0090] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0091] Figure 7 is an example diagram of data scheduling provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0092] Figure 8 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0093] Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0094] Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0095] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0096] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0097] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0098] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0099] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0100] The following explanations of some of the terms used in this application are provided to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0101] 1. DMF Network Element: Based on requests from network function (NF) network elements (such as application function (AF) network elements, network exposure function (NEF) network elements, NWDAF network elements, etc.), it can perform data scheduling, data authorization, and data quality assessment, and expose data to consumer NF network elements. A DMF network element may be an independent network element or a function / module, which can be deployed in NWDAF / data collection coordination function (DCCF) / messaging framework adapter function (MFAF) / NEF network elements, etc.

[0102] 2. ADRF network element: mainly responsible for storing and retrieving collected data or analysis.

[0103] The embodiments of this application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0104] It should be understood that in the description of this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. In addition, the words "first," "second," etc., unless otherwise stated, are used only for the purpose of distinguishing descriptions and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or order.

[0105] It should be understood that in the description of this application, the indication includes direct indication (also known as explicit indication) and implicit indication. Direct indication information A refers to information A being included; implicit indication information A refers to information A being indicated through the correspondence between information A and information B, and the direct indication information B. The correspondence between information A and information B can be predefined, pre-stored, pre-burned, or pre-configured.

[0106] It should be understood that, in the description of this application, information C is used to determine information D, including both situations where information D is determined solely based on information C and situations where it is determined based on information C and other information. Furthermore, information C can also be used to determine information D indirectly, for example, where information D is determined based on information E, and information E is determined based on information C.

[0107] Furthermore, in this application, "network element A sends message A to network element B" can be understood as network element B being the destination of message A or an intermediate network element in the transmission path between the destination and network element B, which may include sending the message directly or indirectly to network element B. Similarly, "network element B receives message A from network element A" can be understood as network element A being the source of message A or an intermediate network element in the transmission path between the source and network element A, which may include receiving the message directly or indirectly from network element A. The message may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as format changes, but the destination can understand a valid message from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be interpreted in a similar way and will not be elaborated further here.

[0108] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: 5th generation (5G) mobile communication systems, Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) systems, satellite communication systems, etc. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), and Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems or other communication systems.

[0109] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture. This 5G network consists of two parts: the access network and the core network (CN). The access network is used to implement functions related to radio access. The core network mainly includes the following key logical network elements: access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements, session management function (SMF) network elements, user plane function (UPF) network elements, policy control function (PCF) network elements, and unified data management (UDM) network elements. The following is a description of each network element involved in Figure 1:

[0110] UE can be a terminal device, such as a mobile phone or an IoT terminal device.

[0111] Radio access network (RAN) equipment is equipment that provides wireless access for terminal devices, including but not limited to 5G base stations (next generation node B, gNB), wireless-fidelity (WiFi) access points (AP), and worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) base stations (BS).

[0112] AMF network elements are primarily responsible for mobility management in mobile networks, such as user location updates, user network registration, and user handover.

[0113] SMF (Service Provider Function) elements are primarily responsible for session management in mobile networks, such as session establishment, modification, and release. Specific functions include assigning Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to users and selecting a UPF (User Provider Function) to provide packet forwarding capabilities.

[0114] UPF network elements are primarily responsible for processing user packets, such as forwarding and billing.

[0115] The PCF network element is mainly responsible for providing policies to the AMF and SMF, such as quality of service (QoS) policies and slice selection policies.

[0116] UDM network elements are used to store user data, such as contract information and authentication / authorization information.

[0117] The AF network element is mainly responsible for providing services to the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) network, such as influencing service routing and interacting with the PCF for policy control.

[0118] The data network (DN) is primarily responsible for providing data transmission services to users, such as IP multimedia service (IMS) and the Internet. The UE accesses the DN by establishing a session between the UE, RAN, UPF, and DN.

[0119] Optionally, the core network may also include NEF network elements. NEF network elements are used to provide access to 5G network capabilities and events, as well as to receive relevant external information.

[0120] Optionally, the core network may also include network repository function (NRF) elements. NRF elements are used for network function service registration, status monitoring, etc., to achieve automated management, selection and expansion of network function services, and to allow each network function to discover services provided by other network functions.

[0121] Optionally, the core network may also include NWDAF network elements. NWDAF network elements possess data collection, training, analysis, and inference capabilities. They are used to collect relevant data from network elements, third-party service servers, terminal devices, or network management systems, perform analysis and training based on this data, and provide data analysis results to network elements, third-party service servers, terminal devices, or network management systems. These analysis results can assist the network in selecting service quality parameters, performing traffic routing, or selecting background data transmission strategies, etc.

[0122] Optionally, the core network may also include unified data repository (UDR) network elements.

[0123] Optionally, the core network may also include operations administration and management (OAM), also known as network management. Operations is responsible for the analysis, forecasting, planning, and configuration of the network and services on a daily basis; maintenance is responsible for the daily operational activities such as testing and fault management of the network and its services.

[0124] Optionally, the core network may also include multiple service interfaces. For example, Nnef interface, Nnrf interface, Nnwdaf interface, Naf interface, Npcf interface, Nudr interface, Nnef interface, Nudm interface, Namf interface, Nsmf interface, Ndhf interface, etc.

[0125] It should be noted that N2 to N6 in the diagram refer to the interfaces between network elements or between a network element and a device. For example, N2 refers to the interface between the AMF network element and the RAN device, N3 refers to the interface between the UPF network element and the RAN device, and so on. Furthermore, network elements can also be replaced by entities, network entities, devices, communication equipment, communication modules, nodes, communication nodes, etc. This application uses network elements as an example for description.

[0126] Furthermore, the technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to future communication systems or integrated systems of multiple systems.

[0127] Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of a 6G network structure. The core network of this 6G network includes analysis functions, a network AI agent, simulation evaluation functions, and data functions. The analysis functions are connected to the network AI agent, simulation evaluation functions, and data functions, respectively. The simulation functions are connected to both the network AI agent and the data functions. These connections refer to the transmission of commands and / or data signals. The various functions shown in Figure 2 are described below:

[0128] The analysis function is mainly responsible for model training and data analysis, including one or more NWDAF network elements. The NWDAF network elements are mainly divided into model training logical function (MTLF) and analysis logical function (AnLF) according to their functions. MTLF is mainly responsible for performing model training and can provide the model to other network elements (such as AnLF network elements / LMF network elements, etc.). AnLF is mainly responsible for model inference, generating analysis results, and opening the analysis results to other network elements (such as AMF network elements / SMF network elements / PCF network elements, etc.).

[0129] Network AI agents can include business experience optimization agents and deterministic experience assurance agents.

[0130] Optionally, the network AI agent may also include a task planning module, a memory module, and a tool library module.

[0131] The simulation evaluation function is mainly responsible for simulation, performance evaluation, and result feedback.

[0132] The data functions mainly include DMF network elements, DCCF network elements / MFAF network elements and ADRF network elements.

[0133] The DMF network element is primarily responsible for data scheduling, data authorization, and data quality assessment; the DCCF / MFAF network element is primarily responsible for data collection coordination, distributed data association, distributed data synchronization, and data preprocessing; the DCCF / MFAF network element can transmit data with the NF network element in the core network through the AI ​​data transmission protocol; the ADRF network element is primarily responsible for data / analysis storage / retrieval / deletion, data migration, and data serialization, and may include an AI database. Furthermore, the number of DMF network elements, DCCF / MFAF network elements, and ADRF network elements can be one or more; this application does not limit this.

[0134] Optionally, the ADRF network element can also be connected to the DMF network element and the DCCF / MFAF network element respectively, and the DMF network element can also be connected to the DCCF / MFAF network element.

[0135] It should be understood that the functions and / or network elements included in the 6G network shown in Figure 2 are merely examples. The network may also include other functions and / or network elements, or may not include some of the functions and / or network elements shown in Figure 2. This application does not limit this.

[0136] Currently, the 3GPP standard defines an intelligent network architecture based on NWDAF network elements. The aim is to collect massive amounts of information from the network and utilize existing big data and AI technologies to analyze this information, outputting analysis results to assist operators in policy formulation and network resource adjustment, thereby improving user experience and reducing network load. For example, the analyses that NWDAF network elements can provide and the data that need to be collected are shown in Table 1. NWDAF network elements can provide various analyses, such as service experience analysis, network element load analysis, and mobile edge computing (MEC) service experience analysis. Specifically, service experience analysis requires collecting service-related information such as service identifiers and service experience from AF / UE, and information such as signal reception power and signal reception quality from OAM; network element load analysis requires collecting network element resource usage from NRF network elements, collecting UE speed / orientation (UE minimized drive tests, MDT) data from OAM, and collecting information such as path, destination, and arrival time from third-party applications; MEC service experience analysis requires collecting information such as UE identifiers, UE locations, application identifiers, application locations, and uplink / downlink transmission performance data from AF / UE.

[0137] Table 1

[0138] In addition, to facilitate the retrieval and use of data, analysis results, and models, NWDAF elements can store collected data, generated analyses, and trained models in ADRF elements. At the same time, NWDAF elements can also retrieve, update, or delete stored data / analysis / models from ADRF elements as needed.

[0139] Figure 3 shows a flowchart of a data collection method. In this scenario, the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element can collect data from the NWDAF network element. This method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0140] S301: The data request direction corresponding to the NWDAF network element sends a data request to the NWDAF network element.

[0141] The data requester corresponding to an NWDAF network element can be an NWDAF service consumer (e.g., other NWDAF network elements or DCCF network elements); the data request includes at least one of the following: data specification, notification target address(es), notification correlation identity(s), service operation, time window, identity (ID) of the NF network element (or set of NF network elements), information of the ADRF network element storing the data, formatting instructions, processing instructions, user consent check information, purpose for data collection, or storage handling information. Specifically:

[0142] (1) Data Specifications: These are used to identify the requested data content, including a set of event IDs, event filtering information, and / or event reporting targets. The event ID set refers to one or more event IDs, each identifying a type of requested data. For example, event ID = location report identifies data supporting open location data, and event ID = QoS monitoring identifies data supporting open QoS monitoring, such as uplink / downlink (UL / DL) packet delay, data rate, and congestion data. Event filtering information indicates whether the requested data is within a specific area or slice. For example, event filtering information may include area of ​​interest (AoI), single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), etc. Event reporting targets indicate whether the requested data is for a specific UE, a group of UEs, or any UE. For example, event reporting targets may include a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI), a UE group ID, or any UE.

[0143] (2) Notify target address: Used to instruct NWDAF network elements to notify the target endpoint of the data.

[0144] (3) Notification association identifier: Assigned to the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element. The NWDAF network element also includes this notification association identifier when sending data notifications, which is used to help the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element associate the previous data subscriptions and received data notifications.

[0145] (4) Service operation: Used to identify the service that retrieves data. For example, Namf_EventExposure_Subscribe is used to identify the service used to retrieve data.

[0146] (5) Time window: refers to the start and stop time of data collection. If the time window includes a period of time in the past, the dataset is historical data; if the time window includes a period of time in the future, data collection needs to continue into the future period until the stop time indicated by the time window is reached.

[0147] (6) NF element ID: used to indicate the data producer that may provide data.

[0148] (7) Information of the ADRF network element storing data: This information may be the information of the ADRF network element where the data is about to be stored, or the information of the NWDAF network element containing ADRF network element functions (i.e., indicating that the collected data is stored in the ADRF network element), or ADRFID information containing historical data (i.e., indicating that data is collected from the ADRF network element).

[0149] (8) Formatting Instructions: Used to indicate the notification method for data. Includes at least one of the following: notification event clubbing, notification time window, cross-event reference-based notification, consumer-triggered notification, exact time-based notification, or increasing time window based notification. Notification event clubbing refers to caching and sending multiple notifications within a single message; notification time window allows caching notifications and sending them between 2:00 AM and 3:00 AM; cross-event reference-based notification means that when a subscribed NF element subscribes to multiple events (e.g., event X and event Y), a notification for event X is reported only when event Y occurs; consumer-triggered notification means that notifications containing data or analysis will be cached until the consumer requests the notification; exact time-based notification means sending the notification to the consumer at a precise time, regardless of whether the event has occurred; increasing time window based notification means sending notifications to the consumer at an increasing interval.

[0150] (9) Processing instructions: include at least one of the following: processing interval, parameter names, parameter values, sets of the following attributes, event spacing, event duration, number of countable occurrences for the parameter, statistical results of the parameter, maximum and minimum parameter values, aggregation level or temporal aggregation level. The processing interval indicates the time period for data processing; the parameter name can be a tracing area identity / tracking area indicator (TAI); the parameter value can be TAI-7; the event interval refers to the average and variance of the time interval between two consecutive occurrences of the same event and parameter value, or the period of periodic reporting; the event duration refers to the average and variance of the time the parameter value is applied; the countable occurrences of the parameter refer to the number of times the parameter occurs (e.g., mobility registration update); the statistical results of the parameter include at least one of the following: average, variance, most frequent value, least frequent value, or skew of the parameter; the maximum and minimum parameter values ​​can be the number of UEs within an AoI.

[0151] (10) User authorization check information: If the collected data contains user data and the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element has already performed user authorization check, the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element can include user authorization check information in the data request so that the NWDAF network element does not need to perform user authorization check again.

[0152] (11) Purpose of data collection: If the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element does not perform data authorization check, the purpose of data collection needs to be carried out for the NWDAF network element to perform data authorization check.

[0153] (12) Data storage processing information: If the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element instructs the NWDAF network element to store the collected data into the ADRF network element, data storage processing information can also be sent. The data storage processing information includes the time information of data storage and / or information used to instruct the ADRF network element to notify the data storage party before deleting the data.

[0154] Specifically, the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element can use the Nnwdaf_DataManagement_Subscribe service to request the required data from the NWDAF network element.

[0155] It should be noted that before collecting UE data, the NWDAF network element also needs to perform a user consent check to determine whether the UE allows the network to collect its data.

[0156] The UDM network element can store user authorization information, which includes whether the user authorizes the collection and use of their data for a specific purpose and the purpose of data collection (e.g., analysis or model training).

[0157] Optionally, before sending the request message, the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element can also determine whether it is necessary to collect data from the NWDAF network element.

[0158] In one possible approach, the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element can collect data from other NWDAF network elements based on the local policies of the NWDAF network element or DCCF network element (e.g., to prepare for generating future analysis results).

[0159] In another possible approach, the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element can receive analysis generation requests. If the data required to generate the analysis results cannot be collected directly (for example, the data to be collected is outside the service area of ​​the data requester), then the data needs to be collected from other NWDAF network elements.

[0160] In another possible approach, the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF element can receive model training requests, and in order to build the model training dataset, it needs to collect data from other NWDAF elements.

[0161] In another possible approach, the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element can receive data collection requests, but the data requester itself cannot provide the requested data and needs to collect it from other NWDAF network elements.

[0162] The application does not limit the triggering conditions for the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element to determine whether it needs to collect data from the NWDAF network element; the above is merely an illustrative example.

[0163] S302: The NWDAF network element sends a service response to the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element.

[0164] The service response includes confirmation information indicating a successful request and / or a subscription correlation ID.

[0165] Specifically, after receiving a data request, the NWDAF network element triggers the collection of new data for the requester and sends the Nnwdaf_DataManagement_Subscribe service response to the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element.

[0166] S303: The NWDAF network element determines whether the requested data can be obtained locally.

[0167] The requested data includes local data of the NWDAF network element or data collected by the NWDAF network element (e.g., data from other NWDAF network elements, DCCF network elements, ADRF network elements, or NF network elements).

[0168] Specifically, if the NWDAF network element determines that the requested data has been collected and stored locally, then step S304 is executed; if the NWDAF network element determines that the requested data has not been stored and the NWDAF network element cannot obtain it (for example, the requested data is outside the service area of ​​the NWDAF network element), then step S305 is executed.

[0169] S304: The NWDAF network element generates the requested data based on the data request.

[0170] Specifically, if the NWDAF network element determines that the requested data has been collected and stored locally, the NWDAF network element filters the collected data based on the data request to obtain the requested data.

[0171] S305: The NWDAF network element triggers the collection of requested data from the data producer.

[0172] Specifically, if the NWDAF network element determines that the requested data is not stored and cannot be obtained by the NWDAF network element, the NWDAF network element needs to further determine the data producer that can provide the data, and then collect the requested data from the determined data producer.

[0173] S306: The NWDAF network element sends the requested data to the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element.

[0174] Specifically, the NWDAF network element uses the Nnwdaf_DataManagement_Notify service to notify the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element of the requested data.

[0175] Furthermore, the method shown in Figure 3 involves the data requester corresponding to the NWDAF network element collecting data from the NWDAF network element. In this application, other data requesters may also collect data from the ADRF network element.

[0176] Figure 4 illustrates a flowchart of another data collection method. In this scenario, after collecting data, the NWDAF / DCCF / MFAF network elements can store the collected data in the ADRF network element, from which other data requesters can then collect data. This communication method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0177] S401: NWDAF network element / DCCF network element / MFAF network element sends a data storage request to ADRF network element.

[0178] The data storage request includes at least one of the following: timestamp, service operation, analytics specification, storage processing information, data deletion notification endpoint, dataset tag, or data synthesis and compression (DSC) information. Specifically:

[0179] (1) Timestamp: This includes data with timestamp or analytics with timestamp to be stored.

[0180] (2) Service Operation: Used to identify the service that retrieves / analyzes data. For example, the Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Subscribe service.

[0181] (3) Analysis specifications: These can also be data specifications, used to identify parameters of the stored data. Examples include analytics ID(s), the target of analytics reporting, and analytics filter information.

[0182] (4) Storage processing information: used to indicate the storage duration of data / analysis, and can also instruct ADRF network elements to send a notification to the data requester before deleting data.

[0183] (5) Dataset label: includes dataset ID and human-readable information describing the characteristics of the dataset.

[0184] (6) DSC information: Information used to indicate that the data was generated using a data synthesis / compression tool and to indicate the data synthesis and / or compression techniques.

[0185] Specifically, NWDAF, DCCF, and MFAF network elements send data storage requests to ADRF network elements by calling the Nadrf_DataManagement_StorageRequest service operation.

[0186] Optionally, before sending a data storage request, the NWDAF / DCCF / MFAF network element can also configure a default storage policy. This storage policy specifies the data storage duration and the conditions that override the storage processing information in the data storage request.

[0187] Optionally, the NWDAF network element / DCCF network element / NWDAF network element can also determine the data storage method based on storage processing information and storage strategy. The data storage method refers to the data storage duration and whether the data storage party should be notified before data deletion.

[0188] S402: ADRF network elements store received data based on data storage requests.

[0189] S403: ADRF network element sends data storage response to ADRF network element / DCCF network element / NWDAF network element.

[0190] The data storage response indicates that data has been stored and includes at least one of the following: result indication information, storage transaction identifier, dataset identifier, or storage approach. The storage approach indicates the duration of data / analysis storage and may instruct ADRF elements to send a notification to the data requester before deleting the data.

[0191] Specifically, the ADRF network element sends a data storage response to the ADRF network element / DCCF network element / NWDAF network element. The data storage response can be a Nadrf_DataManagement_StorageRequest Response message.

[0192] S404: The data requester sends a data retrieval request to the ADRF network element.

[0193] The data retrieval request includes at least one of the following: storage transaction identifier, dataset label, service operation, analysis specification, or time window.

[0194] S405: The ADRF network element sends a data retrieval response to the data requester.

[0195] The data retrieval response includes at least one of the following: result indication, data or analytics, or DSC information.

[0196] In existing technical solutions, the data requester can request data from other NWDAF network elements, or the NWDAF network elements can store data in an ADRF network element for the data requester to retrieve from the ADRF network element. In practical applications, the data requester may need to request analysis results from one or more NWDAF network elements (referred to as distributed NWDAF network elements), or the distributed NWDAF network elements may store data in a distributed ADRF network element, from which the data requester then retrieves the required data.

[0197] For example, Figure 5 is an example diagram of distributed data collection. In this diagram, the data requester needs to collect the required data from NWDAF network element 1, NWDAF network element 2, and NWDAF network element 3. NWDAF network element 1 may obtain some of the required data from data producer 1, NWDAF network element 2 may obtain some of the required data from data producer 2, and NWDAF network element 3 may obtain some of the required data from data producer 3.

[0198] However, the above data collection process has the following drawbacks: the amount of data to be transmitted and the transmission distance between the data requester and different distributed NWDAF / ADRF network elements are different, which may result in a large overall data collection delay and fail to meet the needs of specific scenarios (for example, the data requester needs to collect distributed data to perform real-time inference).

[0199] To address the aforementioned technical problems, the embodiments of this application provide the following solutions.

[0200] As shown in Figure 6, Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The details are as follows.

[0201] In this scenario, taking the first network element as the NWDAF network element, the second network element as the DMF network element, the third network element as the data producer corresponding to the NWDAF network element, and the fourth network element as the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element as an example, the communication method will be explained, and will not be repeated hereafter.

[0202] S601: NWDAF network element obtains data scheduling information.

[0203] The data scheduling information includes at least one of the following: the time of data scheduling occurrence, the data transmission time, the number of data scheduling occurrences, and the data scheduling frequency. The time of data scheduling occurrence can be a timestamp / time window / time period; the data transmission time refers to the time it takes for data to be transmitted from the data producer to the data requester; the number of data scheduling occurrences can be the number of data requests / responses between the data requester and the data producer within a certain time window, or the number of data transmissions; the data scheduling frequency can be the number of data requests / responses between the data requester and the data producer within a unit of time, or the number of data transmissions, for example, a data scheduling frequency of 5 times / minute, 20 times / hour, etc.

[0204] Optionally, the time of data scheduling can be the time when the data requester sends a data request to the data producer, the time when the data producer receives a data request from the data requester, the time when the data producer sends the requested data to the data requester, or the time when the data requester receives the requested data from the data producer.

[0205] Optionally, the time of data scheduling can also be the time period during which data requests / responses or data transmissions occur between the data requester and the data producer. During this time period, one or more data requests / responses or data transmissions may have occurred.

[0206] Optionally, each data consumer corresponds to one set of data consumer information, and each data producer corresponds to one set of data producer information. The data consumer information may include the NF instance ID, NF type ID, fully qualified domain name (FQDN) / IP address, and / or serving area for each data consumer; the data producer information may include the NF instance ID, NF type ID, FQDN / IP address, and / or serving area for each data producer.

[0207] For example, if the data generator is an AMF network element, its corresponding data generator information may include the identifier of the AMF network element and / or the address of the AMF network element.

[0208] Optionally, the data scheduling information may also include at least one of the following: data requester information, data producer information, data collection requirements information, or dataset information.

[0209] The information includes different data requester information to distinguish different data requesters; different data producer information to distinguish different data producers; data collection requirement information may include data time window, maximum response time, reporting mode, and / or data transmission time requirements; data time window indicates which time window the requested data is within; maximum response time indicates the data to be returned within a specific time range; data reporting mode may be periodic reporting or threshold reporting, etc.; data transmission time requirements indicate the time requirement for data to be sent from the data producer to the data requester; dataset-related information may include dataset identifier, dataset size, dataset label, storage transaction identifier, and / or storage method; dataset label includes dataset identifier and human-identifiable information describing the characteristics of the dataset; storage method indicates the storage duration of the dataset and whether the data storage provider should be notified before the dataset is deleted.

[0210] Optionally, the maximum response time may indicate a period of time (e.g., 5 minutes) after the data request is received; or, the maximum response time may indicate a time before the data is received.

[0211] Specifically, the acquisition of data scheduling information by NWDAF network elements mainly includes the following three situations: Situation 1, NWDAF network elements can acquire data scheduling information from DMF network elements; Situation 2, the data scheduling information includes first data scheduling information and second data scheduling information, and NWDAF network elements can acquire the first data scheduling information from DMF network elements and the second data scheduling information from the data producer corresponding to NWDAF network elements; Situation 3, NWDAF network elements can acquire data scheduling information from the data producer corresponding to NWDAF network elements.

[0212] In this context, the data producer corresponding to the NWDAF network element refers to the target network element of the NWDAF network element data collection operation, or the data source corresponding to the data collection performed by the NWDAF network element. This can be either the data producer or the data requester mentioned above, and this application does not limit this. Furthermore, the specific process by which the NWDAF network element obtains data scheduling information can be referred to the corresponding description in the method embodiment shown in Figure 8, and will not be elaborated here.

[0213] S602: The NWDAF network element determines the first analysis result based on the data scheduling information.

[0214] The first analysis result includes at least one of the following: statistical results of data scheduling information, prediction results of data scheduling information, or a second data scheduling operation. Specifically:

[0215] (1) Statistical results of data scheduling information: If the DMF network element instructs the NWDAF network element to provide analysis results for a certain period in the past (i.e., through the analysis target period), the NWDAF network element generates statistical analysis results for that past period, including statistical information on data requesters, data producers, data collection requirements, dataset information, and / or data scheduling information. For example, the NWDAF network element can statistically list the data requesters, data producers, data collection requirements, dataset information, and actual data transmission time information involved in each data transmission. Alternatively, the NWDAF network element can also statistically list the total number of data transmissions or data transmission frequency for the same data requester / data producer within that period.

[0216] (2) Future prediction results of data scheduling information: If the DMF network element instructs the NWDAF network element to provide analysis results for a future time period (i.e., through an analysis target period indication), the NWDAF network element generates the predicted analysis results for that future time period, namely, predicted data requester information, data producer information, data collection requirements, dataset information, and / or data scheduling information. For example, the NWDAF network element can predict the data requester, data producer, data collection requirements, dataset information, and data transmission time information related to each possible data transmission in the future, or the NWDAF network element can also predict the total number of data transmissions or data transmission frequency for the same data requester / data producer within that future time period.

[0217] (3) Second Data Scheduling Operation: The NWDAF network element can generate a second data scheduling operation based on the collected data and other information; or, the NWDAF network element can also generate a second data scheduling operation in response to the instruction sent by the DMF network element, based on the collected data and other information. For example, the second data scheduling operation can be a list containing dataset information and data scheduling instructions. This list can contain one or more sets of information, each set of information containing dataset information and corresponding data scheduling instructions. The dataset information is used to identify the dataset that needs to be scheduled. For example, it can be a dataset identifier, a dataset storage identifier (such as a storage event identifier), a dataset description information (such as a dataset label), a dataset feature information (such as a data specification), etc. The data scheduling instructions are used to indicate the scheduling method of the dataset. For example, it can be migrated from ADRF network element 1 / NWDAF network element 1 / DCCF network element 1 to or copied to ADRF network element 2 / NWDAF network element 2 / DCCF network element 2, or the data can be collected by NWDAF network element 1 and transmitted to ADRF network element 2 before a specific time, etc.

[0218] It should be noted that there is no corresponding relationship between ADRF network element 1 / NWDAF network element 1 / DCCF network element 1 and ADRF network element 2 / NWDAF network element 2 / DCCF network element 2. They are only used to distinguish that they are different network elements before and after data scheduling. They can also be migrated from NWDAF network element 1 to ADRF network element 2. This application does not limit this.

[0219] Specifically, the NWDAF network element can process the occurrence time of data scheduling, data transmission time, number of data scheduling, data scheduling frequency, data requester information, data producer information, data collection requirement information and / or dataset-related information to obtain statistical results of data scheduling information, prediction results of data scheduling information and / or second data scheduling operations.

[0220] S603: The NWDAF network element sends the first analysis result to the DMF network element.

[0221] S604: The DMF network element determines the first data scheduling operation based on the first analysis result.

[0222] Specifically, if the first analysis result includes a second data scheduling operation, the DMF network element can use the second data scheduling operation as the first data scheduling operation to be executed in the end. Alternatively, the DMF network element can also generate the first data scheduling operation to be executed in the end based on the statistical results of the data scheduling information in the first analysis result, the future prediction results of the data scheduling information and / or the second data scheduling operation.

[0223] The logic for the NWDAF network element to generate the second data scheduling operation / DMF network element to generate the first data scheduling operation may include at least one of the following:

[0224] (1) If data 1 in region 1 is only used by the data requester in region 2, then move data 1 in region 1 to the ADRF network element in region 2;

[0225] (2) If data 1 in region 1 is used by data requesters in both region 1 and region 2, then copy the data from region 1 to the ADRF network element in region 2.

[0226] (3) If the data requester needs to collect data from both ADRF element 1 and ADRF element 2 at the same time, and the amount of data in ADRF element 2 is much greater than the amount of data in ADRF element 1, then ADRF element 2 can migrate some data to ADRF element 1 in advance before the time when the data requester needs to collect data arrives, thereby reducing the overall data collection delay.

[0227] (4) If the data requester frequently uses data at a specific time and has high requirements for data collection latency, then the data can be collected in advance and scheduled to the ADRF network element in the area corresponding to the data requester, thereby reducing the data collection latency.

[0228] For example, Figure 7 is an example diagram of data scheduling provided by an embodiment of this application. In the original data scheduling, the data requester collects data from ADRF network element 2 through NWDAF network element 2 and from ADRF network element 3 through NWDAF network element 3. In order to avoid repeated cross-domain data requests and improve the efficiency of data collection, the data requester can migrate the dataset in ADRF network element 2 to ADRF network element 4, and copy the dataset in ADRF network element 3 to ADRF network element 4, and then collect the required data from ADRF network element 4.

[0229] In this embodiment, the NWDAF network element can determine the first analysis result by receiving and analyzing information such as the occurrence time of data scheduling, data transmission time, number of data scheduling and / or data scheduling frequency in the data scheduling information. The DMF network element can determine the first data scheduling operation by receiving the first analysis result, thereby realizing data scheduling optimization, avoiding repeated cross-domain data requests, improving the problem of large data collection latency caused by uneven data volume or data transmission time of different data producers, and improving the data collection efficiency in distributed data collection scenarios.

[0230] As shown in Figure 8, which is a flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application, the details are as follows.

[0231] In this scenario, the DMF network element is used to receive data scheduling requests, determine data scheduling optimization operations, and execute data scheduling optimizations. The NWDAF network element is used to analyze information such as the number of times, frequency, and time of calls to data stored by different data producers, as well as information such as the data latency requirements of data requesters, thereby assisting the DMF network element in performing data scheduling optimization based on the analysis results.

[0232] The steps in the embodiments of this application include at least the following:

[0233] S801: The first request sent by the DMF network element to the NWDAF network element.

[0234] The first request is used to request a first analysis result; the first analysis result includes at least one of the following: statistical results of data scheduling information, prediction results of data scheduling information, or a second data scheduling operation; the first request includes at least one of the following: data scheduling information, analysis identifier, target of analysis report, analysis target period, analysis report information, analysis filtering information, or first instruction information. The analysis identifier is used to identify the type of analysis result requested. For example, analytics ID = data scheduling indicates that the requested analysis is related to data scheduling. The target of the analysis report indicates that the analysis result requested is for a specific UE (i.e., the scheduling analysis of data for a specific UE), or the analysis result of a group of UEs, or the analysis result of any UE. For example, it can be the UE identifier, which can be SUPI, generic public subscription identifier (GPSI) and / or IP address, UE group ID, or any UE. The analysis target period indicates which time period the analysis result is to be provided. This time period can include past time periods or future time periods. The analysis report information indicates the reporting conditions of the analysis result. For example, it can indicate periodic reporting or threshold reporting. The analysis filter information indicates which range of analysis results are requested. For example, analytics filter info = AoI indicates that the requested analysis result is for a specific region. The first indication information is used to indicate the generation of a second data scheduling operation.

[0235] Optionally, before the DMF network element sends the first request to the NWDAF network element, the DMF network element may also receive a third request from the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element. The third request is used to request optimized data scheduling. The third request includes at least one of the following: data scheduling information or first data scheduling information; the data scheduling information / first data scheduling information may include at least one of the following: the time of data scheduling occurrence, data transmission time, number of data scheduling events, data scheduling frequency, data requester information, data producer information, data collection requirement information, or dataset-related information.

[0236] In this context, the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element refers to the network element that sends a data scheduling optimization request to the DMF network element. It can be the data producer or the data requester mentioned above, and this application does not limit this.

[0237] Optionally, if the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element finds that the existing data scheduling cannot meet its latency requirements, it can request the DMF network element to optimize the existing data scheduling.

[0238] For example, the data collection request of the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element indicates that data should be fed back within 3 minutes. However, in the existing data scheduling, the data producer can only feed back data after 5 minutes. At this time, the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element needs to request the DMF network element to optimize the existing data scheduling.

[0239] Optionally, the DMF can also trigger data scheduling optimization itself based on configuration. For example, the DMF network element can periodically trigger data scheduling optimization, or the DMF network element can collect information such as the occurrence time of data scheduling, data transmission time, number of data scheduling, data scheduling frequency, information of data requesters, information of data producers, information of data collection requirements, and / or dataset-related information, and trigger data scheduling optimization based on the collected information.

[0240] S802: The NWDAF network element sends a second request to the data generator corresponding to the NWDAF network element.

[0241] The second request includes an event ID and / or other information indicating the scope of data collection. For example, an event ID such as "Data scheduling" indicates that data scheduling-related information is being collected; other information indicating the scope of data collection may include event reporting targets and / or event filtering information. Furthermore, the data producer corresponding to the NWDAF network element refers to the target network element of the NWDAF network element data collection operation, or the data source corresponding to the data collection performed by the NWDAF network element. This can be either the data producer or the data requester mentioned above, and this application does not limit this.

[0242] Specifically, after receiving the first request, the NWDAF network element needs to determine whether the first request contains data scheduling information.

[0243] In one possible implementation, if the first request includes first data scheduling information and the amount of data in the first data scheduling information is less than a preset threshold (i.e., the information is insufficient), then the NWDAF network element also needs to send a second request to the data generator corresponding to the NWDAF network element. Here, the second request is used to request the second data scheduling information.

[0244] Here, the first data scheduling information and the second data scheduling information are both part or all of the information in the data scheduling information; the preset threshold is an empirical parameter.

[0245] For example, an NWDAF network element can use the Nnf_EventExposure_Subscribe service to collect second data scheduling information from the data producer corresponding to the NWDAF network element.

[0246] Optionally, if the amount of data in the first data scheduling information is greater than or equal to a preset threshold (i.e., the information is sufficient), then the NWDAF network element does not need to send a second request to the data generator corresponding to the NWDAF network element.

[0247] In another possible implementation, if the first request does not include data scheduling information, the NWDAF network element also needs to send a second request to the data generator corresponding to the NWDAF network element. This second request is used to request data scheduling information.

[0248] S803: The data generation direction corresponding to the NWDAF network element is to send the first message or the second message to the NWDAF network element.

[0249] The first message includes second data scheduling information; the second message includes data scheduling information; the second data scheduling information / data scheduling information may include at least one of the following: the time of data scheduling occurrence, data transmission time, number of data scheduling, data scheduling frequency, data requester information, data generator information, data collection requirement information, or dataset-related information; specifically, refer to the data scheduling information in step S601 of the previous embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0250] In one possible implementation, if the third request includes the first data scheduling information, the data producer corresponding to the NWDAF network element receives the second request and collects data based on the second request. For example, the collected data may include information such as which data requesters collected which data from which data producers, and the data collection requirements (e.g., data reporting time). Then, the data producer corresponding to the NWDAF network element sends the first message to the NWDAF network element.

[0251] In another possible implementation, if the third request does not include data scheduling information, the data generator corresponding to the NWDAF network element receives the second request, collects data based on the second request, and then sends a second message to the NWDAF network element.

[0252] S804: The NWDAF network element determines the first analysis result based on the data scheduling information.

[0253] S805: The NWDAF network element sends the first analysis result to the DMF network element.

[0254] S806: The DMF network element determines the first data scheduling operation based on the first analysis result.

[0255] The specific implementation of steps S804 to S806 is the same as that of steps S602 to S604 in the previous embodiment. You can refer to steps S602 to S604, and they will not be repeated here.

[0256] S807: The DMF network element performs data scheduling based on the first data scheduling operation.

[0257] Data scheduling includes, but is not limited to, data migration and / or data replication.

[0258] Optionally, if the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element sends a third request to the DMF network element, the DMF network element may also send a first response to the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element after performing the first data scheduling operation. The first response is used to indicate whether the first data scheduling operation was successfully performed.

[0259] Optionally, the first response may also include a first data scheduling operation. For example, data set 1 of ADRF element 1 is migrated to ADRF element 2, and data set 2 of ADRF element 2 is copied to ADRF element 3, etc.

[0260] It should be noted that the communication methods shown in Figures 6 and 8 involve separate designs for the DMF network element and the NWDAF network element. Furthermore, the DMF network element may also be co-designed with the NWDAF network element, meaning the DMF network element is treated as a function within the NWDAF network element. Further, the interaction between the DMF network element and the NWDAF network element in Figures 6 and 8 is no longer necessary; the interaction between the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element and the DMF network element is replaced by the interaction between the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element and the NWDAF network element.

[0261] As shown in Figure 9, Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The details are as follows.

[0262] In this scenario, taking the first network element as the DMF network element, the second network element as the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element, and the third network element as the data generator corresponding to the DMF network element as an example, the communication method will be explained, and will not be repeated hereafter.

[0263] The steps in the embodiments of this application include at least the following:

[0264] S901: DMF network element obtains data scheduling information.

[0265] The data scheduling information includes at least one of the following: the time of data scheduling occurrence, data transmission time, number of data scheduling events, data scheduling frequency, data requester information, data generator information, data collection requirement information, or dataset-related information. For details, please refer to the data scheduling information in step S601 of the above embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0266] Optionally, the data scheduling information here can also be replaced by the statistical results of the data scheduling information, and this application does not limit this.

[0267] For example, data scheduling information may include the data requester, data producer, and data collection requirements involved in each data transmission, dataset information, and actual data transmission time information. Alternatively, data scheduling information may also include information such as the total number of data transmissions or data transmission frequency for the same data requester / data producer within the statistical period.

[0268] Optionally, each data requester corresponds to one set of data requester information, and each data producer corresponds to one set of data producer information. For details, please refer to the data requester information and data producer information in step S601 of the above embodiments; further details will not be provided here.

[0269] Specifically, DMF network elements obtain data scheduling information mainly in the following three situations:

[0270] Scenario 1: The DMF network element can obtain data scheduling information from the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element. Specifically, the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element sends a first request to the DMF network element. This first request is used to request data scheduling optimization. The consumer corresponding to the DMF network element refers to the network element that sends the data scheduling optimization request to the DMF network element. It can be the data producer or data requester mentioned above, and this application does not limit this.

[0271] Here, the first request may include data scheduling information and / or a second data scheduling operation; the second data scheduling operation is the data scheduling operation that the data requester instructs the DMF network element to perform. For example, if the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element is an NWDAF network element / DCCF network element, and the NWDAF network element / DCCF network element finds that it needs to frequently collect dataset 1 from ADRF network element 2, but the latency of collecting dataset 1 from ADRF network element 2 is too long, then the NWDAF network element / DCCF network element may instruct that dataset 1 be copied to ADRF network element 1, which is in the same region as the NWDAF network element / DCCF network element.

[0272] Optionally, before sending the first request, the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element can also determine whether it is necessary to request the DMF network element to optimize data collection based on historical data collection data.

[0273] Scenario 2: The data scheduling information includes first data scheduling information and second data scheduling information. The DMF network element can obtain the first data scheduling information from the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element and the second data scheduling information from the data producer corresponding to the DMF network element. Specifically, the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element can send a first request to the DMF network element. This first request includes the first data scheduling information. If the first request does not include the second data scheduling operation, the DMF network element can also send a second request to the data producer corresponding to the DMF network element. This second request is used to request the second data scheduling information. After receiving the second request, the data producer corresponding to the DMF network element collects data based on the second request. For example, the collected data may include information such as which data requesters collected which data from which data producers, and the data collection requirements (e.g., data reporting time). Then, the data producer corresponding to the DMF network element sends a first message to the DMF network element, which includes the second data scheduling information.

[0274] Here, the first data scheduling information and the second data scheduling information are part or all of the information in the data scheduling information; the second request can refer to the second request in step S802 of the previous embodiment, and will not be repeated here. In addition, the data generator corresponding to the DMF network element refers to the target network element of the DMF network element data collection operation or the data source corresponding to the DMF network element performing data collection, which can be the data generator or data requester mentioned above, and this application does not limit it.

[0275] Scenario 3: The DMF network element can obtain data scheduling information from the data producer corresponding to the DMF network element. Specifically, the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element can send a first request to the DMF network element. If the first request does not include data scheduling information and a second data scheduling operation, the DMF network element can also send a second request to the data producer corresponding to the DMF network element. This second request is used to request data scheduling information. After receiving the second request, the data producer corresponding to the DMF network element collects data based on the second request. Then, the data producer corresponding to the DMF network element sends a second message to the DMF network element, which includes the data scheduling information.

[0276] Optionally, before the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element sends the first request to the DMF network element, the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element may also determine, based on historical data collection, that it is necessary to request the DMF network element to optimize data collection.

[0277] For example, if the data requester is an NWDAF network element / DCCF network element, and the NWDAF network element / DCCF network element discovers that it needs to collect data from ADRF network element 2 frequently, but the data collection delay from ADRF network element 2 is too long, then it determines that it needs to request the DMF network element to optimize the data collection.

[0278] Optionally, DMF network elements can also trigger data scheduling optimizations themselves based on configuration. For example, DMF network elements can periodically trigger data scheduling optimizations.

[0279] S902: The DMF network element determines the first data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling information.

[0280] In one possible implementation, if the first request sent by the consumer to the DMF network element includes a second data scheduling operation, the DMF network element determines the first data scheduling operation based on the acquired data scheduling information and / or the second data scheduling operation in the first request. Specifically, the DMF network element can update the second data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling occurrence time, data transmission time, number of data scheduling operations, data scheduling frequency, data requester information, data producer information, data collection requirement information, and / or dataset-related information to obtain the final first data scheduling operation to be executed; alternatively, the DMF network element can also use the second data scheduling operation as the final first data scheduling operation to be executed.

[0281] In another possible implementation, if the first request sent by the consumer to the DMF network element does not include a second data scheduling operation, the DMF network element determines the first data scheduling operation based on the acquired data scheduling information. Specifically, the DMF network element can generate the first data scheduling operation to be executed based on the data scheduling occurrence time, data transmission time, number of data scheduling operations, data scheduling frequency, data requester information, data producer information, data collection requirement information, and / or dataset-related information.

[0282] The logic of the DMF network element generating the first data scheduling operation can refer to the logic of the DMF network element generating the first data scheduling operation in step S604 of the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0283] S903: The DMF network element performs data scheduling based on the first data scheduling operation.

[0284] Data scheduling includes, but is not limited to, data migration and / or data replication.

[0285] Optionally, if the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element sends a first request to the DMF network element, the DMF network element may also send a first response to the consumer corresponding to the DMF network element after performing the first data scheduling operation. The first response is used to indicate whether the first data scheduling operation was successfully performed.

[0286] Optionally, the first response may also indicate whether data scheduling has been performed in accordance with the second data scheduling operation. Further, if the DMF network element has performed data scheduling entirely in accordance with the second data scheduling operation, the first response may include a scheduling completion indication, which indicates that data scheduling has been completed in accordance with the second data scheduling operation.

[0287] Optionally, the first response may also include a first data scheduling operation.

[0288] In this embodiment, the DMF network element determines the first data scheduling operation by obtaining data scheduling information, or the consumer-direction DMF network element sends a second data scheduling operation to assist the DMF network element in determining the first data scheduling operation. This is beneficial for data scheduling optimization and improves data collection efficiency in distributed data collection scenarios.

[0289] It should be noted that the communication method shown in Figure 9 is determined by the DMF network element to perform the first data scheduling operation. Alternatively, the network element that requests to perform data scheduling can also determine the first data scheduling operation.

[0290] As shown in Figure 10, Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The details are as follows.

[0291] In this scenario, taking the first network element as the network element requesting data scheduling, the second network element as the data producer, the third network element as the target network element for data scheduling, and the fourth network element as the data producer corresponding to the dataset to be scheduled as an example, this communication method will be explained, and will not be repeated hereafter.

[0292] S1001: The network element requesting data scheduling determines that data collection needs to be optimized based on historical data collection data.

[0293] The network element requesting data scheduling can be an NWDAF network element, a DCCF network element, or a DMF network element, etc., and this application does not limit this.

[0294] For example, the network element requesting data scheduling is the NWDAF network element. The NWDAF network element finds that it needs to collect data from ADRF network element 1 frequently, but the data collection delay from ADRF network element 1 is too long. Therefore, it determines that the data needs to be copied from ADRF network element 1 to ADRF network element 2.

[0295] S1002: Request the network element that performs data scheduling to obtain data scheduling information.

[0296] The data scheduling information may include at least one of the following: the time of data scheduling occurrence, data transmission time, number of data scheduling events, data scheduling frequency, data requester information, data producer information, data collection requirement information, and / or dataset-related information; specifically, refer to the data scheduling information in step S601 of the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0297] Optionally, the data scheduling information here can also be replaced by the statistical results of the data scheduling information, and this application does not limit this.

[0298] S1003: The network element requesting data scheduling determines the first data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling information.

[0299] Here, the first data scheduling operation refers to the data scheduling operation that the data producer or the target network element needs to perform. For example, the first data scheduling operation may include data copying (i.e., copying the dataset to the target network element) or data migration (i.e., cutting and pasting the dataset to the target network element). The logic of the network element requesting to perform data scheduling to generate the first data scheduling operation can refer to the logic of the DMF network element generating the first data scheduling operation in step S604 of the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0300] S1004: The network element requesting data scheduling sends the first request to the data producer.

[0301] Here, the first request includes a first data scheduling operation, which is used to request the execution of the first data scheduling operation.

[0302] Optionally, the first request may also include the identifier of the target network element and dataset information. The identifier of the target network element is used to indicate the target network element for data scheduling, for example, the target network element for data scheduling is ADRF network element 2; the dataset information is used to indicate the dataset that needs to be scheduled; the dataset information may include at least one of the following: dataset identifier, dataset address, dataset storage identifier (such as storage event identifier), dataset description information (such as dataset label), or dataset characteristic information (such as data specification).

[0303] Specifically, the network element requesting data scheduling sends a first request to the data generator based on the data scheduling occurrence time, data transmission time, number of data scheduling operations, data scheduling frequency, data requester information, data generator information, data collection requirements information, and / or dataset-related information.

[0304] Optionally, the network element requesting data scheduling may also send a first request to the target network element. This first request includes at least one of the following: a first data scheduling operation, the identifier of the target network element, dataset information, or information about the network element requesting data scheduling; the information about the network element requesting data scheduling may include the identifier of the network element requesting data scheduling and / or the address of the network element requesting data scheduling.

[0305] S1005: The target network element of the data generation direction data scheduling sends a second request.

[0306] The second request includes dataset information and / or the dataset to be scheduled. The second request is used to request the target network element to transmit the dataset to be scheduled.

[0307] Specifically, after receiving the first request, the data producer can send a second request to the target network element of the data scheduling based on the first data scheduling operation in the first request, and then the target network element of the data scheduling performs data transmission based on the second request.

[0308] Optionally, if the second request does not include the dataset to be scheduled, the target network element for data scheduling can also obtain the dataset to be scheduled from the data producer corresponding to the dataset to be scheduled based on dataset information (such as dataset address).

[0309] Optionally, after data transmission is completed, the target network element for data scheduling can also send a second response to the data producer. This second response is used to indicate whether the dataset to be scheduled has been successfully transmitted.

[0310] Optionally, after receiving the second response, the data generator may also send a first response to the network element that requested the data scheduling operation. The first response is used to indicate whether the first data scheduling operation was successfully executed.

[0311] Optionally, the first response may also indicate whether data scheduling has been performed in accordance with the first data scheduling operation. Further, if the data producer has fully performed data scheduling in accordance with the first data scheduling operation, the first response may include a scheduling completion indication, which indicates that data scheduling has been completed in accordance with the first data scheduling operation.

[0312] Optionally, the first response may also include a first data scheduling operation.

[0313] Optionally, if the data producer has already performed data scheduling according to the second data scheduling operation, the first response may also include the second data scheduling operation.

[0314] Furthermore, if the network element requesting data scheduling sends a first request to the target network element for data scheduling, the target network element, upon receiving the first request, sends a second request to the data producer. This second request includes dataset information and is used to request the data producer to send the dataset that needs to be scheduled.

[0315] Optionally, if the data producer does not include the dataset to be scheduled, the data producer can also obtain the dataset to be scheduled from the data producer corresponding to the dataset to be scheduled based on dataset information (such as dataset address).

[0316] Optionally, the target network element for data scheduling can also send a first response to the network element requesting data scheduling. This first response is the same as the first response sent by the data producer. For details, please refer to the first response sent by the data producer in step S1005, which will not be repeated here.

[0317] In this embodiment, the network element requesting data scheduling directly instructs one of the two data scheduling parties (one being the data generator and the other being the target network element for data scheduling) to perform the first data scheduling operation in order to complete the data scheduling and improve data collection efficiency.

[0318] The methods of the embodiments of this application have been described in detail above, and the apparatus of the embodiments of this application is provided below.

[0319] As shown in Figure 11, Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. This communication device can be an NWDAF network element, or a chip or processing system within an NWDAF network element. This device can be used to implement any method and function related to the NWDAF network element in any of the foregoing embodiments. The device may include a receiving module 1101, a processing module 1102, and a transmitting module 1103. The detailed descriptions of each module are as follows.

[0320] The receiving module 1101 is used to acquire data scheduling information, which includes at least one of the following: the time of data scheduling occurrence, the data transmission time, the number of data scheduling events, and the data scheduling frequency.

[0321] The processing module 1102 is used to determine the first analysis result based on the data scheduling information.

[0322] The sending module 1103 is used to send the first analysis result to the second network element. The first analysis result is used to determine the first data scheduling operation. The second network element is the network element responsible for data management functions.

[0323] Optionally, the data scheduling information may also include at least one of the following: data requester information, data producer information, data collection requirement information, or dataset-related information.

[0324] Optionally, the first analysis result includes at least one of the following: statistical results of data scheduling information, prediction results of data scheduling information, or a second data scheduling operation.

[0325] Optionally, the receiving module 1101 is also used to receive a first request from the second network element, the first request being used to request a first analysis result, the first request including data scheduling information.

[0326] Optionally, the data scheduling information includes first data scheduling information and second data scheduling information; the receiving module 1101 is also used to receive a first request from a second network element, the first request being used to request a first analysis result, the first request including the first data scheduling information; the receiving module 1101 is also used to receive a first message from a third network element, the first message including the second data scheduling information, the third network element being the data generator corresponding to the first network element.

[0327] Optionally, the first request may further include at least one of the following: analysis identifier, target of analysis report, analysis report information, analysis filtering information, or first instruction information; the first instruction information is used to instruct the generation of a second data scheduling operation.

[0328] Optionally, the sending module 1103 is further configured to send a second request to a third network element, the second request being used to request data scheduling information, the third network element being the data generator corresponding to the first network element; the receiving module 1101 is further configured to receive a second message from the third network element, the second message including data scheduling information.

[0329] It should be noted that the implementation of each module can also correspond to the descriptions of the method embodiments shown in Figures 6-10, and execute the methods and functions performed by the NWDAF network element in the above embodiments.

[0330] As shown in Figure 12, Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. This communication device can be a DMF network element, or a chip or processing system within a DMF network element. This device can be used to implement any method and function related to the DMF network element in any of the foregoing embodiments. The device may include a receiving module 1201, a processing module 1202, and a transmitting module 1203. The detailed descriptions of each module are as follows.

[0331] The receiving module 1201 is used to receive the first analysis result from the first network element. The first analysis result is determined based on data scheduling information. The data scheduling information includes at least one of the following: the occurrence time of data scheduling, the data transmission time, the number of data scheduling events, and the data scheduling frequency. The first network element is the network element responsible for network data analysis functions.

[0332] The processing module 1202 is used to determine the first data scheduling operation based on the first analysis result.

[0333] Optionally, the data scheduling information may also include at least one of the following: data requester information, data producer information, data collection requirement information, or dataset-related information.

[0334] Optionally, the first analysis result includes at least one of the following: statistical results of data scheduling information, prediction results of data scheduling information, or a second data scheduling operation.

[0335] Optionally, the sending module 1203 is used to send a first request to the first network element. The first request is used to request the first analysis result and includes data scheduling information.

[0336] Optionally, the sending module 1203 is further configured to send a first request to the first network element. The first request is used to request a first analysis result. The first request includes first data scheduling information, which is part or all of the information in the data scheduling information.

[0337] Optionally, the first request may further include at least one of the following: analysis identifier, target of analysis report, analysis report information, analysis filtering information, or first instruction information; the first instruction information is used to instruct the first network element to generate a second data scheduling operation.

[0338] Optionally, the receiving module 1201 is also used to receive a third request from the fourth network element, the third request being used to request optimized data scheduling.

[0339] Optionally, the third request may include at least one of the following: data scheduling information or first data scheduling information.

[0340] Optionally, the sending module 1203 is also used to send a first response to the fourth network element, the first response being used to indicate whether the first data scheduling operation was successfully executed.

[0341] Optionally, the first response may include a first data scheduling operation.

[0342] Optionally, the processing module 1202 is also configured to perform data scheduling according to the first data scheduling operation, the data scheduling including data migration and / or data replication.

[0343] In another embodiment:

[0344] The receiving module 1201 is used to acquire data scheduling information, which includes at least one of the following: the time of data scheduling occurrence, the data transmission time, the number of data scheduling events, and the data scheduling frequency. The first network element is a network element responsible for data management functions, network data analysis functions, or data collection and coordination functions.

[0345] The processing module 1202 is used to determine the first data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling information.

[0346] Optionally, the data scheduling information may also include at least one of the following: data requester information, data producer information, data collection requirement information, or dataset-related information.

[0347] Optionally, the receiving module 1201 is also configured to receive a first request from the second network element, the first request including data scheduling information and / or a second data scheduling operation.

[0348] Optionally, the data scheduling information includes first data scheduling information and second data scheduling information; the receiving module 1201 is also used to receive a first request from a second network element, the first request including the first data scheduling information; the receiving module 1201 is also used to receive a first message from a third network element, the first message including the second data scheduling information, the third network element being the data generator corresponding to the first network element.

[0349] Optionally, the processing module 1202 is further configured to determine the first data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling information and / or the second data scheduling operation if the first request includes the second data scheduling operation; or to determine the first data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling information if the first request does not include the second data scheduling operation.

[0350] Optionally, the sending module 1203 is used to send a first response to the second network element, the first response being used to indicate whether the first data scheduling operation was successfully executed.

[0351] Optionally, the first response may also be used to indicate whether data scheduling has been performed in accordance with the second data scheduling operation.

[0352] Optionally, the first response may include a first data scheduling operation.

[0353] Optionally, the sending module 1203 is further configured to send a second request to a third network element, the second request being used to request data scheduling information, the third network element being the data generator corresponding to the first network element; the receiving module 1201 is further configured to receive a second message from the third network element, the second message including data scheduling information.

[0354] Optionally, the processing module 1202 is also used to perform data scheduling based on the first data scheduling operation, the data scheduling including data migration and / or data replication.

[0355] It should be noted that the implementation of each module can also correspond to the descriptions of the method embodiments shown in Figures 6-10, and execute the methods and functions performed by the DMF network element in the above embodiments.

[0356] As shown in Figure 13, Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. This communication device can be a network element requesting data scheduling, or a chip or processing system within a network element requesting data scheduling. This device can be used to implement any method and function involving a network element requesting data scheduling in any of the foregoing embodiments. The device may include a receiving module 1301, a processing module 1302, and a transmitting module 1303. The detailed descriptions of each module are as follows.

[0357] The receiving module 1301 is used to acquire data scheduling information, which includes at least one of the following: the time of data scheduling occurrence, the data transmission time, the number of data scheduling events, and the data scheduling frequency.

[0358] The sending module 1303 is used to send a first request to a second network element based on data scheduling information. The first request includes a first data scheduling operation. The first request is used to request the execution of the first data scheduling operation. The second network element is either the data generator or the target network element for data scheduling.

[0359] Optionally, the processing module 1302 is used to determine the first data scheduling operation based on the data scheduling information.

[0360] Optionally, the first request may also include the identifier of the target network element and dataset information; the identifier of the target network element is used to indicate the target network element for data scheduling; the dataset information is used to indicate the dataset that needs to be scheduled.

[0361] Optionally, the dataset information includes at least one of the following: dataset identifier, dataset address, dataset storage identifier, dataset description information, or dataset feature information.

[0362] Optionally, the receiving module 1301 is also used to receive a first response from the second network element, the first response being used to indicate whether the first data scheduling operation was successfully executed.

[0363] Optionally, the first response may also be used to indicate whether data scheduling has been performed in accordance with the first data scheduling operation.

[0364] Optionally, if the second network element has performed data scheduling according to the second data scheduling operation, the first response includes the second data scheduling operation.

[0365] It should be noted that the implementation of each module can also correspond to the descriptions of the method embodiments shown in Figures 6-10, and execute the methods and functions performed by the network element requesting data scheduling in the above embodiments.

[0366] As shown in Figure 14, Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. This communication device can be a data generator / data scheduling target network element, or a chip or processing system within the data generator / data scheduling target network element. This device can be used to implement any method and function involving the data generator / data scheduling target network element in any of the foregoing embodiments. The device may include a receiving module 1401, a processing module 1402, and a transmitting module 1403. The detailed descriptions of each module are as follows.

[0367] The receiving module 1401 is used to receive a first request from a first network element. The first request includes a first data scheduling operation. The first data scheduling operation is determined based on data scheduling information. The data scheduling information includes at least one of the following: the occurrence time of data scheduling, the data transmission time, the number of data scheduling operations, and the data scheduling frequency. The second network element is either the data generator or the target network element for data scheduling.

[0368] Processing module 1402 is used to perform a first data scheduling operation based on the first request.

[0369] Optionally, the first request may also include the identifier of the target network element and dataset information; the identifier of the target network element is used to indicate the network element for data scheduling; the dataset information is used to indicate the dataset that needs to be scheduled.

[0370] Optionally, the dataset information includes at least one of the following: dataset identifier, dataset address, dataset storage identifier, dataset description information, or dataset feature information.

[0371] Optionally, the sending module 1403 is used to send a first response to the first network element, the first response being used to indicate whether the first data scheduling operation was successfully executed.

[0372] Optionally, the first response may also be used to indicate whether data scheduling has been performed in accordance with the first data scheduling operation.

[0373] Optionally, if the second network element has performed data scheduling according to the second data scheduling operation, the first response includes the second data scheduling operation.

[0374] Optionally, the processing module 1402 is also used to perform data scheduling based on the first data scheduling operation, the data scheduling including data migration and / or data replication.

[0375] Optionally, the sending module 1403 is also used to send a second request to the third network element. The second request includes dataset information and / or a dataset that needs to be scheduled. The second request is used to request the transmission of the dataset that needs to be scheduled.

[0376] Optionally, the receiving module 1401 is also configured to receive a second response from a third network element, the second response being used to indicate whether the data set to be scheduled has been successfully transmitted.

[0377] Optionally, the receiving module 1401 is further configured to, if the second request does not include the dataset to be scheduled, obtain the dataset to be scheduled from the fourth network element based on the dataset information, wherein the fourth network element is the data producer corresponding to the dataset to be scheduled.

[0378] It should be noted that the implementation of each module can also correspond to the descriptions of the method embodiments shown in Figures 6-10, and execute the methods and functions performed by the target network element of the data generator / data scheduling in the above embodiments.

[0379] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. This communication device is used to perform the functions of the NWDAF network element, DMF network element, network element requesting data scheduling, and data generator / target network element in the above method embodiments, or to implement the steps or processes executed by the NWDAF network element, DMF network element, network element requesting data scheduling, and data generator / target network element in the above method embodiments.

[0380] As shown in Figure 15, the communication device includes a processor 1501 and a transceiver 1502. Optionally, the communication device also includes a memory 1503. The processor 1501, transceiver 1502, and memory 1503 can communicate with each other via internal connections to transmit control and / or data signals. The memory 1503 stores computer programs, and the processor 1501 retrieves and runs the computer programs from the memory 1503 to control the transceiver 1502 to transmit and receive signals. Optionally, the communication device may also include an antenna for transmitting uplink data or uplink control signaling output by the transceiver 1502 via wireless signals.

[0381] The processor 1501 and the memory 1503 can be combined into a single processing device. The processor 1501 executes the program code stored in the memory 1503 to achieve the above-mentioned functions. In specific implementations, the memory 1503 can be integrated into the processor 1501 or be independent of the processor 1501.

[0382] The transceiver 1502 described above can also be referred to as a transceiver unit or transceiver module. The transceiver 1502 may include a receiver (or receiver circuit) and a transmitter (or transmitter circuit). The receiver is used to receive signals, and the transmitter is used to transmit signals.

[0383] It should be understood that the communication device shown in Figure 15 can implement the various processes involved in the method embodiments shown in Figures 6-10, including the NWDAF network element, the DMF network element, the network element requesting data scheduling, and the data generator / target network element for data scheduling. The operation and / or function of each module in the communication device are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description in the above method embodiments; to avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are appropriately omitted here.

[0384] The processor 1501 described above can be used to execute the actions implemented internally by the NWDAF network element, DMF network element, network element requesting data scheduling, and data producer / data scheduling target network element as described in the preceding method embodiments. The transceiver 1502 can be used to execute the receiving or transmitting actions of the NWDAF network element, DMF network element, network element requesting data scheduling, and data producer / data scheduling target network element as described in the preceding method embodiments. For details, please refer to the descriptions in the preceding method embodiments; they will not be repeated here.

[0385] The processor 1501 can be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor 1501 can also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, etc. The communication bus 1504 can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used in Figure 15, but this does not indicate that there is only one bus or one type of bus. The communication bus 1504 is used to realize the connection and communication between these components. In this embodiment, the transceiver 1502 is used for signaling or data communication with other node devices. Memory 1503 may include volatile memory, such as nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM), phase change RAM (PRAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), etc., and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory devices, such as NOR flash memory or NAND flash memory, semiconductor devices, such as solid-state disks (SSDs), etc. Memory 1503 may also be at least one storage device located remotely from the aforementioned processor 1501. Memory 1503 may also store a set of computer program code or configuration information. Processor 1501 may also execute the program stored in memory 1503. The processor can work with the memory and transceiver to execute any one of the methods and functions involved in the above-mentioned embodiments of the application, including the NWDAF network element, the DMF network element, the network element requesting data scheduling, and the data generator / target network element for data scheduling.

[0386] This application also provides a chip, including a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being used to communicate with external or internal devices, and the processor being used to implement the methods described above.

[0387] In one possible design, the chip may further include a memory storing computer programs or instructions, which the processor executes, either from the stored computer programs or instructions or derived from other programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the processor implements the methods described above.

[0388] In another possible design, the chip can be integrated into an NWDAF network element, a DMF network element, a network element requesting data scheduling, or a data generator / target network element for data scheduling.

[0389] This application also provides a processor for coupling with a memory to execute any method and function involving NWDAF network element, DMF network element, network element requesting data scheduling, or data generator / target network element in any of the above embodiments.

[0390] This application also provides a computer program product containing instructions that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform any method and function involving NWDAF network element, DMF network element, network element requesting data scheduling, or data generator / target network element in any of the above embodiments.

[0391] This application also provides an apparatus for performing any method and function involving NWDAF network element, DMF network element, network element requesting data scheduling, or data generator / target network element in any of the above embodiments.

[0392] This application also provides a communication system, which includes at least one NWDAF network element, at least one DMF network element, at least one network element requesting data scheduling, and at least one data producer / data scheduling target network element involved in any of the above embodiments.

[0393] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working process of the communication device, the unit or module within the device described above can be referred to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0394] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., solid-state disk (SSD)).

[0395] It should be understood that the "and / or" appearing in the embodiments of this application is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone.

[0396] It should be understood that in the embodiments of this application, "B corresponding to A" means that B is associated with A, and B can be determined based on A. However, it should also be understood that determining B based on A does not mean that B is determined solely based on A; B can also be determined based on A and / or other information.

[0397] It should be understood that the symbol " / " appearing in the embodiments of this application can indicate that the preceding and following objects are in an "or" relationship. Additionally, the symbol " / " can also represent a division sign, i.e., performing a division operation. For example, A / B can mean A divided by B.

[0398] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, the NWDAF network element, DMF network element, network element requesting data scheduling, and / or data generator / target network element for data scheduling can execute some or all of the steps in the embodiments of this application. These steps or operations are merely examples, and other operations or variations thereof can also be performed in the embodiments of this application. Furthermore, the steps can be performed in different orders as presented in the embodiments of this application, and it is not necessary to perform all the operations in the embodiments of this application.

[0399] The specific embodiments described above further illustrate the purpose, technical solution, and beneficial effects of this application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, or improvements made within the principles of this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, include: The first network element acquires data scheduling information, which includes at least one of the following: data scheduling occurrence time, data transmission time, number of data scheduling events, and data scheduling frequency. The first network element is a network element responsible for network data analysis functions. The first network element determines the first analysis result based on the data scheduling information; The first network element sends the first analysis result to the second network element. The first analysis result is used to determine the first data scheduling operation. The second network element is the network element responsible for data management functions.

2. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The data scheduling information also includes at least one of the following: data requester information, data generator information, data collection requirement information, or dataset-related information.

3. The method as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first analysis result includes at least one of the following: the statistical result of the data scheduling information, the prediction result of the data scheduling information, or the second data scheduling operation.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The first network element acquires data scheduling information, including: The first network element receives a first request from the second network element. The first request is used to request the first analysis result and includes the data scheduling information.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The data scheduling information includes first data scheduling information and second data scheduling information; The first network element acquires data scheduling information, including: The first network element receives a first request from the second network element. The first request is used to request the first analysis result and includes the first data scheduling information. The first network element receives a first message from a third network element, the first message including the second data scheduling information, and the third network element is the data generator corresponding to the first network element.

6. The method as described in claim 4 or 5, characterized in that, The first request further includes at least one of the following: analysis identifier, target of analysis report, analysis report information, analysis filtering information, or first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate the generation of the second data scheduling operation.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The first network element acquires data scheduling information, including: The first network element sends a second request to the third network element, the second request being used to request the data scheduling information, the third network element being the data generator corresponding to the first network element; The first network element receives a second message from the third network element, the second message including the data scheduling information.

8. A communication method, characterized in that, include: The second network element receives the first analysis result from the first network element. The first analysis result is determined based on data scheduling information. The data scheduling information includes at least one of the following: data scheduling occurrence time, data transmission time, number of data scheduling events, and data scheduling frequency. The first network element is the network element responsible for network data analysis functions, and the second network element is the network element responsible for data management functions. The second network element determines the first data scheduling operation based on the first analysis result.

9. The method as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The data scheduling information also includes at least one of the following: data requester information, data generator information, data collection requirement information, or dataset-related information.

10. The method as described in claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The first analysis result includes at least one of the following: the statistical result of the data scheduling information, the prediction result of the data scheduling information, or the second data scheduling operation.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8-10, characterized in that, The method further includes: The second network element sends a first request to the first network element. The first request is used to request the first analysis result and includes the data scheduling information.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8-10, characterized in that, The method further includes: The second network element sends a first request to the first network element. The first request is used to request the first analysis result. The first request includes first data scheduling information, which is part or all of the information in the data scheduling information.

13. The method as described in claim 11 or 12, characterized in that, The first request further includes at least one of the following: analysis identifier, target of analysis report, analysis report information, analysis filtering information, or first instruction information; the first instruction information is used to instruct the first network element to generate the second data scheduling operation.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8-13, characterized in that, The method further includes: The second network element receives a third request from the fourth network element, the third request being used to request optimization of data scheduling.

15. The method as described in claim 14, characterized in that, The third request includes at least one of the following: the data scheduling information or the first data scheduling information.

16. The method as described in claim 14 or 15, characterized in that, The method further includes: The second network element sends a first response to the fourth network element, the first response being used to indicate whether the first data scheduling operation was successfully executed.

17. The method as described in claim 16, characterized in that, The first response includes the first data scheduling operation.

18. The method according to any one of claims 8-17, characterized in that, The method further includes: The second network element performs data scheduling according to the first data scheduling operation, and the data scheduling includes data migration and / or data replication.

19. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a memory and a processor, the memory being used to store a computer program, and the processor running the computer program to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1-7.

20. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a memory and a processor, the memory being used to store a computer program, and the processor running the computer program to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 8-18.

21. A communication system, characterized in that, It includes a first network element and a second network element, wherein the first network element is used to perform the method of any one of claims 1-7, and the second network element is used to perform the method of any one of claims 8-18.

22. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes a computer program that, when executed by a processor, causes the method of any one of claims 1-7 or any one of claims 8-18 to be implemented.

23. A chip, characterized in that, The chip includes a processor and a communication interface for communicating with external or internal devices, and the processor enables the chip to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-7 or any one of claims 8-18.

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