Connection establishment method and apparatus, and computer program product and electronic device

Abstract

A connection establishment method and apparatus, and a computer program product and an electronic device, which relate to the technical field of wireless communications. The method comprises: sending an attachment request message to a mobility management entity, wherein the attachment request message comprises a packet data network connection establishment request; and receiving indication information sent by the mobility management entity, and on the basis of the indication information, sending a request to the mobility management entity. Thus, the problem in the related art of low communication efficiency of terminal devices caused by strong coupling between an attachment procedure and packet data network connection establishment is solved.

Description

Connection establishment methods and apparatus, computer program products, electronic devices

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411945389.7, filed on December 26, 2024, entitled "Connection Establishment Method and Apparatus, Computer Program Product, Electronic Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and more specifically, to a connection establishment method and apparatus, a computer program product, and an electronic device. Background Technology

[0004] The current network architecture supporting store-and-forward mode in non-terrestrial networks involves some MMEs (Mobility Management Entities) being on-board, while some MMEs, SGWs (Serving Gateways), PGWs (Packet Data Network Gateways), and HSSs (Home Subscriber Servers) are on the ground. During the UE attach process, when the on-board MME receives an attach request from the terminal device, it carries a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection request in the attach request. Even if the terminal device can complete the attach procedure on-board, the SGW and PGW, being on the ground, cannot establish a PDN connection on-board. According to the existing standard procedure, the MME will reply with an attach failure message to the terminal device. The terminal device can only resend the attach request message after the satellite connects to the ground and is covered again.

[0005] Based on the characteristics of the current network architecture under store-and-forward mode, the time interval between when the terminal device is rejected and when the terminal device resends the attach request may be relatively long.

[0006] Therefore, a new method for establishing connections is needed.

[0007] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the background section above is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of this disclosure, and therefore may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The purpose of this disclosure is to provide a connection establishment method, connection establishment device, computer program product, and electronic device, thereby overcoming, to at least a certain extent, the problem that the UE cannot attach for a long time after receiving an attach failure message due to the limitations and defects of related technologies.

[0009] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a connection establishment method is provided, comprising:

[0010] Send an attach request message to the mobility management entity, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request;

[0011] Receive the instruction information sent by the mobility management entity, and send a request to the mobility management entity according to the instruction information.

[0012] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the attach request includes store-and-forward capability indication information, support for not establishing a packet data network connection in the registration state, and a packet data network connection establishment request.

[0013] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the mobility management entity is an on-board mobility management entity, and the terminal device and the mobility management entity are in store-and-forward mode.

[0014] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, receiving indication information sent by the mobility management entity and sending a request to the mobility management entity according to the indication information includes:

[0015] When attachment fails, an attachment failure message is received from the mobility management entity; wherein the attachment failure message includes indication information that the attachment process cannot establish a packet data network connection;

[0016] A second attach request is initiated based on the indicated information, wherein the second attach request does not carry the packet data network connection establishment request.

[0017] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, receiving indication information sent by the mobility management entity and sending a request to the mobility management entity according to the indication information includes:

[0018] When attachment is successful, an attachment success message is received from the mobility management entity; wherein, the attachment success message includes an indication that the process could not establish a packet data network connection;

[0019] Initiate a request to establish a packet data network connection based on the indicated information.

[0020] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a connection establishment method is provided, comprising:

[0021] Receive an attach request message sent by a terminal device, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request;

[0022] Send indication information corresponding to the attach request message to the terminal device, wherein the indication information includes a first message indicating that the packet data network connection establishment failed.

[0023] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, sending indication information corresponding to the attach request message to the terminal device includes:

[0024] When a packet data network connection cannot be established during the attach procedure and the terminal device cannot be attached, an attach failure message is returned to the terminal device; wherein the attach failure message carries indication information that the attach procedure cannot establish a packet data network connection.

[0025] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, sending indication information corresponding to the attach request message to the terminal device includes:

[0026] When the packet data network connection cannot be established during the attach procedure, and the terminal device attaches successfully, an attach success message is returned to the terminal device; wherein the attach success message carries indication information that the attach procedure could not establish a packet data network connection.

[0027] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the indication information is a Packet Evolution System Session Management Message.

[0028] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the indication information is carried by a first encoding in a Packet Evolution System Mobility Management message.

[0029] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a connection establishment apparatus is provided, comprising:

[0030] An attach request sending module is configured to send an attach request message to a mobility management entity, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request;

[0031] The instruction information receiving module is configured to receive instruction information sent by the mobility management entity and send a request to the mobility management entity based on the instruction information.

[0032] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a connection establishment apparatus is provided, comprising:

[0033] The attach request message receiving module is configured to receive an attach request message sent by a terminal device, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request.

[0034] The indication information sending module is configured to send indication information corresponding to the attach request message to the terminal device, wherein the indication information includes a first message indicating that the packet data network connection establishment has failed.

[0035] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the connection establishment method described in any of the exemplary embodiments above.

[0036] According to one aspect of this disclosure, an electronic device is provided, comprising:

[0037] A processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to perform the connection establishment method according to any of the exemplary embodiments described above by executing the executable instructions.

[0038] This disclosure provides a connection establishment method that sends an attach request message to a mobility management entity (MLE), wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network (PaDN) connection establishment request; receives indication information sent by the MLE, and sends a request to the MLE according to the indication information. On one hand, the terminal device sends an attach request message to the MLE, which includes a PaDN connection establishment request, and receives indication information from the MLE. After receiving the indication information, the terminal device sends a request to the MLE according to the indication information. This solves the problem of low communication efficiency caused by the strong coupling between the attach process and the PaDN connection establishment in related technologies. That is, the attach process and the PaDN connection establishment are strongly coupled, and if the terminal device can complete the attach process but cannot complete the PaDN connection, the attach can only be rejected, and the attach request can only be resent after the satellite connects to the ground and covers the terminal device again. On the other hand, the terminal device can directly send a request to the MLE after receiving the indication information, improving the efficiency of the attach process.

[0039] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and are not intended to limit this disclosure. Attached Figure Description

[0040] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this disclosure. It is obvious that the drawings described below are merely some embodiments of this disclosure, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without any inventive effort.

[0041] Figure 1 schematically illustrates a flowchart of a connection establishment method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] Figure 2 schematically illustrates a flowchart of a method for receiving instruction information sent by a mobility management entity and sending a request to the mobility management entity according to one of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

[0043] Figure 3 schematically illustrates a flowchart of a method for receiving instruction information sent by a mobility management entity and sending a request to the mobility management entity according to one of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0044] Figure 4 schematically illustrates a flowchart of a connection establishment method according to one of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

[0045] Figure 5 schematically illustrates a block diagram of a connection establishment apparatus according to one of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0046] Figure 6 schematically illustrates a block diagram of a connection establishment apparatus according to one of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0047] Figure 7 schematically illustrates an electronic device for implementing the above-described connection establishment method according to one of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0048] Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, example embodiments can be implemented in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided to make this disclosure more comprehensive and complete, and to fully convey the concept of the example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to give a full understanding of embodiments of this disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the technical solutions of this disclosure can be practiced with one or more of the specific details omitted, or other methods, components, apparatus, steps, etc., can be employed. In other instances, well-known technical solutions are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring various aspects of this disclosure.

[0049] Furthermore, the accompanying drawings are merely illustrative of this disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar parts, and therefore repeated descriptions of them will be omitted. Some block diagrams shown in the drawings are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically independent entities. These functional entities may be implemented in software, in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different network and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0050] In 3GPP Release 18 and earlier standards, NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) satellites only support transparent forwarding mode, including transparent forwarding between ground terminals and ground base stations, or between ground base stations and the ground core network. However, due to geographical or political limitations, NTN gateway stations cannot be widely deployed, resulting in coverage limitations. Therefore, a satellite regeneration mode is considered, where base stations and / or (partial) core network functions are uploaded to satellites, thereby reducing dependence on terrestrial networks, enabling flexible network deployment, and reducing communication latency.

[0051] Considering the limitations of ground gateway station deployment, satellite-to-ground connections may be intermittently or temporarily unavailable. For example, when the satellite is providing services to terminals within its coverage area, the feeder link with the ground may be lost. Therefore, for latency-tolerant or latency-insensitive services, store-and-forward operations can be provided. Specifically, for uplink, "store" refers to storing uplink information from terminal devices on the satellite, and "forward" refers to forwarding the stored uplink information to the ground network. For downlink, "store" refers to storing downlink information from the ground network on the satellite, and "forward" refers to forwarding the stored downlink information to the terminal devices.

[0052] The current network architecture considered for supporting store-and-forward mode includes some MMEs (Mobility Management Entities) onboard (MME-onboard) and some MMEs (MME-ground), SGW (Serving Gateway), PGW (Packet Data Network Gateway), and HSS (Home Subscriber Server) on the ground. During the attach process, when the MME-onboard receives an attach request (carrying a packet data network connection request) from the terminal device, even if the terminal device can complete the attach process on the satellite, because the SGW and PGW cannot establish a packet data network connection on the satellite from the ground, according to the existing standard procedure, the MME will reply to the terminal device with an attach failure message, which includes a packet data network connection rejection message. The terminal device can only resend the attach request message after the satellite and ground have connected and the satellite covers the terminal device again (either the same satellite or a different satellite).

[0053] The aforementioned drawback is that the time interval between the terminal device being rejected and the terminal device resending the Attach Request may be relatively long (related to satellite deployment), during which time the terminal device cannot attach.

[0054] Based on one or more of the above-mentioned problems, this exemplary embodiment first provides a connection establishment method, which can run on a terminal device; of course, those skilled in the art can also run the method of the present invention on other platforms as needed, and this exemplary embodiment does not make any special limitations on this. Referring to FIG1, the connection establishment method may include steps S110 and S120:

[0055] Step S110. Send an attach request message to the mobility management entity, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request;

[0056] Step S120. Receive the instruction information sent by the mobility management entity, and send a request to the mobility management entity according to the instruction information.

[0057] The aforementioned connection establishment method involves sending an attach request message to a mobility management entity (MLE), wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request; receiving indication information sent by the MLE; and sending a request to the MLE based on the indication information. On one hand, the terminal device sends an attach request message to the MLE, which includes a packet data network connection establishment request, and receives indication information from the MLE. After receiving the indication information, the terminal device sends a request to the MLE based on the indication information. This solves the problem in related technologies where the attach process and packet data network connection establishment are strongly coupled. In cases where the terminal device can complete the attach process but cannot establish a packet data network connection, the attach request can only be rejected, and the attach request can only be resent after the satellite connects to the ground and covers the terminal device again. On the other hand, the terminal device can directly send a request to the MLE after receiving the indication information, improving the efficiency of the attach process.

[0058] The following provides a detailed explanation and description of each step involved in the connection establishment method of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

[0059] First, the application scenarios and purposes of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure will be explained and described. Specifically, the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to a terminal device sending an attach request message to an on-board mobility management entity.

[0060] This disclosure is based on a terminal device sending an attach request message to a mobility management entity (MMI). When the MMI receives the attach request message from the terminal device, it determines whether the terminal device can successfully attach to the MMI based on the attach request message. When the terminal device successfully attaches to the MMI, the MMI generates an attach success message, which includes an indication that the attach process could not establish a packet data network connection. When the terminal device fails to attach to the MMI, the MMI generates an attach failure message, which includes an indication that the attach process could not establish a packet data network connection. When the terminal device receives an attach success message, it can send a request to establish a packet data network connection to the MMI based on the indication in the attach success message. When the terminal device receives an attach failure message, it can send an attach request to the MMI based on the indication in the attach failure message.

[0061] Secondly, steps S110 and S120 will be explained and described in detail.

[0062] In step S110, an attach request message is sent to the mobility management entity, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request.

[0063] In this example embodiment, the mobility management entity is an on-board mobility management entity, and the terminal device is in store-and-forward mode with this mobility management entity. This store-and-forward mode aims to provide a certain level of communication service to users within satellite coverage, especially when the feed link between the satellite and the terrestrial network is absent or unavailable. This store-and-forward service mode is suitable for communication needs with latency tolerance.

[0064] The terminal device sends an attach request to the mobility management entity. The attach request may include store-and-forward capability indication information, support for registering without establishing a public data network (PDN) connection, and a request to establish a PDN connection. The supported registering state is EMM-REGISTERED, which indicates the state the terminal device enters after completing the attach procedure. In this state, the terminal device establishes a signaling connection with the on-board mobility management entity.

[0065] In step S120, an instruction message sent by the mobility management entity is received, and a request is sent to the mobility management entity according to the instruction message.

[0066] In this example embodiment, after the terminal device sends an attach request message to the on-board mobility management entity, the on-board mobility management entity receives the attach request and the packet data network connection request, decouples the attach request and the packet data network connection request, and processes them separately. After processing the attach request and the packet data network connection request, the entity generates the corresponding message and sends the message to the terminal device.

[0067] After receiving a message from the on-board mobility management entity, the terminal device sends a request to the entity again based on the indication information included in the message. In this example embodiment, when the on-board mobility management entity processes the terminal device's attach request, the possible results include: attach successful or attach failed. When attaching is successful, the terminal device receives an attach success message. When attaching fails, the terminal device receives an attach failure message.

[0068] In this example embodiment, referring to FIG2, when the terminal device receives an attachment failure message, the step of receiving the indication information sent by the mobility management entity and sending a request to the mobility management entity according to the indication information includes:

[0069] Step S210. When attachment fails, receive an attachment failure message sent by the mobility management entity; wherein the attachment failure message includes indication information that the process cannot establish a packet data network connection;

[0070] Step S220. Initiate a second attach request according to the instruction information, wherein the second attach request does not carry the packet data network connection establishment request.

[0071] The following will further explain and illustrate steps S210 and S220. Specifically, when the terminal device fails to attach to the on-board mobility management entity, it receives an attach failure message sent by the mobility management entity. Since the SGW and PGW are on the ground, the on-board mobility management entity cannot complete the packet data network connection establishment. Therefore, the attach failure message includes an indication that the attach process cannot establish a packet data network connection. After receiving this indication, if the terminal device needs to perform data services, it can directly initiate a second attach request to the on-board mobility management entity based on the indication. This second attach request may not include a packet data network connection establishment request.

[0072] In this example embodiment, referring to Figure 3, when the terminal device receives an attachment success message, the step of receiving the indication information sent by the mobility management entity and sending a request to the mobility management entity according to the indication information includes:

[0073] Step S310. When the attachment is successful, receive the attachment success message sent by the mobility management entity; wherein the attachment success message includes indication information that the attachment process could not establish a packet data network connection;

[0074] Step S320. Initiate a request to establish a packet data network connection according to the instruction information.

[0075] The following will further explain and illustrate steps S310 and S320. Specifically, when the terminal device successfully attaches to the on-board mobility management entity, it receives an attach success message from the mobility management entity. Since the SGW and PGW are on the ground, the on-board mobility management entity cannot complete the packet data network connection establishment. Therefore, the attach success message includes an indication that the attach process could not establish a packet data network connection. After receiving this indication, if the terminal device needs data services, it can send a separate packet data network connection establishment request to the on-board mobility management entity.

[0076] This disclosure also provides a connection establishment method applied to a mobility management entity, as shown in Figure 4, including:

[0077] Step S410. Receive an attach request message sent by the terminal device, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request.

[0078] In this example embodiment, the mobility management entity and the terminal device are in store-and-forward mode, and the mobility management entity is an on-board mobility management entity. The on-board mobility management entity receives an attach request message sent by the terminal device. This attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request, which may include store-and-forward capability indication information, support for registration without establishing a packet data network connection, and the packet data network connection establishment request. The support for registration is defined as EMM-REGISTERED, indicating the state the terminal device enters after completing the attach procedure. In this state, the terminal device establishes a signaling connection with the on-board mobility management entity.

[0079] The onboard mobility management entity receives the attach request message sent by the terminal equipment, obtains the attach request and the packet data network connection request, and decouples the attach request message and the packet data network connection request message.

[0080] The onboard mobility management entity's processing of attach requests includes: authenticating and verifying the attach request. If authentication and verification are successful, the onboard mobility management entity completes the attach process for the terminal device and generates an attach success message. If authentication and integrity verification fail, the onboard mobility management entity cannot complete the attach process for the terminal device and generates an attach failure message. Furthermore, since the SGW and PGW are on the ground and cannot complete the packet data network connection establishment process, both the attach success and attach failure messages include an indication that the attach process could not complete the packet data network connection establishment.

[0081] Step S420. Send indication information corresponding to the attach request message to the terminal device, wherein the indication information includes a first message indicating that the packet data network connection establishment failed.

[0082] In this example embodiment, the onboard mobility management entity sends the generated indication information to the terminal device. Sending the indication information corresponding to the attach request message to the terminal device includes:

[0083] When a packet data network connection cannot be established during the attach procedure and the terminal device cannot be attached, an attach failure message is returned to the terminal device; wherein the attach failure message carries indication information that the attach procedure cannot establish a packet data network connection.

[0084] Specifically, when the onboard mobility management entity cannot complete the attachment process of the terminal device, it generates an attachment failure message and sends the attachment failure message to the terminal device. The attachment failure message carries an indication that a packet data network connection cannot be established during the attachment process. That is, when the terminal device receives the attachment failure message, it also receives the indication that a packet data network connection cannot be established during the attachment process.

[0085] When the terminal device completes attachment in the on-board mobility management entity, the step of sending the indication information corresponding to the attachment request message to the terminal device includes:

[0086] When the packet data network connection cannot be established during the attach procedure, and the terminal device attaches successfully, an attach success message is returned to the terminal device; wherein the attach success message carries indication information that the attach procedure could not establish a packet data network connection.

[0087] Specifically, when the onboard mobility management entity completes the attachment of the terminal device, it generates an attachment success message and sends the attachment success message to the terminal device. The attachment success message carries an indication that a packet data network connection could not be established during the attachment process. That is, when the terminal device receives the attachment success message, it also receives the indication that a packet data network connection could not be established during the attachment process.

[0088] Furthermore, in this example embodiment, both the successful attach and failed attach messages generated by the onboard mobility management entity can include a signaling ESM message container. When the terminal device cannot establish a packet data network connection during the attach procedure, the onboard mobility management entity can generate an indication that a packet data network connection cannot be established during the attach procedure. This indication can be implemented by adding a new Packet Evolution System Session Message, i.e., an ESM message. In this example embodiment, the newly added ESM message is included in the signaling ESM message container.

[0089] The newly added ESM message can include the following fields: EPS bearer identity, procedure transaction identity, protocol discriminator, and new message name. The EPS bearer identity (Evolved Packet System Bearer Identifier) ​​uniquely identifies an EPS (Evolved Packet System) bearer context, including default bearers and dedicated bearers, which are used to handle communication between terminal devices and packet data networks, respectively. The procedure transaction identity (PTI) is a unique identifier representing a specific session management request or response. The protocol discriminator identifies the message type and function; the ESM message's protocol discriminator has different values, each corresponding to a different function and message type. The new message name field can also include the message entity.

[0090] Furthermore, the attach success and attach failure messages generated by the onboard mobility management entity can both contain EMM (EPS Mobility Management) cause messages. Therefore, the indication information can also be represented by the first code in the EMM cause message field. The first code can be a newly added code, and no specific limitation is made on the newly added code in this example embodiment.

[0091] The connection establishment method provided in this disclosure has at least the following advantages: On the one hand, the terminal device sends an attach request message to the mobility management entity, which includes a packet data network connection establishment request, and receives instruction information sent by the mobility management entity. After receiving the instruction information, the terminal device sends a request to the mobility management entity according to the instruction information. This solves the problem in related technologies where the attach process and packet data network connection establishment are strongly coupled. In cases where the terminal device can complete the attach process but cannot complete the packet data network connection, the attach process can only be rejected, and the attach request can only be resent after the satellite connects to the ground and covers the terminal device again. On the other hand, the terminal device can directly send a request to the mobility management entity after receiving the instruction information, which improves the efficiency of the attach process.

[0092] This disclosure also provides a connection establishment apparatus, as shown in FIG5, which may include: an attach request sending module 510 and an indication information receiving module 520. Wherein:

[0093] The attach request sending module 510 is configured to send an attach request message to a mobility management entity, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request;

[0094] The instruction information receiving module 520 is configured to receive instruction information sent by the mobility management entity and send a request to the mobility management entity according to the instruction information.

[0095] This disclosure also provides a connection establishment apparatus, as shown in FIG6, which may include: an attach request message receiving module 610 and an indication information sending module 620. Wherein:

[0096] The attach request message receiving module 610 is configured to receive an attach request message sent by a terminal device, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request.

[0097] The instruction information sending module 620 is configured to send instruction information corresponding to the attach request message to the terminal device, wherein the instruction information includes a first message indicating that the packet data network connection establishment has failed.

[0098] The specific details of each module in the above-mentioned connection establishment device have been described in detail in the corresponding connection establishment method, so they will not be repeated here.

[0099] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the attach request includes store-and-forward capability indication information, support for not establishing a packet data network connection in the registration state, and a packet data network connection establishment request.

[0100] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the mobility management entity is an on-board mobility management entity, and the terminal device and the mobility management entity are in store-and-forward mode.

[0101] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the indication information receiving module includes:

[0102] The first indication information receiving module is configured to receive an attachment failure message sent by the mobility management entity when the attachment fails; wherein the attachment failure message includes indication information that the attachment process cannot establish a packet data network connection;

[0103] The second attach request sending module is configured to initiate a second attach request based on the indication information, wherein the second attach request does not carry the packet data network connection establishment request.

[0104] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the indication information receiving module includes:

[0105] The second instruction information receiving module is configured to receive an attachment success message sent by the mobility management entity when the attachment is successful; wherein the attachment success message includes an instruction message indicating that the process cannot establish a packet data network connection;

[0106] The connection request sending module is configured to initiate a request to establish a packet data network connection based on the indicated information.

[0107] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the indication information sending module includes:

[0108] The first instruction information sending module is configured to return an attachment failure message to the terminal device when the packet data network connection cannot be completed in the attachment process and the attachment of the terminal device cannot be achieved; wherein the attachment failure message carries instruction information that the attachment process cannot establish a packet data network connection.

[0109] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the indication information sending module includes:

[0110] The second instruction information sending module is configured to return an attachment success message to the terminal device when the packet data network connection cannot be completed in the attachment process and the terminal device attaches successfully; wherein the attachment success message carries an instruction information indicating that the attachment process cannot establish a packet data network connection.

[0111] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the indication information is a Packet Evolution System Session Management Message.

[0112] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the indication information is carried by a first encoding in a Packet Evolution System Mobility Management message.

[0113] It should be noted that although several modules or units for the device used to perform actions have been mentioned in the detailed description above, this division is not mandatory. In fact, according to embodiments of this disclosure, the features and functions of two or more modules or units described above can be embodied in one module or unit. Conversely, the features and functions of one module or unit described above can be further divided and embodied by multiple modules or units.

[0114] Furthermore, although the steps of the method in this disclosure are described in a specific order in the accompanying drawings, this does not require or imply that the steps must be performed in that specific order, or that all the steps shown must be performed to achieve the desired result. Additional or alternative steps may be omitted, multiple steps may be combined into one step, and / or a step may be broken down into multiple steps.

[0115] In an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, an electronic device capable of implementing the above-described method is also provided.

[0116] Those skilled in the art will understand that various aspects of this disclosure can be implemented as a system, method, or program product. Therefore, various aspects of this disclosure can be specifically implemented in the following forms: a completely hardware implementation, a completely software implementation (including firmware, microcode, etc.), or a combination of hardware and software aspects, collectively referred to herein as a "circuit," "module," or "system."

[0117] The electronic device 700 according to this embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to FIG7. The electronic device 700 shown in FIG7 is merely an example and should not be construed as limiting the functionality and scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0118] As shown in Figure 7, the electronic device 700 is presented in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components of the electronic device 700 may include, but are not limited to: at least one processing unit 710, at least one storage unit 720, a bus 730 connecting different system components (including storage unit 720 and processing unit 710), and a display unit 740.

[0119] The storage unit stores program code that can be executed by the processing unit 710, causing the processing unit 710 to perform the steps described in the "Exemplary Methods" section of this specification according to various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. For example, the processing unit 710 can perform the steps shown in FIG1: S110: sending an attach request message to a mobility management entity, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request; S120: receiving indication information sent by the mobility management entity, and sending a request to the mobility management entity according to the indication information.

[0120] Storage unit 720 may include a readable medium in the form of a volatile storage unit, such as random access memory (RAM) 7201 and / or cache memory 7202, and may further include a read-only memory (ROM) 7203.

[0121] The storage unit 720 may also include a program / utility 7204 having a set (at least one) program module 7205, such program module 7205 including but not limited to: an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules and program data, each or some combination of these examples may include an implementation of a network environment.

[0122] Bus 730 can represent one or more of several types of bus structures, including a memory cell bus or memory cell controller, a peripheral bus, a graphics acceleration port, a processing unit, or a local bus using any of the various bus structures.

[0123] Electronic device 700 can also communicate with one or more external devices 800 (e.g., keyboard, pointing device, Bluetooth device, etc.), and with one or more devices that enable a user to interact with electronic device 700, and / or with any device that enables electronic device 700 to communicate with one or more other computing devices (e.g., router, modem, etc.). This communication can be performed via input / output (I / O) interface 750. Furthermore, electronic device 700 can also communicate with one or more networks (e.g., local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and / or public networks, such as the Internet) via network adapter 760. As shown, network adapter 760 communicates with other modules of electronic device 700 via bus 730. It should be understood that, although not shown in the figures, other hardware and / or software modules can be used in conjunction with electronic device 700, including but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data backup storage systems.

[0124] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily understand that the exemplary embodiments described herein can be implemented by software or by combining software with necessary hardware. Therefore, the technical solutions according to the embodiments of this disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, external hard drive, etc.) or on a network, including several instructions to cause a computing device (such as a personal computer, server, terminal device, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods according to the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0125] In exemplary embodiments of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, on which a program product capable of implementing the methods described above is stored. In some possible implementations, various aspects of this disclosure may also be implemented as a program product including program code that, when the program product is run on a terminal device, causes the terminal device to perform the steps of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure described in the "Exemplary Methods" section above.

[0126] The program product for implementing the above-described method according to embodiments of the present disclosure may employ a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) and include program code, and may run on a terminal device, such as a personal computer. However, the program product of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In this document, the readable storage medium may be any tangible medium containing or storing a program that may be used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0127] The program product may employ any combination of one or more readable media. A readable medium may be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. A readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination thereof. More specific examples of readable storage media (a non-exhaustive list) include: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable disk, a hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0128] Computer-readable signal media may include data signals propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, carrying readable program code. Such propagated data signals may take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination thereof. A readable signal medium may also be any readable medium other than a readable storage medium, capable of sending, propagating, or transmitting programs for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0129] The program code contained on the readable medium may be transmitted using any suitable medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical fiber, RF, etc., or any suitable combination thereof.

[0130] Program code for performing the operations of this disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java and C++, and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as C or similar languages. The program code can execute entirely on the user's computing device, partially on the user's computing device, as a standalone software package, partially on the user's computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or entirely on a remote computing device or server. In cases involving remote computing devices, the remote computing device can be connected to the user's computing device via any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or it can be connected to an external computing device (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0131] Furthermore, the above figures are merely illustrative of the processes included in the method according to exemplary embodiments of this disclosure and are not intended to be limiting. It is readily understood that the processes shown in the above figures do not indicate or limit the temporal order of these processes. Additionally, it is readily understood that these processes may be executed synchronously or asynchronously, for example, in multiple modules.

[0132] Other embodiments of this disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure that follow the general principles of this disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and embodiments are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the claims.

Claims

1. A connection establishment method, applied to a terminal device, comprising: Send an attach request message to the mobility management entity, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request; Receive the instruction information sent by the mobility management entity, and send a request to the mobility management entity according to the instruction information.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The attach request includes store-and-forward capability indication information, support for not establishing a packet data network connection in the registration state, and a packet data network connection establishment request.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The mobility management entity is an on-board mobility management entity, and the terminal device is in store-and-forward mode with the mobility management entity.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The step of receiving the indication information sent by the mobility management entity and sending a request to the mobility management entity according to the indication information includes: When attachment fails, an attachment failure message is received from the mobility management entity; wherein the attachment failure message includes indication information that the attachment process cannot establish a packet data network connection; A second attach request is initiated based on the indicated information, wherein the second attach request does not carry the packet data network connection establishment request.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The step of receiving the indication information sent by the mobility management entity and sending a request to the mobility management entity according to the indication information includes: When attachment is successful, an attachment success message is received from the mobility management entity; wherein, the attachment success message includes an indication that the process could not establish a packet data network connection; Initiate a request to establish a packet data network connection based on the indicated information.

6. A connection establishment method, applied to a mobility management entity, comprising: Receive an attach request message sent by a terminal device, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request; Send indication information corresponding to the attach request message to the terminal device, wherein the indication information includes a first message indicating that the packet data network connection establishment failed.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, Sending the indication information corresponding to the attach request message to the terminal device includes: When a packet data network connection cannot be established during the attach procedure and the terminal device cannot be attached, an attach failure message is returned to the terminal device; wherein the attach failure message carries indication information that the attach procedure cannot establish a packet data network connection.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, Sending the indication information corresponding to the attach request message to the terminal device includes: When the packet data network connection cannot be established during the attach procedure, and the terminal device attaches successfully, an attach success message is returned to the terminal device; wherein the attach success message carries indication information that the attach procedure could not establish a packet data network connection.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein, The instruction information is a Packet Evolution System session management message.

10. The method according to claim 6, wherein, The instruction information is carried through the first code in the Packet Evolution System Mobility Management Message.

11. A connection establishment device, applied to a terminal device, comprising: An attach request sending module is configured to send an attach request message to a mobility management entity, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request; The instruction information receiving module is configured to receive instruction information sent by the mobility management entity and send a request to the mobility management entity based on the instruction information.

12. A connection establishment device, applied to a mobility management entity, comprising: The attach request message receiving module is configured to receive an attach request message sent by a terminal device, wherein the attach request message includes a packet data network connection establishment request. The indication information sending module is configured to send indication information corresponding to the attach request message to the terminal device, wherein the indication information includes a first message indicating that the packet data network connection establishment has failed.

13. A computer program product comprising a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any one of claims 1 to 10.

14. An electronic device, comprising: processor; as well as A memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-10 by executing the executable instructions.

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