Communication method and apparatus, and storage medium

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communications, and provides a communication method and apparatus, and a storage medium. The method comprises: receiving a first downlink message sent by a network device, the first downlink message being used for requesting execution of an A-IoT service and / or sending a configuration of the A-IoT service. The first downlink message comprises at least one of the following: a core network element identifier; an ambient Internet of Things (A-IoT) service identifier, used for identifying an A-IoT service; priority indication information, used for indicating a priority level of the A-IoT service; configuration information of a first radio bearer, the first radio bearer being associated with the A-IoT service; and A-IoT service request information. In this way, a terminal device and a network device are enabled to determine a mapping relationship between an A-IoT service response and an A-IoT service request, thereby determining to which core network element the received A-IoT service response is to be sent and how to send the received A-IoT service response.

Description

Communication methods, devices and storage media

[0001] This disclosure claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510124768.8, filed on January 26, 2025, entitled "Communication Method, Apparatus and Storage Medium", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and more specifically, to a communication method, apparatus, and storage medium. Background Technology

[0003] A-IoT (ambient internet of things) devices are passive or have limited energy storage capabilities. A-IoT devices transmit uplink signals by reflecting downlink signals or wireless signals in the environment.

[0004] One way for A-IoT devices to access the network is by connecting to a terminal device (as an intermediate node). This means the A-IoT device doesn't directly communicate or connect to the network, but rather connects to the terminal device. Based on this network architecture, one way to execute A-IoT services is for the core network element to send an A-IoT service request to the terminal device through a network device. After the terminal device and A-IoT device execute the A-IoT service, the terminal device sends a service response to the core network element through the network device. In other words, the transmission of A-IoT service-related signaling and data is completed through two segments: between the terminal device and the network device, and between the network device and the core network element. Under this A-IoT service execution method, how to achieve the transmission of A-IoT-related signaling and data needs to be addressed. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This disclosure provides a communication method, apparatus, and storage medium that solves the current problem of being unable to realize signaling and data transmission related to A-IoT.

[0006] In a first aspect, this disclosure provides a communication method applied to a terminal device, the communication method comprising:

[0007] Receive a first downlink message sent by a network device, the first downlink message being used to request the execution of an A-IoT service, and / or to send the configuration of the A-IoT service;

[0008] The first downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0009] Core network element identifiers;

[0010] Environmental IoT A-IoT Service Identifier: The A-IoT service identifier is used to identify A-IoT services.

[0011] Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of A-IoT services;

[0012] Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with A-IoT services;

[0013] A-IoT service request information.

[0014] Secondly, this disclosure provides a communication method applied to a network device, the communication method including:

[0015] Send a first downlink message to the terminal device. The first downlink message is used to request the execution of A-IoT services and / or send the configuration of A-IoT services.

[0016] The first downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0017] Core network element identifiers;

[0018] A-IoT service identifier, used to identify A-IoT services;

[0019] Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of A-IoT services;

[0020] Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with A-IoT services;

[0021] A-IoT service request information.

[0022] Thirdly, this disclosure provides a communication method applied to core network elements, the communication method including:

[0023] Send a second downlink message to the network device; the second downlink message is used to request the execution of A-IoT services.

[0024] The second downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0025] Core network element identifiers;

[0026] A-IoT service identifier, used to identify A-IoT services;

[0027] A-IoT service request information.

[0028] Fourthly, this disclosure provides a communication device for use in terminal equipment, the device comprising:

[0029] The receiving unit is configured to receive a first downlink message sent by the network device, the first downlink message being used to request the execution of A-IoT services and / or to send the configuration of A-IoT services;

[0030] The first downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0031] Core network element identifiers;

[0032] Environmental IoT A-IoT Service Identifier: The A-IoT service identifier is used to identify A-IoT services.

[0033] Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of A-IoT services;

[0034] Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with A-IoT services;

[0035] A-IoT service request information.

[0036] Fifthly, this disclosure provides a communication device for use in network equipment, the device comprising:

[0037] The sending unit is used to send a first downlink message to the terminal device. The first downlink message is used to request the execution of A-IoT services and / or to send the configuration of A-IoT services.

[0038] The first downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0039] Core network element identifiers;

[0040] A-IoT service identifier, used to identify A-IoT services;

[0041] Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of A-IoT services;

[0042] Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with A-IoT services;

[0043] A-IoT service request information.

[0044] Sixthly, this disclosure provides a communication device applied to a core network element, the device comprising:

[0045] The sending unit is used to send a second downlink message to the network device, the second downlink message being used to request the execution of A-IoT services;

[0046] The second downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0047] Core network element identifiers;

[0048] A-IoT service identifier, used to identify A-IoT services;

[0049] A-IoT service request information.

[0050] In a seventh aspect, this disclosure provides a communication device for use in a terminal device, the device comprising: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor.

[0051] Memory, used to store computer programs;

[0052] A transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of a processor.

[0053] A processor is used to read computer programs from memory and perform the following operations:

[0054] Receive a first downlink message sent by a network device, the first downlink message being used to request the execution of an A-IoT service, and / or to send the configuration of the A-IoT service;

[0055] The first downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0056] Core network element identifiers;

[0057] Environmental IoT A-IoT Service Identifier: The A-IoT service identifier is used to identify A-IoT services.

[0058] Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of A-IoT services;

[0059] Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with A-IoT services;

[0060] A-IoT service request information.

[0061] Eighthly, this disclosure provides a communication device for use in network equipment, the device comprising: a memory for storing computer programs;

[0062] A transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of a processor.

[0063] A processor is used to read computer programs from memory and perform the following operations:

[0064] Send a first downlink message to the terminal device. The first downlink message is used to request the execution of A-IoT services and / or send the configuration of A-IoT services.

[0065] The first downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0066] Core network element identifiers;

[0067] A-IoT service identifier, used to identify A-IoT services;

[0068] Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of A-IoT services;

[0069] Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with A-IoT services;

[0070] A-IoT service request information.

[0071] Ninthly, this disclosure provides a communication device applied to a core network element, the communication device comprising:

[0072] Memory, transceiver, processor:

[0073] Memory, used to store computer programs;

[0074] A transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of a processor.

[0075] A processor is used to read computer programs from memory and perform the following operations:

[0076] Send a second downlink message to the network device; the second downlink message is used to request the execution of A-IoT services.

[0077] The second downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0078] Core network element identifiers;

[0079] A-IoT service identifier, used to identify A-IoT services;

[0080] A-IoT service request information.

[0081] In some embodiments, the A-IoT service request information includes at least one of the following:

[0082] In a tenth aspect, this disclosure provides a non-transitory readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a processor to execute the communication method of any one of the first to third aspects described above.

[0083] In one aspect, this disclosure provides a computer program product containing instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a communication method as described in any one of the first to third aspects above.

[0084] This disclosure provides a communication method that receives a first downlink message sent by a network device. The first downlink message is used to request the execution of an A-IoT service and / or to send the configuration of an A-IoT service. The first downlink message includes at least one of the following: a core network element identifier; an environmental IoT A-IoT service identifier, which identifies the A-IoT service; priority indication information, which indicates the priority of the A-IoT service; configuration information of a first radio bearer, which is associated with the A-IoT service; and A-IoT service request information. This method enables terminal devices and network devices to determine the mapping relationship between A-IoT service responses and A-IoT service requests, thereby determining which core network element to send the received A-IoT service response to and how to send it.

[0085] It should be understood that the description in the foregoing summary section is not intended to limit the key or essential features of the embodiments of this disclosure, nor is it intended to restrict the scope of this disclosure. Other features of this disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description. Attached Figure Description

[0086] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in this disclosure or related technologies, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or related technologies will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are some embodiments of this disclosure. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0087] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a network topology for A-IoT devices provided by related technologies;

[0088] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack provided by related technologies;

[0089] Figure 3 is an application scenario diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0090] Figure 4 is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0091] Figure 5 is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0092] Figure 6 is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0093] Figure 7 is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0094] Figure 8 is a structural block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0095] Figure 9 is a structural block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0096] Figure 10 is a structural block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0097] Figure 11 is a structural block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0098] Figure 12 is a structural block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0099] Figure 13 is a structural block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0100] In this disclosure, the term "and / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent three cases: A alone, A and B simultaneously, and B alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects have an "or" relationship.

[0101] In this disclosure, the term "at least one" refers to one or more items, and "more than one" refers to two or more items. Other quantifiers are similar. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can be represented as: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be a single item or multiple items.

[0102] The terms "first," "second," etc., used in the embodiments of this disclosure are for illustrative purposes and to distinguish the objects being described. They do not indicate any order or a specific limitation on the number of objects in the embodiments of this disclosure, and cannot constitute any limitation on the embodiments of this disclosure. For example, the first time-domain start position is the time-domain start position of a random access period, and the second time-domain start position is the time-domain start position of any random access procedure within the random access period. The use of terms such as "first" and "second" is only to distinguish different time-domain start positions, and does not indicate any difference in the size, priority, or importance of these two time-domain start positions.

[0103] The technical solutions provided in this disclosure can be applied to a variety of systems. For example, applicable systems may include Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) systems, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) systems, 5G New Radio (NR) systems and their evolved communication systems, and 6G (sixth generation mobile communication technology) systems. These systems may include terminals and network equipment. The systems may also include a core network component, such as the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and the 5G Core Network (5GC).

[0104] The terminal devices involved in the embodiments of this disclosure can be devices that provide voice and / or data connectivity to users, handheld devices with wireless connectivity, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. The names of the terminal devices may differ in different systems; for example, in a 5G system, a terminal device may be called User Equipment (UE). Wireless terminal devices can be USB storage devices, other personal computer memory devices, and dongles. They can also communicate with one or more core networks (CNs) via a Radio Access Network (RAN). Wireless terminal devices can be mobile terminal devices, such as mobile phones (or "cellular" phones) and computers with mobile terminal devices. For example, they can be portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and / or data with the radio access network. Examples of such devices include Personal Communication Service (PCS) telephones, cordless phones, Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), personal computers, tablets, and Machine-type Communication (MTC) terminal devices. Wireless terminal devices can also be referred to as systems, subscriber units, subscriber stations, mobile stations, mobile devices, remote stations, access points, remote terminals, access terminals, user terminals, user agents, user devices, and wireless access devices and routers / modems that meet the limitations of this definition, but are not limited to these in the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0105] In some embodiments, the terminal device involved in this disclosure serves as an intermediate node in an A-IoT architecture. The terminal device, as an intermediate node, can also be a relay node, an IAB node, etc. An intermediate node is also referred to as a reading device, a UEreader (User Equipment Reader), etc.

[0106] The network device involved in this disclosure can be a base station, which may include multiple cells providing services to terminals. Depending on the specific application, the base station may also be called an access point, or a device in the access network that communicates with wireless terminals through one or more sectors on the air interface, or other names. The network device can be used to exchange received air frames with Internet Protocol (IP) packets, acting as a router between the wireless terminal and the rest of the access network, where the rest of the access network may include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The network device can also coordinate the attribute management of the air interface. For example, the network device involved in this disclosure can be an evolved Node B (eNB or e-NodeB) in a long term evolution (LTE) system, a 5G base station (gNB) in a next generation system, or a home evolved node B (HeNB), relay node, femto, pico, network testing equipment, etc., and is not limited in this disclosure. In some network architectures, network devices may include centralized unit (CU) nodes and distributed unit (DU) nodes, which may also be geographically separated.

[0107] The core network (CN) equipment involved in this disclosure includes user plane function (UPF) network elements, access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements, session management function (SMF) network elements, and policy control function (PCF) network elements. Among these, the UPF network elements are primarily responsible for user data transmission, while the other network elements, which can be referred to as control plane function network elements, are mainly responsible for authentication, authorization, registration management, session management, mobility management, and policy control to ensure reliable and stable transmission of user data. The core network equipment includes A-IoT Function (AIOTF) network elements that support A-IoT functionality. The functions of the AIOTF network elements include initiating A-IoT service requests or forwarding A-IoT service requests from external network elements, receiving A-IoT service responses or forwarding received A-IoT service responses to external network elements, and configuration functions related to A-IoT service transmission.

[0108] To facilitate a clear description of the technical solutions in the embodiments of this disclosure, some terms and technologies involved in the embodiments of this disclosure will be briefly introduced below:

[0109] 1. A-IoT devices (also known as environmental IoT devices)

[0110] A-IoT devices have little or no energy storage capacity and can obtain energy from environmental sources such as wind, light, pressure, and wireless signals. They are characterized by low power consumption, low cost, and low complexity.

[0111] 2. Labels

[0112] Tags, also known as electronic tags, smart tags, radio frequency tags, transponders, or data carriers, typically consist of coupling elements and chips. Each tag has a unique identifier, such as an electronic code. In some scenarios, tags can be attached to objects to identify them.

[0113] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the tag includes an A-IoT device.

[0114] 3. Reader

[0115] A reader, also known as a reading device, scanner, reader head, communicator, or reader-writer, is typically used to read (and sometimes write) tag information. Readers can be handheld or stationary devices.

[0116] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the reader includes a terminal device.

[0117] 4. A network topology for A-IoT devices - Topology 2

[0118] Referring to Figure 1, the topology includes network devices, terminal devices, and A-IoT devices. In this topology, A-IoT devices do not communicate or connect directly to network devices; instead, they connect to intermediate nodes (terminal devices) and then to network devices via these intermediate nodes. The intermediate nodes transmit data and signaling between the base station and the A-IoT devices.

[0119] 5. Topology 2 Protocol Stack

[0120] The Topology 2 protocol stack (RRC-based solution) is shown in Figure 2. The connection between the terminal device and the core network element consists of two parts. The core network element can be an Ambient IoT Function (AIOTF). The protocol stack includes two parts: the A-IoT reader control part from AIOTF to NG-RAN (Next Generation Radio Access Network) and the RRC (Radio Resource Control) part from NG-RAN to the terminal device. The signaling and data transmission between AIOTF and the terminal device are forwarded and controlled by the network device.

[0121] In Figure 2, A-IoT devices connect to the AF (Application Function) layer via the A-IoT Data layer, to the AIOTF via the A-IoT NAS (Non-Access Stratum) layer, and to the terminal devices via the A-IoT AS Layers (Access Stratum). Terminal devices interact with network devices using RRC (Packet Data Convergence Protocol), RLC (Radio Link Control), MAC (Media Access Control protocol), and PHY (Physical Layer) protocols. Network devices connect to the AIOTF via A-IoT Reader control and to the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) via NGAP (Next Generation Access Protocol) and Lower Layers. The AMF connects to the AIOTF via SBI (System Bus interface) and Lower Layers. AIOTF connects to NEF (Network Element Function) based on SBI and Lower Layers, while NEF connects to AF based on API (Application Programming Interface) and Lower Layers.

[0122] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided by an embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 3, it includes A-IoT device a1, A-IoT device a2, A-IoT device a3, terminal device 31, network device 32, core network element 33, and core network element 34. The core network element can send messages to the terminal device through the network device, and the terminal device can send A-IoT data or signaling to the A-IoT device; the A-IoT device receives the A-IoT data or signaling sent by the terminal device and sends a corresponding response; the terminal device can receive the response sent by the A-IoT device and forward it to the network device; the network device sends the received response from the A-IoT device to the core network element.

[0123] It should be noted that the above application scenarios and the number of devices in each application scenario are merely examples. For example, the number of A-IoT devices can also be other values. This disclosure does not limit the application scenarios or the number of devices in each application scenario.

[0124] In the application scenario shown in Figure 3, multiple core network elements may initiate multiple A-IoT service requests to the terminal device. The terminal device and network device need to determine the mapping relationship between the A-IoT service response and the A-IoT service request, so as to determine which core network element to send to and how to send the received A-IoT service response.

[0125] This disclosure proposes a communication method that receives a first downlink message sent by a network device. The first downlink message is used to request the execution of an A-IoT service and / or to send configuration information for the A-IoT service. The first downlink message includes at least one of the following: a core network element identifier; an environmental IoT A-IoT service identifier, used to identify the A-IoT service; priority indication information, used to indicate the priority of the A-IoT service; configuration information of a first radio bearer, associated with the A-IoT service; and A-IoT service request information. This method enables terminal devices and network devices to determine the mapping relationship between A-IoT service responses and A-IoT service requests, thereby determining which core network element to send the received A-IoT service response to and how to send it.

[0126] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this disclosure, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0127] Figure 4 is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this disclosure. This communication method is applied to a terminal device. As shown in Figure 4, the communication method specifically includes the following steps:

[0128] S401, receive the first downlink message sent by the network device.

[0129] The first downlink message is used to request the execution of A-IoT services and / or to send the configuration of A-IoT services.

[0130] The first downlink message includes at least one of the following: core network element identifier; A-IoT service identifier, which is used to identify the A-IoT service; priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of the A-IoT service; configuration information of the first radio bearer, which is associated with the A-IoT service; and A-IoT service request information.

[0131] In this embodiment, the first downlink message is used to request the execution of an A-IoT service. The network device sends an A-IoT service request (also referred to as an A-IoT service request or A-IoT service request information) to the terminal device through this first downlink message, that is, the network device requests the terminal device to execute an A-IoT service. During this process, the terminal device receives the A-IoT service request information sent by the network device. The A-IoT service request information indicates the service type, data volume, and other information of the requested A-IoT service. The service types of A-IoT services include, but are not limited to, inventory, command, sensor, and positioning types.

[0132] The first downlink message can also be used to send configuration information for A-IoT services. This means that the network device sends configuration information for A-IoT services to the terminal device through the first downlink message, including at least one of priority indication information and configuration information of the first radio bearer. This configuration information is used by the terminal device to confirm the configuration of signaling and data related to the transmission of the A-IoT service between the terminal device and the network device.

[0133] The terminal device can not only receive the first downlink message sent by the network device, but also receive necessary configuration information (such as at least one of the following: core network element identifier, environmental IoT A-IoT service identifier, and configuration information of the first radio bearer) to identify the A-IoT service. Therefore, when the terminal device subsequently sends A-IoT data received from the A-IoT device to the network device, it can identify which A-IoT service the data is for. This information can then be used by the network device to determine how to send the A-IoT data to the core network element, or to determine which core network element to send the A-IoT data to, or to determine which A-IoT service request the A-IoT data is associated with. Here, the core network element refers to a core network element that supports A-IoT functionality, such as an AIOTF.

[0134] The first downlink message is an air interface message, such as an RRC message for a Uu interface. This disclosure does not restrict the specific message type or format.

[0135] The core network element identifier indicates that the A-IoT service was initiated by the core network element corresponding to that identifier. This identifier can be the identifier of the core network element that triggered the A-IoT service; that is, the network device can determine which core network element sent the received A-IoT service through this identifier. Alternatively, the core network element identifier is obtained by the network device when it receives an A-IoT service request from a core network element. The core network element identifier carried by the A-IoT device when sending A-IoT data is used by the terminal device and network device to confirm the core network element associated with the first A-IoT data received from the A-IoT device.

[0136] The A-IoT service identifier is used to identify an A-IoT service, and is used by terminal devices and network devices to confirm the A-IoT service associated with the first A-IoT data received from the A-IoT device.

[0137] The A-IoT service identifier may be an A-IoT service identifier generated by the network device in response to an A-IoT service request received from a core network element; or, the A-IoT service identifier may be allocated and sent to the network device by the core network element, and the network device may configure the A-IoT service identifier in the first downlink message for the terminal device.

[0138] The priority indication information can be used to determine the priority of different A-IoT services. For example, if a terminal device receives multiple A-IoT services, it can determine the priority of these services based on the priority indication information and execute them according to certain rules (e.g., sequentially), such as in descending order of priority. The specific form of the priority indication information can be, for example, an integer ranging from [0, N], where a larger value indicates a higher priority. This disclosure does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0139] The configuration information of the first radio bearer is used to configure the first radio bearer. The first radio bearer can be an SRB (Signalling Radio Bearer), a DRB (Data Radio Bearer), or a radio bearer dedicated to A-IoT, such as an ARB (A-IoT Radio Bearer). This disclosure does not limit its use. The first radio bearer is associated with an A-IoT service, meaning that signaling or data related to that A-IoT service is transmitted through the first radio bearer. For example, a terminal device receives A-IoT data from an A-IoT device and sends it to a network device through the first radio bearer. Through the association between the first radio bearer and the A-IoT service, the network device can determine which A-IoT service the received A-IoT data belongs to.

[0140] The A-IoT service request information is used to instruct the terminal device to execute one or more A-IoT services. The terminal device can determine the process to be executed with the A-IoT device based on the A-IoT service request information, such as determining the signaling flow with the A-IoT device and determining the amount of resources allocated to the A-IoT device.

[0141] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the A-IoT service request information includes at least one of the following: the service type of the A-IoT service; upper-layer data, which is the data sent to the A-IoT device; and the data volume information of the A-IoT service.

[0142] The A-IoT service request information is an RRC plaintext IE (Information Element). This A-IoT service request information is a command sent to the A-IoT device; the terminal device does not parse it but forwards it directly to the A-IoT device.

[0143] The business types of A-IoT services include, but are not limited to, inventory, command, sensor, positioning, and type. Commands can further include read, write, activate, and deactivate commands. For example, the inventory type is used for inventorying A-IoT devices, while the command type is used for reading from or writing information to the memory of A-IoT devices.

[0144] In this context, upper-layer data refers to data sent by core network elements (such as AIOTF) to A-IoT devices. Neither network devices nor terminal devices parse this upper-layer data. For example, this upper-layer data can specifically be the content of commands, such as read commands, write commands, activation commands, deactivation commands, etc. When the A-IoT device receives this upper-layer data, it performs the corresponding operation and / or feeds back A-IoT data to terminal devices, network devices, or core network devices.

[0145] Among them, the data volume information of A-IoT service refers to the data volume of the A-IoT service, which can be used by the terminal device to determine how much resource to allocate to the A-IoT device for transmitting A-IoT data.

[0146] In one embodiment, the first radio bearer is associated with a priority configuration, which includes at least one of the following: logical channel priority; priority bit rate; priority bit rate duration.

[0147] It is understandable that if the first wireless bearer is associated with A-IoT services and the first wireless bearer is associated with priority configuration, then the priority configuration is associated with at least one A-IoT service.

[0148] When a priority configuration is associated with a first radio bearer configuration, the logical channel priority refers to the priority of the logical channel associated with that first radio bearer. For example, the larger the logical channel priority value, the higher the priority. If the configuration is infinity, then data on that logical channel will be transmitted first. The terminal device allocates resources according to the order of decreasing logical channel priority.

[0149] The priority bit rate is measured in bytes per second, and the priority bit rate duration is measured in time. Both the priority bit rate and priority bit rate duration are used in the logical channel prioritization process. The maximum value of the state parameter (Bj) for the logical channel prioritization process is obtained by multiplying the priority bit rate and the priority bit rate duration. The value of Bj is updated by multiplying the priority bit rate by the time T elapsed since the last adjustment of Bj. The terminal device allocates resources to each logical channel based on Bj and logical channel priority information for transmitting uplink messages sent through the first radio bearer.

[0150] In one embodiment, a first radio bearer is associated with a resource scheduling configuration, which is used to request resources for transmitting uplink data and / or signaling through the first radio bearer, i.e., frequency resources. It is understood that the resource scheduling configuration is used to request resources, specifically resources for transmitting uplink data and / or signaling through the first radio bearer.

[0151] S402, The terminal device executes the A-IoT business process with the A-IoT device.

[0152] Among them, the terminal device can determine the signaling interaction process with the A-IoT device according to the specific A-IoT service, such as the access process and data transmission process, in order to receive A-IoT data sent by the A-IoT device.

[0153] Specifically, the terminal device executes A-IoT service processes of type inventory, command, etc. with the A-IoT device according to the A-IoT service indicated by the first downlink message, and the terminal device receives the A-IoT data reported by the A-IoT device.

[0154] In this embodiment, the terminal device interacts with at least one A-IoT device to receive A-IoT data from at least one A-IoT device. The specific interaction process is not limited in this embodiment.

[0155] S403, the first uplink message sent to the network device.

[0156] The first uplink message is used to send A-IoT data of the A-IoT service to the network device, and / or to indicate to the network device whether the A-IoT service has been completed.

[0157] It can be understood that the first uplink message is used to send A-IoT data for the A-IoT service to the network device. This can be understood as the terminal device sending A-IoT data received from the A-IoT device to the network device via this first uplink message. Specifically, the terminal device receives the first downlink message, which carries the A-IoT service information. The terminal device triggers the corresponding service execution process to the A-IoT device and receives A-IoT data from the A-IoT device. The terminal device then sends the received A-IoT data to the network device via this first uplink message; or...

[0158] It can also be understood that the first uplink message is used to indicate to the network device whether the A-IoT service is complete. This can be understood as the terminal device informing the network device whether the A-IoT service is complete through this first uplink message. Whether the A-IoT service is complete may include, but is not limited to: whether the signaling process between the terminal device and the A-IoT devices for the A-IoT service is complete, such as whether the terminal device has inventoried or commanded all target A-IoT devices; or whether the terminal device has transmitted all A-IoT data related to the A-IoT service to the network device.

[0159] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the first uplink message includes at least one of the following: a core network element identifier; an A-IoT service identifier; first A-IoT data, the first A-IoT data including upper-layer data of at least one A-IoT device; and a completion identifier, the completion identifier being used to indicate that the A-IoT service has been completed.

[0160] The first A-IoT data can be understood as A-IoT data received by the terminal device from at least one A-IoT device, which is sent to the core network element. The first A-IoT data is a response from the A-IoT device to upper-layer data contained in the A-IoT service type or the first downlink message. For example, the first A-IoT data may be content requested by the core network element from the A-IoT device, or a response from the A-IoT device executing a command according to a service request. In this embodiment, the first A-IoT data is, for example, A-IoT NAS data, which can be a data block or a list of data blocks, including data blocks from at least one A-IoT device. After receiving the A-IoT data from the A-IoT device, the terminal device can aggregate it, for example, by placing A-IoT data from multiple A-IoT devices in the same first uplink message and sending it to the network device. The terminal device does not parse the specific A-IoT data.

[0161] Specifically, the terminal device can send A-IoT data from multiple A-IoT devices belonging to different A-IoT services to the network device in the same first uplink message, but it needs to identify the A-IoT service associated with each A-IoT data; or, the terminal device can send A-IoT data from multiple A-IoT devices belonging to the same A-IoT service to the network device in the same first uplink message, and the first uplink message only needs to identify a common A-IoT service.

[0162] For example, referring to Figure 3, the terminal device interacts with three A-IoT devices, namely A-IoT device a1, A-IoT device a2, and A-IoT device a3. The terminal device obtains A-IoT data s1 through interaction with A-IoT device a1, A-IoT data s2 through interaction with A-IoT device a2, and A-IoT data s3 through interaction with A-IoT device a3. In some embodiments, A-IoT data s1 and A-IoT data s2 are associated with A-IoT service w1, and A-IoT data s3 is associated with A-IoT service w2. Therefore, the terminal device can aggregate A-IoT data s1 and A-IoT data s2 into a single first uplink message b1 and send it to the network device, and place A-IoT data s3 in a single first uplink message b2 and send it to the network device.

[0163] Specifically, for a given A-IoT service, if the terminal device receives a core network element identifier from the first downlink message, the terminal device includes that core network element identifier in the first uplink message it sends. This applies if the first uplink message includes a core network element identifier, and that core network element identifier is the same as the one carried in the first downlink message in S401.

[0164] Specifically, for a given A-IoT service, if the terminal device receives an A-IoT service identifier from the first downlink message, then the terminal device should include the A-IoT service identifier in the first uplink message it sends. If the first uplink message includes the A-IoT service identifier, this A-IoT service identifier is the same as the one carried in the first downlink message in S401, enabling the terminal device and network device to determine the A-IoT service associated with the first A-IoT data.

[0165] In some embodiments, a completion flag is used to indicate that the A-IoT service has been completed. Completion of the A-IoT service means that the terminal device has completed the transmission of all first A-IoT data associated with the A-IoT service, or that the terminal device has completed the A-IoT service process over the A-IoT air interface, i.e., completed step S402. This completion flag can be used by the network device to determine whether the terminal device has completed the A-IoT service, and thus whether to initiate the next A-IoT service to the terminal device. Based on this completion flag, the network device can determine whether to initiate an A-IoT service to the terminal device. For example, if the terminal device has an ongoing A-IoT service and the network device has not yet received the completion flag from the terminal device, the network device will not initiate the A-IoT service to the terminal device. The network device will initiate the A-IoT service to the terminal device only after receiving the completion flag from the terminal device.

[0166] In this case, one A-IoT service corresponds to at least one first uplink message, which can be one first uplink message that includes all the first A-IoT data corresponding to the A-IoT service, or multiple first uplink messages that include all the first A-IoT data corresponding to the A-IoT service.

[0167] In some embodiments, the specific implementation of completing the identification includes, but is not limited to, one of the following:

[0168] (1) Complete the indication information with 1 bit. If the first uplink message sent at the moment includes the indication information, it means that the first uplink message is the last first uplink message of the A-IoT service, that is, the A-IoT service has been completed. If the first uplink message sent at the moment does not include the indication information, it means that the A-IoT service has not been completed, and there are still subsequent first uplink messages to be sent for the A-IoT service.

[0169] (2) The indication information with a 1-bit identifier is completed. If the value of the indication information in the first uplink message sent at the moment is 1 / 0, it means that the first uplink message is the last first uplink message of the A-IoT service, that is, the A-IoT service has been completed. If the value of the indication information in the first uplink message sent at the moment is 0 / 1, it means that the A-IoT service has not been completed and there are still subsequent first uplink messages to be sent.

[0170] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the terminal device sends at least one first uplink message to the network device. Specifically, the terminal device can send the first uplink message to the network device in one of the following two ways under different circumstances:

[0171] (1) The terminal device can aggregate the first A-IoT data of multiple A-IoT services in the first uplink message, and the terminal device can identify at least one of the core network element identifier and A-IoT service identifier associated with each first A-IoT data in the first uplink message.

[0172] (2) The terminal device receives multiple first downlink messages, corresponding to A-IoT service requests from multiple core network elements. The terminal device controls the A-IoT service to be executed serially on the A-IoT air interface. That is, the terminal device sends multiple first uplink messages to the network device. Each first uplink message is associated with an A-IoT service. The first uplink message identifies the corresponding core network element identifier, A-IoT service identifier, or is carried on different first radio bearers to distinguish the A-IoT services associated with the first uplink message.

[0173] It can be understood that the terminal device sends multiple first uplink messages to the network device to complete the forwarding of all first A-IoT data. Each first uplink message includes first A-IoT data that can be a data block or a list of data blocks, with the data block list coming from data from at least one A-IoT device. For example, referring to Figure 5, the terminal device sends N first uplink messages to the network device, namely first uplink message b1, first uplink message b2, ..., first uplink message bN, where N is a positive integer.

[0174] In this scenario, after completing an A-IoT service, the terminal device can carry a completion identifier in the first uplink message it sends to the network device. On the network device side, if it receives a request from a core network element for an A-IoT service (e.g., A-IoT service A) for the same terminal device, it first determines whether the terminal device is currently executing an A-IoT service. If so, the network device does not trigger the terminal device to execute a new A-IoT service. Only after receiving the completion identifier does the network device trigger a new A-IoT service to the terminal device. For example, if the terminal device is currently executing A-IoT service B, upon receiving the completion identifier corresponding to A-IoT service B, it can determine that A-IoT service B has been completed before sending a request for A-IoT service A to the terminal device.

[0175] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the core network element identifier, A-IoT service identifier, or first radio bearer associated with the first A-IoT data sent by the terminal device to the network device are all configured by the network device.

[0176] Figure 6 is a flowchart of a second embodiment of the communication method provided in this disclosure, applied to a network device. Referring to Figure 6, the method specifically includes the following steps:

[0177] S601 receives the second downlink message sent by the core network element.

[0178] The second downlink message is a message between the network device and the core network element, such as an NG (interface between the network device and the AMF) message or a terminal device-specific message. NG messages can be non-UE messages, i.e., messages not associated with the terminal device. This embodiment does not limit the specific message type or format.

[0179] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the core network element may be an AIOTF, wherein at least one AIOTF may be deployed on the core network side. In some embodiments, the core network element sends a second downlink message to the network device either through an AMF or directly.

[0180] The second downlink message is used by the core network element to request the network device to execute the A-IoT service, that is, to send an A-IoT service request to the network device. The network device requests the terminal device to execute the A-IoT service and / or sends the configuration of the A-IoT service based on the second downlink message.

[0181] When a network device receives a second downlink message, it parses the message to determine that it is used to request the terminal device to perform A-IoT services. For example, the network device can determine this by parsing the A-IoT service request information in the second downlink message. Based on the received second downlink message, the network device generates a first downlink message and sends it to the terminal device. This disclosure does not limit how the network device implements this process. For example, the network device can send the first downlink message to the terminal device immediately after receiving the second downlink message, or it can send the first downlink message to the terminal device only after certain conditions are met.

[0182] After receiving the A-IoT service request in the second downlink message, the network device also needs to ensure the correct transmission of A-IoT service signaling and data between the terminal device, the network device, and the core network elements. One implementation is that the network device sends some identification information to the terminal device. This identification information can be obtained from the core network elements through the second downlink message, such as one or more of the core network element identifier and the A-IoT service identifier, or it can be other implicit information. Based on this identification information, the network device can generate the identification information in the first downlink message for the terminal device. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following implementations:

[0183] ① The network device receives a second downlink message sent by a core network element, which contains an A-IoT service identifier. The network device also includes an A-IoT service identifier in its first downlink message. The A-IoT service identifier in the first downlink message can be the same as or different from the A-IoT service identifier in the second downlink message. That is, after receiving the A-IoT service identifier from the core network element, the network device can directly include the A-IoT service identifier in the first downlink message, or include a portion of the A-IoT service identifier in the first downlink message, or generate an A-IoT service identifier. The network device maintains the mapping relationship between A-IoT service identifiers between terminal devices and network devices, as well as between network devices and core network elements. Therefore, the network device can ensure the correct transmission of A-IoT service signaling and data between terminal devices, network devices, and core network elements based on the A-IoT service identifier.

[0184] ② The network device receives a second downlink message sent by a core network element, which contains the core network element identifier, or the network device implicitly learns the core network element identifier. The network device also includes the core network element identifier in its first downlink message; this identifier can be the complete core network element identifier or a part of it. Therefore, the network device can ensure the correct transmission of A-IoT service signaling and data between the terminal device, the network device, and the core network element based on the core network element identifier.

[0185] ③ After receiving the second downlink message, the network device sends a first downlink message to the terminal device, which includes the configuration information of the first radio bearer, based on the core network element identifier, A-IoT service identifier, A-IoT service request information, or other implicit indications; or, after receiving the second downlink message, the network device sends a first downlink message to the terminal device, which includes the configuration information of the first radio bearer. The network device maintains the mapping relationship between the second downlink message and the first radio bearer, or maintains the mapping relationship between the core network element identifier and the first radio bearer, or maintains the mapping relationship between the A-IoT service identifier and the first radio bearer, or maintains the mapping relationship between the A-IoT service and the first radio bearer.

[0186] The second downlink message includes at least one of the following: core network element identifier; A-IoT service identifier, which is used to identify A-IoT services; and A-IoT service request information.

[0187] The second downlink message is used to request the execution of A-IoT services. Core network elements send A-IoT service requests to network devices via this second downlink message; that is, the core network element requests the network device to instruct the corresponding terminal device to execute A-IoT services. The A-IoT service request information indicates the service type, data volume, and other information of the requested A-IoT service.

[0188] In some embodiments, the second downlink message also includes necessary configurations to identify the A-IoT service (e.g., core network element identifier and / or A-IoT service identifier). Thus, when the network device subsequently receives A-IoT data from the terminal device and sends it to the core network element, it can identify which A-IoT service the A-IoT data is for. This can then be used to determine how to send the A-IoT data to the core network element, or to determine which core network element to send the A-IoT data to, or to determine which A-IoT service request the A-IoT data is associated with.

[0189] The core network element identifier in the second downlink message indicates that the A-IoT service was initiated by the core network element corresponding to that identifier. This core network element identifier can be the identifier of the core network element that triggered the A-IoT service; that is, the network device determines the core network element identifier by determining from which core network element the A-IoT service was received. Alternatively, the core network element identifier is obtained by the network device when it receives an A-IoT service request from a core network element. It is used by the network device to confirm the core network element associated with the first A-IoT data received from the A-IoT device.

[0190] The A-IoT service identifier is used to identify an A-IoT service, and is used by network devices to confirm the A-IoT service associated with the first A-IoT data received from the terminal device. This A-IoT service identifier can be generated by the network device for the A-IoT service request received from the core network element, and is used for communication between the terminal device and the network device; or, the A-IoT service identifier can be allocated by the core network element and configured to the network device in the second downlink message.

[0191] In some embodiments, the A-IoT service request information included in the second downlink message includes at least one of the following: the service type of the A-IoT service; upper-layer data, which is data sent to the A-IoT device; and the data volume information of the A-IoT service.

[0192] The A-IoT service request information included in the second downlink message is the same as that included in the first downlink message, so it will not be repeated here. It can be understood that the network device does not parse the A-IoT service request information and forwards it directly to the terminal device.

[0193] In addition, the second downlink message also includes: at least one terminal device identifier, used to indicate at least one terminal device performing A-IoT services, that is, used to instruct the network device to send the first downlink message to the terminal device corresponding to at least one terminal device identifier.

[0194] S602, sends the first downlink message to the terminal device.

[0195] The specific implementation process of this step is described in S401 and will not be repeated here.

[0196] It should be added that if the terminal device does not support parallel services and the network device controls the serial execution of services, and if the terminal device has an A-IoT service that is being executed (such as A-IoT service B), then after receiving the completion identifier of the A-IoT service, the network device will send the first downlink message to the terminal device to request the terminal device to execute A-IoT service A. It can be understood that if the terminal device has not completed the A-IoT service that is being executed, the network device will not trigger the execution of a new A-IoT service to the terminal device.

[0197] In some embodiments, the terminal device executes S402 after receiving the first downlink message.

[0198] S603, receive the first uplink message sent by the terminal device.

[0199] The specific implementation process of this step is described in S403 and will not be repeated here.

[0200] S605 sends a second uplink message to the core network element.

[0201] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the second uplink message is an interface message, such as an NG message. The second uplink message is used to send A-IoT data of the A-IoT service to the core network element, and / or to indicate to the network device whether the A-IoT service has been completed.

[0202] In some embodiments, the second uplink message is used to send A-IoT data of the A-IoT service to the core network element, meaning that the second uplink message is used by the network device to send the first A-IoT data received from the network device to the core network element. Specifically, the network device receives the first uplink message sent by the terminal device, which contains the first A-IoT data, and the network device generates the second uplink message and puts the first A-IoT data into the second uplink message;

[0203] Furthermore, the second uplink message is used to indicate to the core network element whether the A-IoT service is completed. This means that the second uplink message can indicate to the core network element whether the A-IoT service is completed. Specifically, whether the A-IoT service is completed refers to whether the signaling process between the terminal device and the A-IoT devices is completed for the A-IoT service. For example, whether the terminal device has inventoried / commanded all the target A-IoT devices; or whether the terminal device has transmitted all the A-IoT data to the network device; or whether the network device has transmitted all the A-IoT data to the core network element.

[0204] The network device can determine which core network element the second uplink message needs to be sent to, or determine the A-IoT service associated with the first A-IoT data, based on one or more of the core network element identifier, A-IoT service identifier, or the first radio bearer carrying the first uplink information included in the first uplink message.

[0205] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the second uplink message includes at least one of the following: a core network element identifier; an A-IoT service identifier; second A-IoT data, which includes upper-layer data from at least one A-IoT device; and a completion identifier, which indicates that the A-IoT service has been completed.

[0206] Among them, the core network element identifier refers to the core network element identifier contained in the first uplink message, or the core network element identifier contained in the second downlink message associated with the second uplink message.

[0207] Herein, it refers to the A-IoT service identifier contained in the first uplink message, or the A-IoT service identifier contained in the second downlink message associated with the second uplink message.

[0208] The second A-IoT data refers to data received by the network device from the terminal device, such as the first A-IoT data, which is sent to the core network element. The second A-IoT data may be, for example, content requested by the core network element from the A-IoT device, or a response from the A-IoT device executing a command based on a service request. After receiving the first A-IoT data from the terminal device, the network device can split, reassemble, or aggregate it. For example, multiple first A-IoT data sets can be placed in the same second uplink message and sent to the core network element. The network device does not parse the specific A-IoT data. The network device can place multiple A-IoT data sets (e.g., multiple first A-IoT data sets) belonging to the same core network element in the same second uplink message and send them to the core network element. The A-IoT data in the same second uplink message may belong to the same A-IoT service or different A-IoT services. If they belong to different A-IoT services, corresponding A-IoT service identifiers are required. This disclosure does not limit the method by which the network device generates the second A-IoT data based on the first A-IoT data.

[0209] For example, a network device receives first A-IoT data r1 in a first uplink message b1 and first A-IoT data r2 in a first uplink message b2. First A-IoT data r1 includes A-IoT data s1 and A-IoT data s2, and second A-IoT data r2 includes A-IoT data s3. If A-IoT data s1 and A-IoT data s2 correspond to different core network elements, with A-IoT data s1 corresponding to core network element A1 and A-IoT data s2 corresponding to core network element A2, and A-IoT data s3 corresponding to core network element A1, then the network device can split the first A-IoT data r1, aggregate A-IoT data s1 and A-IoT data s3 to obtain second A-IoT data x1. This second A-IoT data x1 is then placed in a second uplink message and sent to the corresponding core network element. In the second A-IoT data x1, A-IoT data s1 is identified according to A-IoT service w1, and A-IoT data s3 is identified according to A-IoT service w2. In some embodiments, A-IoT data s2 is included as a second A-IoT data x2 in another second uplink message and sent to the corresponding core network element. In this embodiment, if the second downlink message is a Non-UE message, the second A-IoT data needs to be associated with a terminal device identifier.

[0210] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the relationship between the first A-IoT data and the second A-IoT data can be that the network device processes at least one first A-IoT data from at least one first uplink message to obtain the second A-IoT data. The processing includes at least one of splitting, reassembling, or merging. Specifically, the network device processes at least one first A-IoT data according to the core network element identifier of the data block management to obtain the second A-IoT data. For example, the network device reassembles data blocks associated with the same core network element identifier into second A-IoT data and encapsulates them in a second uplink message for forwarding to the corresponding core network element.

[0211] Furthermore, network devices can also directly encapsulate the first A-IoT data from a first uplink message as second A-IoT data in a second uplink message and send it to the corresponding core network element. Alternatively, network devices can also merge multiple first A-IoT data from multiple first uplink messages received from the first radio bearer as second A-IoT data, encapsulate it in a second uplink message, and send it to the corresponding core network element.

[0212] For example, referring to Figure 5, the terminal device sends N first uplink messages to the network device, namely first uplink message b1, first uplink message b2, ..., first uplink message bN. The network device sends N second uplink messages to the core network element, wherein the first A-IoT data in the first uplink message bi is directly used as the second A-IoT data and encapsulated in the second uplink message ci. In Figure 5, the order of sending the first uplink messages and the second uplink messages can be adjusted as needed; for example, the second uplink message C1 can be sent after the first uplink message BN.

[0213] Specifically, network devices can send first A-IoT data from multiple terminal devices as second A-IoT data in the same second uplink message to the core network element. The second A-IoT data sent by different terminal devices are associated with the corresponding terminal device identifier. If the first downlink message is a terminal device-specific message, the network device can send the second A-IoT data to the core network element in the corresponding terminal device's NG message, that is, send the second A-IoT data to the core network element based on the bearer of the terminal device-specific message.

[0214] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the second A-IoT data may be a data block or a list of data blocks, wherein the list of data blocks may be data from at least one A-IoT device.

[0215] In this embodiment, the completion flag can be implemented using a single bit. The presence of this bit indicates that the A-IoT service has been completed; otherwise, it has not. Alternatively, a value of A indicates that the A-IoT service has been completed, and a value of B indicates that the A-IoT service has not been completed. The specific implementation is not limited. This completion flag can be used by core network elements to determine whether terminal devices or network devices have completed the A-IoT service, and thus determine whether to initiate the next A-IoT service to the network devices or terminal devices. Based on this completion flag, core network elements can determine whether to initiate an A-IoT service to the network devices or terminal devices. For example, if a terminal device has an ongoing A-IoT service, and the core network element has not yet received the completion flag (from the terminal device) sent by the network device, then the core network element will not initiate an A-IoT service to the terminal device. Only after the core network element receives the completion flag sent by the network device can it initiate an A-IoT service to the terminal device.

[0216] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the network device maintains the mapping relationship between the RRC side and the A-IoT reader control side. After receiving the first uplink message sent by the terminal device, the network device can determine which core network element or associated A-IoT service to send the second uplink message to.

[0217] In some embodiments, the following situations are used to illustrate the embodiments of this disclosure:

[0218] Example 1 includes the following steps:

[0219] Step 11: The terminal device receives the first downlink message sent by the network device. The first downlink message contains A-IoT service request information and core network element identifier.

[0220] The A-IoT service request information includes A-IoT service types such as inventory and command. This information is in plaintext RRC format (IE). The A-IoT service request information can be a command addressed to the A-IoT device; the terminal device does not parse it and forwards it directly to the A-IoT device. The core network element identifier indicates which AIOTF initiated the A-IoT service, and is used by the terminal device and network device to confirm the target AIOTF that forwarded the A-IoT data received from the A-IoT device.

[0221] Step 12: The terminal device executes the A-IoT service processes such as inventory and command with the A-IoT device according to the A-IoT service indicated in step (1), and receives the A-IoT data reported by the A-IoT device.

[0222] Step 13: The terminal device sends a first uplink message to the network device, which contains the core network element identifier and the first A-IoT data.

[0223] The first A-IoT data can be a data block or a list of data blocks, where the list of data blocks comes from data from at least one A-IoT device. The association between the core network element identifier and the first A-IoT data can be that each data block is associated with a core network element identifier, or each list of data blocks is associated with a core network element identifier.

[0224] Example 2 includes the following steps:

[0225] Step 21: The terminal device receives the first downlink message sent by the network device. The first downlink message contains A-IoT service request information and A-IoT service identifier.

[0226] The A-IoT service request information includes A-IoT service types such as inventory and command. This information is in plaintext RRC format (IE). It can be a command sent to the A-IoT device; the terminal device does not parse it and forwards it directly. The A-IoT service identifier identifies an A-IoT service and is used by the terminal device and network device to confirm the A-IoT service associated with the A-IoT data received from the A-IoT device.

[0227] Step 22: The terminal device executes the A-IoT service processes such as inventory and command with the A-IoT device according to the A-IoT service indicated in step (1), and receives the A-IoT data reported by the A-IoT device.

[0228] Step 23: The terminal device sends a first uplink message to the network device, which contains the A-IoT service identifier and the first A-IoT data.

[0229] The first A-IoT data can be a data block or a list of data blocks, where the list of data blocks comes from data from at least one A-IoT device. The association between the A-IoT service identifier and the first A-IoT data can be that each data block is associated with an A-IoT service identifier, or each list of data blocks is associated with an A-IoT service identifier.

[0230] Example 3 includes the following steps:

[0231] Step 31: The terminal device receives the first downlink message sent by the network device. The first downlink message contains A-IoT service request information and configuration information of the first radio bearer.

[0232] The A-IoT service request information includes A-IoT service types such as inventory and command. This information is in plaintext RRC format and can be a command to the A-IoT device. The terminal device does not parse this command and forwards it directly to the A-IoT device. The configuration information of the first radio bearer is used by the terminal device to send A-IoT data received from the A-IoT device to the network device, i.e., it carries the first uplink message. The first radio bearer is associated with this A-IoT service; that is, the first radio bearer is used to carry the first uplink message corresponding to this A-IoT service.

[0233] Step 32: The terminal device executes the A-IoT service processes such as inventory and command with the A-IoT device according to the A-IoT service instructions in Step 31, and receives the A-IoT data reported by the A-IoT device.

[0234] Step 33: The terminal device sends a first uplink message to the network device, which contains the A-IoT service identifier and the first A-IoT data.

[0235] The first A-IoT data can be a data block or a list of data blocks, where the list of data blocks comes from data from at least one A-IoT device. The first uplink message is transmitted on this first radio bearer.

[0236] Example 4 includes the following steps:

[0237] Step 41: The terminal device receives a first downlink message sent by the network device. The first downlink message contains A-IoT service request information, or is any one of the steps (1) in Exemplary One to Three.

[0238] Step 42: The terminal device executes the A-IoT service processes such as inventory and command with the A-IoT device according to the A-IoT service indicated in step (1), and receives the A-IoT data reported by the A-IoT device.

[0239] Step 43: The terminal device sends a first uplink message to the network device. The first uplink message contains the first A-IoT data and the completion identifier of the A-IoT service, or it can be any of the steps (3) of Exemplary One to Three.

[0240] Specifically, regarding the A-IoT service request information in step 41, the terminal device can forward the A-IoT data of all A-IoT devices by sending multiple first uplink messages to the network. The first A-IoT data contained in each first uplink message can be a data block or a list of data blocks. The list of data blocks can be data from one A-IoT device or data from multiple A-IoT devices.

[0241] The completion identifier of the A-IoT service is used to indicate whether the A-IoT service associated with the A-IoT service request information has been completed. The completion of the A-IoT service means that the terminal device has completed the transmission of A-IoT data of all A-IoT devices associated with the A-IoT service request information, or the terminal device has completed the process of the A-IoT service request information in the A-IoT air interface, i.e., the process of step (2).

[0242] In this example, steps 42 and 43 are not in any particular order.

[0243] Example 5 includes the following steps:

[0244] Step 51: The terminal device receives the first downlink message sent by the network device. The first downlink message contains A-IoT service request information and configuration information of the first radio bearer.

[0245] In this embodiment, the terminal device obtains the priority configuration associated with the first radio bearer by receiving a first downlink message or other RRC messages. In some embodiments, the terminal device receives the resource scheduling configuration associated with the first radio bearer obtained by receiving the first downlink message or other RRC messages.

[0246] The configuration information of the first wireless bearer is used by the terminal device to send A-IoT data received from the A-IoT device to the network device, i.e., to carry the first uplink message. The first wireless bearer is associated with the A-IoT service request information, i.e., the first wireless bearer is used to carry the first uplink message corresponding to the A-IoT service request information.

[0247] In some embodiments, the priority configuration includes at least one of logical channel priority, priority bit rate, and priority bit rate duration, such as only logical channel priority, or all three of logical channel priority, priority bit rate, and priority bit rate duration.

[0248] Among them, resource scheduling configuration is used by the terminal device to request uplink resources from the network for the first radio bearer.

[0249] Step 52: The terminal device executes the A-IoT service processes such as inventory and command with the A-IoT device according to the A-IoT service instructions in Step 51, and receives the A-IoT data reported by the A-IoT device.

[0250] Step 53: Send a first uplink message from the terminal device to the network device. The first uplink message contains the A-IoT service identifier and the first A-IoT data.

[0251] The first A-IoT uplink message is sent on the first wireless bearer.

[0252] The terminal device sends the first uplink message according to the priority configuration of the first radio bearer. For example, the terminal device prioritizes the transmission of data from the first radio bearer with higher logical channel priority, or when the transmission of the first radio bearer by the terminal device reaches a threshold determined by information such as priority bit rate and priority bit rate duration, the transmission of the first radio bearer is reduced to a low priority.

[0253] If the terminal device does not have available uplink resources for the first radio bearer, the terminal device requests resources through the resource scheduling configuration configured in step (1).

[0254] Example 6 includes the following steps:

[0255] Step 61: The network device receives the second downlink message sent by the core network element. The second downlink message contains A-IoT service request information and the core network element identifier.

[0256] The second downlink message is an interface message, such as an NG message. The NG message can be a Non-UE message, carrying one or more terminal device identifiers, used by AIOTF to send A-IoT service request information to one or more terminal devices; or the NG message can be a terminal device-specific message, that is, AIOTF triggers A-IoT service request information for each terminal device.

[0257] In this example, the core network element identifier is used to indicate which core network element initiated the A-IoT service, and is used by terminal devices and network devices to confirm and forward the target AIOTF that received A-IoT data from the A-IoT device.

[0258] Step 62: The network device sends the first downlink message to the terminal device.

[0259] This step is specifically the same as step 11 in Example 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0260] Step 63: The network device receives the first uplink message from the terminal device.

[0261] This step is specifically the same as step 13 in Example 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0262] Step 64: The network device sends a second uplink message to the core network element, which contains the AIOTF identifier and the second A-IoT data.

[0263] Step 64 corresponds to step 61 in this example. If the NG message is a Non-UE message, the second A-IoT data needs to be associated with the terminal device identifier. In one case, the network device can put A-IoT data from multiple terminal devices in the same NG message and pass it to AIOTF. The A-IoT data reported by different terminal devices are associated with the corresponding terminal device identifier. If the NG message is a terminal device-specific message, the network device puts the A-IoT data in the NG message of that terminal device and sends it to AIOTF, that is, it sends it to AIOTF based on the terminal device-specific bearer.

[0264] In this example, the second A-IoT data can be a single data block or a list of data blocks. The list of data blocks can be A-IoT data from one A-IoT device or A-IoT data from multiple A-IoT devices.

[0265] In this example, the relationship between the first A-IoT data and the second A-IoT data can be as follows: the network device will split, reassemble, and merge one or more first A-IoT data received from one or more first uplink messages to generate one or more second A-IoT data. The splitting, merging, and reassembling are based on the AIOTF identifier associated with the data block. That is, the base station will reassemble data blocks with the same AIOTF identifier into second A-IoT data, encapsulate them in a second uplink message, and forward them to the corresponding core network element.

[0266] Example 7 includes the following steps:

[0267] Step 71: The network device receives the second downlink message sent by the core network element. The second downlink message contains A-IoT service request information and A-IoT service identifier.

[0268] The second downlink message is an interface message, such as an NG message. The A-IoT service identifier is used to identify an A-IoT service, and is used by terminal devices and network devices to confirm the A-IoT service associated with the A-IoT data received from the A-IoT device.

[0269] Step 72: The network device sends the first downlink message to the terminal device.

[0270] This step is specifically referred to step 21 of Exemplary Example 2, and will not be repeated here.

[0271] Step 73: The network device receives the first uplink message from the terminal device.

[0272] This step is specifically referred to step 22 of Example 2, and will not be repeated here.

[0273] Step 74: The network device sends a second uplink message to the core network element. This second uplink message contains the A-IoT service identifier and the second A-IoT data.

[0274] The second uplink message is an NG message.

[0275] In this example, the second A-IoT data can be a single data block or a list of data blocks. The list of data blocks can be A-IoT data from one A-IoT device or A-IoT data from multiple A-IoT devices.

[0276] In this example, the relationship between the first A-IoT data and the second A-IoT data can be as follows: the network device will split, reassemble, and merge one or more first A-IoT data received from one or more first uplink messages to generate one or more second A-IoT data. The basis for splitting, merging, and reassembling is the A-IoT service identifier associated with the data block. That is, the base station will reassemble data blocks with the same A-IoT service identifier into second A-IoT data, encapsulate them in a second uplink message, and forward them to the corresponding core network element.

[0277] Example 8 includes the following steps:

[0278] Step 81: The network device receives the second downlink message sent by the core network element. The second downlink message contains A-IoT service request information.

[0279] The second downlink message is an interface message, such as an NG message. The A-IoT service identifier is used to identify an A-IoT service, and is used by terminal devices and network devices to confirm the A-IoT service associated with the A-IoT data received from the A-IoT device.

[0280] Step 82: The network device sends the first downlink message to the terminal device.

[0281] This step is specifically referred to as step 31 in Example 3, and will not be repeated here.

[0282] Step 83: The network device receives the first uplink message from the terminal device.

[0283] This step is specifically referred to as step 32 in Example 3, and will not be repeated here.

[0284] Step 84: The network device sends a second uplink message to the core network element. This second uplink message contains the A-IoT service identifier and the second A-IoT data.

[0285] The second uplink message is an interface message, such as an NG message.

[0286] In this example, the second A-IoT data can be a single data block or a list of data blocks. The list of data blocks can be A-IoT data from one A-IoT device or A-IoT data from multiple A-IoT devices.

[0287] In this example, the relationship between the first A-IoT data and the second A-IoT data can be as follows: the network device directly uses the first A-IoT data received from a first uplink message as the second A-IoT data, encapsulates it in the second uplink message, and forwards it to the corresponding core network element; or, the network device merges multiple first A-IoT data from multiple first uplink messages received from the first radio bearer as the second A-IoT data, encapsulates it in the second uplink message, and forwards it to the corresponding core network element.

[0288] In summary, this disclosure solves the problem of end-to-end data transmission between terminal devices, network devices, and core network devices when terminal devices support parallel or serial services in a multi-core network element deployment scenario. Furthermore, it enables the aggregation of A-IoT data obtained from at least one A-IoT device, and then sends the aggregated A-IoT data response to the corresponding core network element. This allows terminal devices and network devices to determine the mapping relationship between A-IoT service responses and A-IoT service requests, thereby determining which core network element to send to and how to send the received A-IoT service response.

[0289] Figure 7 is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this disclosure, applied to a core network element. Referring to Figure 7, the method specifically includes the following steps:

[0290] S701 sends a second downlink message to the network device.

[0291] The specific implementation process of this step is described in S601 and will not be repeated here.

[0292] S702 receives the second uplink message sent by the network device.

[0293] The specific implementation process of this step is described in S604 and will not be repeated here.

[0294] In this embodiment, the specific steps performed on the core network element side can be referred to the above content, and will not be repeated here.

[0295] Referring to Figure 8, this disclosure provides a communication device 80, applied to a terminal device, the device including:

[0296] The receiving unit 81 is used to receive a first downlink message sent by the network device. The first downlink message is used to request the execution of A-IoT services and / or to send the configuration of A-IoT services.

[0297] The first downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0298] Core network element identifiers;

[0299] Environmental IoT A-IoT Service Identifier: The A-IoT service identifier is used to identify A-IoT services.

[0300] Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of A-IoT services;

[0301] Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with A-IoT services;

[0302] A-IoT service request information.

[0303] In some embodiments, the A-IoT service request information includes at least one of the following:

[0304] The business types of A-IoT services;

[0305] Upper-layer data refers to data sent to A-IoT devices.

[0306] Data volume information for A-IoT services.

[0307] In some embodiments, it further includes: a sending unit (not shown) for sending a first uplink message to a network device;

[0308] The first uplink message includes at least one of the following:

[0309] Core network element identifiers;

[0310] A-IoT service identifier;

[0311] The first A-IoT data includes upper-layer data from at least one A-IoT device.

[0312] The completion flag indicates that the A-IoT service has been completed.

[0313] In some embodiments, the first radio bearer is associated with a priority configuration, which includes at least one of the following:

[0314] Logical channel priority;

[0315] Priority bit rate;

[0316] Priority bit rate duration.

[0317] In some embodiments, a first radio bearer is associated with a resource scheduling configuration, which is used to request resources for transmitting uplink data and / or signaling through the first radio bearer.

[0318] Referring to Figure 9, this disclosure provides a communication device 90, applied to a network device, the communication device 90 including:

[0319] The sending unit 91 is used to send a first downlink message to the terminal device. The first downlink message is used to request the execution of A-IoT services and / or to send the configuration of A-IoT services.

[0320] The first downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0321] Core network element identifiers;

[0322] A-IoT service identifier, used to identify A-IoT services;

[0323] Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of A-IoT services;

[0324] Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with A-IoT services;

[0325] A-IoT service request information.

[0326] In some embodiments, a receiving unit (not shown) is further included, which is used to receive a second downlink message sent by a core network element before sending a first downlink message to a terminal device;

[0327] The second downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0328] Core network element identifiers;

[0329] A-IoT service identifier, used to identify A-IoT services;

[0330] A-IoT service request information.

[0331] In some embodiments, the A-IoT service request information includes at least one of the following:

[0332] The business types of A-IoT services;

[0333] Upper-layer data refers to data sent to A-IoT devices.

[0334] Data volume information for A-IoT services.

[0335] In some embodiments, the receiving unit is further configured to: receive a first uplink message sent by the terminal device;

[0336] The first uplink message includes at least one of the following:

[0337] Core network element identifiers;

[0338] A-IoT service identifier;

[0339] The first A-IoT data includes upper-layer data from at least one A-IoT device.

[0340] The completion flag indicates that the A-IoT service has been completed.

[0341] In some embodiments, the sending unit 91 is further configured to: send a second uplink message to the core network element when the first uplink message is received;

[0342] The second uplink message includes at least one of the following:

[0343] Core network element identifiers;

[0344] A-IoT service identifier;

[0345] The second A-IoT data includes upper-layer data from at least one A-IoT device.

[0346] The completion flag indicates that the A-IoT service has been completed.

[0347] Referring to Figure 10, this embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device 100, applied to a core network element, the device comprising:

[0348] The sending unit 101 is used to send a second downlink message to the network device, the second downlink message being used to request the execution of A-IoT services;

[0349] The second downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0350] Core network element identifiers;

[0351] A-IoT service identifier, used to identify A-IoT services;

[0352] A-IoT service request information.

[0353] In some embodiments, the A-IoT service request information includes at least one of the following:

[0354] The business types of A-IoT services;

[0355] Upper-layer data refers to data sent to A-IoT devices.

[0356] Data volume information for A-IoT services.

[0357] In some embodiments, it further includes: a receiving unit (not shown) for receiving a second uplink message sent by a network device;

[0358] The second uplink message includes at least one of the following:

[0359] Core network element identifiers;

[0360] A-IoT service identifier;

[0361] The second A-IoT data includes upper-layer data from at least one A-IoT device.

[0362] The completion flag indicates that the A-IoT service has been completed.

[0363] It should be noted that the apparatus provided in this disclosure can implement all the method steps implemented in the above method embodiments and can achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiments will not be described in detail here.

[0364] Referring to FIG11, a further communication device is provided in this disclosure, including a memory 111, a transceiver 112, and a processor 113:

[0365] Memory 111 is used to store computer programs;

[0366] Transceiver 112 is used to send and receive data under the control of processor 113;

[0367] Processor 113 is used to read the computer program in memory 111 and perform the following operations:

[0368] Receive a first downlink message sent by a network device, the first downlink message being used to request the execution of an A-IoT service, and / or to send the configuration of the A-IoT service;

[0369] The first downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0370] Core network element identifiers;

[0371] Environmental IoT A-IoT Service Identifier: The A-IoT service identifier is used to identify A-IoT services.

[0372] Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of A-IoT services;

[0373] Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with A-IoT services;

[0374] A-IoT service request information.

[0375] In some embodiments, the A-IoT service request information includes at least one of the following:

[0376] The business types of A-IoT services;

[0377] Upper-layer data refers to data sent to A-IoT devices.

[0378] Data volume information for A-IoT services.

[0379] In some embodiments, the processor 113 is further configured to: send a first uplink message to the network device;

[0380] The first uplink message includes at least one of the following:

[0381] Core network element identifiers;

[0382] A-IoT service identifier;

[0383] The first A-IoT data includes upper-layer data from at least one A-IoT device.

[0384] The completion flag indicates that the A-IoT service has been completed.

[0385] In some embodiments, the first radio bearer is associated with a priority configuration, which includes at least one of the following:

[0386] Logical channel priority;

[0387] Priority bit rate;

[0388] Priority bit rate duration.

[0389] In some embodiments, a first radio bearer is associated with a resource scheduling configuration, which is used to request resources for transmitting uplink data and / or signaling through the first radio bearer.

[0390] The communication device may also include a user interface 114. For different user equipment, the user interface 114 may also be an interface that can connect to external or internal devices, including but not limited to keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick, etc.

[0391] The bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically linking various circuits of one or more processors represented by processor 113 and memory represented by memory 111. The bus architecture may also link various other circuits, such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 112 may be multiple elements, including transmitters and receivers, providing units for communicating with various other devices over transmission media, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical fibers, etc. Processor 113 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and memory 111 may store data used by processor 113 during operation.

[0392] In some embodiments, the processor 113 may be a central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), and the processor may also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0393] The processor 113 executes all method steps of the terminal device according to the embodiments of this disclosure by calling the computer program stored in the memory 111 and following the obtained executable instructions. The processor 113 and the memory 111 may also be physically separated.

[0394] It should be noted that the communication device provided in this disclosure can implement all the method steps implemented by the terminal device in the above method embodiments and can achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiments will not be described in detail here.

[0395] Referring to FIG12, a further communication device is provided in this disclosure, including a memory 121, a transceiver 122, and a processor 123:

[0396] Memory 121 is used to store computer programs;

[0397] Transceiver 122 is used to send and receive data under the control of processor 123;

[0398] Processor 123 is used to read the computer program in memory 121 and perform the following operations:

[0399] The first downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0400] Core network element identifiers;

[0401] A-IoT service identifier, used to identify A-IoT services;

[0402] Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of A-IoT services;

[0403] Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with A-IoT services;

[0404] A-IoT service request information.

[0405] In some embodiments, the processor 123 is further configured to receive a second downlink message sent by a core network element before sending the first downlink message to the terminal device;

[0406] The second downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0407] Core network element identifiers;

[0408] A-IoT service identifier, used to identify A-IoT services;

[0409] A-IoT service request information.

[0410] In some embodiments, the A-IoT service request information includes at least one of the following:

[0411] The business types of A-IoT services;

[0412] Upper-layer data refers to data sent to A-IoT devices.

[0413] Data volume information for A-IoT services.

[0414] In some embodiments, the processor 123 is further configured to: receive a first uplink message sent by the terminal device;

[0415] The first uplink message includes at least one of the following:

[0416] Core network element identifiers;

[0417] A-IoT service identifier;

[0418] The first A-IoT data includes upper-layer data from at least one A-IoT device.

[0419] The completion flag indicates that the A-IoT service has been completed.

[0420] In some embodiments, the processor 123 is further configured to: upon receiving the first uplink message, send a second uplink message to the core network element;

[0421] The second uplink message includes at least one of the following:

[0422] Core network element identifiers;

[0423] A-IoT service identifier;

[0424] The second A-IoT data includes upper-layer data from at least one A-IoT device.

[0425] The completion flag indicates that the A-IoT service has been completed.

[0426] In Figure 12, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically linking various circuits of one or more processors represented by processor 23 and memory represented by memory 121. The bus architecture may also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 122 may be multiple elements, including a transmitter and a receiver, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical fibers, etc. Processor 123 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and memory 121 may store data used by processor 123 during operation.

[0427] In some embodiments, the processor 123 may be a CPU, ASIC, FPGA or CPLD, and the processor may also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0428] It should be noted that the communication device provided in this disclosure can implement all the method steps implemented by the network device in the above method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0429] Referring to FIG13, a further communication device is provided in this disclosure, including a memory 131, a transceiver 132, and a processor 133:

[0430] Memory 131 is used to store computer programs;

[0431] Transceiver 132 is used to send and receive data under the control of processor 133;

[0432] Processor 133 is used to read the computer program in memory 131 and perform the following operations:

[0433] Send a second downlink message to the network device; the second downlink message is used to request the execution of A-IoT services.

[0434] The second downlink message includes at least one of the following:

[0435] Core network element identifiers;

[0436] A-IoT service identifier, used to identify A-IoT services;

[0437] A-IoT service request information.

[0438] In some embodiments, the A-IoT service request information includes at least one of the following:

[0439] The business types of A-IoT services;

[0440] Upper-layer data refers to data sent to A-IoT devices.

[0441] Data volume information for A-IoT services.

[0442] In some embodiments, the processor 133 is further configured to: receive a second uplink message sent by a network device;

[0443] The second uplink message includes at least one of the following:

[0444] Core network element identifiers;

[0445] A-IoT service identifier;

[0446] The second A-IoT data includes upper-layer data from at least one A-IoT device.

[0447] The completion flag indicates that the A-IoT service has been completed.

[0448] In Figure 13, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically linking various circuits of one or more processors represented by processor 13 and memory represented by memory 131. The bus architecture may also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. Transceiver 132 may be multiple elements, including transmitters and receivers, providing units for communicating with various other devices over transmission media, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical fibers, etc. Processor 133 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and memory 131 may store data used by processor 133 during operation.

[0449] In some embodiments, the processor 133 may be a CPU, ASIC, FPGA or CPLD, and the processor may also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0450] It should be noted that the communication device provided in this disclosure can implement all the method steps implemented by the core network element in the above method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0451] It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of this disclosure is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this disclosure can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated units described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional units.

[0452] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a processor-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this disclosure, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or communication device, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods of the various embodiments of this disclosure. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as a USB flash drive, a portable hard drive, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0453] This disclosure provides a non-transitory readable storage medium storing a computer program. The computer program causes a processor to execute any of the methods related to the terminal provided in this disclosure. This enables the processor to implement all the method steps implemented by the terminal in the above method embodiments and achieve the same technical effects. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiments will not be described in detail here.

[0454] Non-transiently readable storage media can be any available medium or data storage device that the processor can access, including but not limited to magnetic storage (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, magneto-optical disks (MOs), etc.), optical storage (e.g., CDs, DVDs, BDs, HVDs, etc.), and semiconductor storage (e.g., ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, non-volatile memory (NAND flash), solid-state drives (SSDs)).

[0455] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this disclosure can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this disclosure can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this disclosure can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage and optical storage) containing computer-usable program code.

[0456] This disclosure is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus, and computer program products according to embodiments of this disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowchart illustrations and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0457] These processor-executable instructions may also be stored in a processor-readable memory that can instruct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the processor-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0458] These processor-executable instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0459] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this disclosure without departing from its spirit and scope. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this disclosure and their equivalents, this disclosure is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, wherein, The communication method, applied to terminal devices, includes: Receive a first downlink message sent by a network device, the first downlink message being used to request the execution of an A-IoT service, and / or to send the configuration of the A-IoT service; The first downlink message includes at least one of the following: Core network element identifiers; An A-IoT service identifier for environmental IoT, wherein the A-IoT service identifier is used to identify the A-IoT service; Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of the A-IoT service; Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with the A-IoT service; A-IoT service request information.

2. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein, The A-IoT service request information includes at least one of the following: The business types of A-IoT services; Upper-layer data, which is data sent to A-IoT devices; Data volume information for A-IoT services.

3. The communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, Also includes: Send the first uplink message to the network device; The first uplink message includes at least one of the following: The core network element identifier; The A-IoT service identifier; The first A-IoT data includes upper-layer data from at least one A-IoT device; A completion identifier is used to indicate that the A-IoT service has been completed.

4. The communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, The first radio bearer association priority configuration includes at least one of the following: Logical channel priority; Priority bit rate; Priority bit rate duration.

5. The communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, The first radio bearer is associated with a resource scheduling configuration, which is used to request resources for sending uplink data and / or signaling through the first radio bearer.

6. A communication method, wherein, Applied to network devices, the communication method includes: Send a first downlink message to the terminal device, the first downlink message being used to request the execution of A-IoT services, and / or to send the configuration of A-IoT services; The first downlink message includes at least one of the following: Core network element identifiers; A-IoT service identifier, which is used to identify the A-IoT service; Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of the A-IoT service; Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with the A-IoT service; A-IoT service request information.

7. The communication method according to claim 6, wherein, Also includes: Receive the second downlink message sent by the core network element; The second downlink message includes at least one of the following: The core network element identifier; A-IoT service identifier, which is used to identify the A-IoT service; A-IoT service request information.

8. The communication method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein, The A-IoT service request information includes at least one of the following: The business types of A-IoT services; Upper-layer data, which is data sent to A-IoT devices; Data volume information for A-IoT services.

9. The communication method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein, Also includes: Receive the first uplink message sent by the terminal device; The first uplink message includes at least one of the following: The core network element identifier; The A-IoT service identifier; The first A-IoT data includes upper-layer data from at least one A-IoT device; A completion identifier is used to indicate that the A-IoT service has been completed.

10. The communication method according to claim 9, wherein Also includes: Send a second uplink message to the core network element; The second uplink message includes at least one of the following: The core network element identifier; The A-IoT service identifier; The second A-IoT data includes upper-layer data from at least one A-IoT device. A completion identifier is used to indicate that the A-IoT service has been completed.

11. A communication method, wherein, The communication method, applied to core network elements, includes: Send a second downlink message to the network device, the second downlink message being used to request the execution of A-IoT services; The second downlink message includes at least one of the following: Core network element identifiers; A-IoT service identifier, which is used to identify the A-IoT service; A-IoT service request information.

12. The communication method according to claim 11, wherein, The A-IoT service request information includes at least one of the following: The business types of A-IoT services; Upper-layer data, which is data sent to A-IoT devices; Data volume information for A-IoT services.

13. The communication method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein, Also includes: Receive the second uplink message sent by the network device; The second uplink message includes at least one of the following: The core network element identifier; The A-IoT service identifier; The second A-IoT data includes upper-layer data from at least one A-IoT device. A completion identifier is used to indicate that the A-IoT service has been completed.

14. A communications device, wherein, Applied to a terminal device, the device includes: The receiving unit is configured to receive a first downlink message sent by a network device, wherein the first downlink message is used to request the execution of an A-IoT service and / or to send the configuration of an A-IoT service; The first downlink message includes at least one of the following: Core network element identifiers; An A-IoT service identifier for environmental IoT, wherein the A-IoT service identifier is used to identify the A-IoT service; Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of the A-IoT service; Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with the A-IoT service; A-IoT service request information.

15. A communications device, wherein, Applied to network devices, the device includes: The sending unit is configured to send a first downlink message to the terminal device, wherein the first downlink message is used to request the execution of A-IoT services and / or to send the configuration of A-IoT services; The first downlink message includes at least one of the following: Core network element identifiers; A-IoT service identifier, which is used to identify the A-IoT service; Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of the A-IoT service; Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with the A-IoT service; A-IoT service request information.

16. A communications device, wherein, The device, applied to core network elements, includes: The sending unit is used to send a second downlink message to the network device, the second downlink message being used to request the execution of A-IoT services; The second downlink message includes at least one of the following: Core network element identifiers; A-IoT service identifier, which is used to identify the A-IoT service; A-IoT service request information.

17. A communications device, wherein, Applied to terminal devices, the device includes: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor. The memory is used to store computer programs; The transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of the processor; The processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations: Receive a first downlink message sent by a network device, the first downlink message being used to request the execution of an A-IoT service, and / or to send the configuration of the A-IoT service; The first downlink message includes at least one of the following: Core network element identifiers; An A-IoT service identifier for environmental IoT, wherein the A-IoT service identifier is used to identify the A-IoT service; Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of the A-IoT service; Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with the A-IoT service; A-IoT service request information.

18. A communications device, wherein, Applied to network devices, the device includes: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor. The memory is used to store computer programs; The transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of the processor; The processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations: Send a first downlink message to the terminal device, the first downlink message being used to request the execution of A-IoT services, and / or to send the configuration of A-IoT services; The first downlink message includes at least one of the following: Core network element identifiers; A-IoT service identifier, which is used to identify the A-IoT service; Priority indication information, which is used to indicate the priority of the A-IoT service; Configuration information of the first wireless bearer, which is associated with the A-IoT service; A-IoT service request information.

19. A communications device, wherein, The communication device, applied to core network elements, includes: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor. The memory is used to store computer programs; The transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of the processor; The processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations: Send a second downlink message to the network device, the second downlink message being used to request the execution of A-IoT services; The second downlink message includes at least one of the following: Core network element identifiers; A-IoT service identifier, which is used to identify the A-IoT service; A-IoT service request information.

20. A non-transitory readable storage medium, wherein, The non-transiently readable storage medium stores a computer program that causes a processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

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