Communication method, apparatus and system

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and provides a communication method, apparatus and system. The method comprises: when a first reader sends a paging message and a first reader-to-device (R2D) message to a first AIoT device in response to a first inventory request from a core network element, the first reader receives an inventory result sent by each of a plurality of second AIoT devices, and sends, to the core network element, an inventory report indicating the inventory results of the plurality of second AIoT devices, wherein the first R2D message comprises resource information. Once a first reader sends one inventory report to a core network element, inventory results of a plurality of second AIoT devices can be sent to the core network element, thereby reducing signaling overhead caused by the first reader sending an uplink message to the core network element.

Description

A communication method, apparatus and system

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510392781.1, filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on March 28, 2025, entitled "A Method, Terminal and System for Internet of Things Reader-Writer Aggregation", and Chinese Patent Application No. 202510592504.5, filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on May 8, 2025, entitled "A Communication Method, Apparatus and System", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

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

[0003] In communication systems, to improve communication sustainability and performance while reducing power consumption, low-power ambient internet of things (AIoT) technology has been introduced. A reader, acting as an intermediary node in communication between AIoT devices and network devices (such as access network devices or core network devices), can receive requests from network devices (such as inventory requests or command requests) and send these requests to multiple AIoT devices to obtain results from them (such as inventory results corresponding to inventory requests or command execution results corresponding to command requests). After receiving the results from multiple AIoT devices, the reader reports these results to the network device, enabling the network device to obtain the results from multiple AIoT devices. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method, apparatus, and system. By sending an inventory report to the core network element, the first reader / writer can send the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element, thereby reducing the signaling overhead between the first reader / writer and the core network element.

[0005] Firstly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a first reader / writer, or by a component (such as a circuit, chip, or chip system) configured in the first reader / writer, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the first reader / writer. This application does not limit this approach. The following description uses a first reader / writer as an example.

[0006] The method includes: a first reader responding to a first inventory request from a core network element, sending a paging message and a first reader-to-device (R2D) message to a first AIoT device; receiving inventory results from each of a plurality of second AIoT devices; and sending an inventory report to the core network element indicating the inventory results of the plurality of second AIoT devices. Wherein, the first AIoT device refers to all AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the first reader; the paging message is used to wake up some or all of the first AIoT devices; the first R2D message includes resource information; and the plurality of second AIoT devices refer to all AIoT devices that have been successfully connected randomly from the woken-up first AIoT devices based on the resource information.

[0007] In this implementation, the first reader sends the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices in a single inventory report to the core network element, reducing the signaling overhead of the first reader sending uplink data (such as inventory results) to the core network element.

[0008] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, after sending an inventory report to the core network element, the method further includes: after receiving a first command request message from the core network element, the first reader / writer sends a second R2D message carrying a first command to multiple second AIoT devices according to the first command request message. The first command request message is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command to the multiple second AIoT devices.

[0009] In this implementation, after the first reader / writer stores the AIoT devices, it can send a first command to multiple second AIoT devices based on the first command request message received from the core network element, so as to perform read operations, write operations and other operations on the multiple second AIoT devices, thus being compatible with the command execution process.

[0010] In another possible implementation of the first aspect, the first command request message includes a device list and a first command request; wherein the device list includes identification information of multiple second AIoT devices, and the first command request is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command; or, the first command request message includes multiple second command requests, each corresponding to a multiple second AIoT device, and the second command request is used to request the first command to be sent to the second AIoT device corresponding to the second command request.

[0011] In this implementation, the first reader receives a single command request from the core network element, or multiple command requests from the core network element. This not only enables the first reader to send a first command to multiple second AIoT devices based on the received command requests, reducing signaling interaction between the core network element and the first reader, thus reducing power consumption, but also improves the flexibility and diversity of command requests issued by the core network element.

[0012] In another possible implementation of the first aspect, the first command includes at least one of a read command, a write command, a disable command, or a start command. This allows the first commands issued by core network elements to be diverse and compatible with existing command scenarios.

[0013] In another possible implementation of the first aspect, the second R2D message also includes identification information of multiple second AIoT devices.

[0014] In this implementation, the identification information of the second AIoT device can be included in the second R2D message to clarify which second AIoT devices can execute the first command, thereby improving the accuracy and purposefulness of command execution.

[0015] In another possible implementation of the first aspect, the identification information of the second AIoT device is the device identity (ID) of the second AIoT device; and / or, the identification information of the second AIoT device is the access stratum identity (AS ID) corresponding to the device identity ID of the second AIoT device. Thus, AIoT devices can be identified by their ID or AS ID, improving the flexibility and diversity of methods for identifying AIoT devices.

[0016] In another possible implementation of the first aspect, after sending the second R2D message to multiple second AIoT devices, the method further includes: after the first reader / writer receives the command response from each second AIoT device indicating the command execution result generated by the second AIoT device executing the first command, it sends multiple command response messages to the core network element. The multiple command response messages correspond to multiple second AIoT devices, and each command response message includes the command response of one second AIoT device.

[0017] In this implementation, after the first reader receives command responses from multiple second AIoT devices, it can carry the command responses from the multiple second AIoT devices in the command response message and send them to the core network element, thereby improving the accuracy of the core network element in receiving command response messages from multiple second AIoT devices.

[0018] In another possible implementation of the first aspect, after sending the second R2D message to multiple second AIoT devices, the method further includes: after the first reader receives the command response of each of the multiple second AIoT devices, it sends a command response message including the command responses of the multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element according to the multiple command responses; wherein the command response of the second AIoT device is used to instruct the second AIoT device to execute the command execution result generated by the first command.

[0019] In this implementation, after the first reader receives command responses from multiple second AIoT devices, it can send multiple command responses in a single command response message to the core network element, thereby reducing the signaling overhead of the first reader sending uplink messages to the core network element.

[0020] In another possible implementation of the first aspect, to avoid the situation where the first reader cannot determine whether the core network element has sent a first command request message to itself after sending an inventory report to the core network element, causing the first reader to wait continuously and be unable to execute the subsequent inventory process normally, a first timer is set in the first reader. The first timer is started when the first reader sends an inventory report to the core network element. The first timer is used by the first reader to determine whether to continue waiting for the command request message sent by the core network element, so as to ensure the normal execution of the subsequent inventory process.

[0021] In another possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes: if the first reader does not receive a second command request message from a core network element during the first timer operation, then a third R2D message is sent to at least one third AIoT device; wherein the second command request message is used to request the first reader to send a first command to at least one second AIoT device; and the third R2D message is used to request at least one third AIoT device to initiate random access and obtain inventory results from at least one third AIoT device.

[0022] In this implementation, if the first reader does not receive a second command request message from the core network element during the first timer operation, the first reader can continue to execute the next round of inventory process without waiting for a command request message from the core network element, thus ensuring the normal operation of the inventory service.

[0023] In another possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes: if the first reader receives a second command request message sent by a core network element during the operation of the first timer, then sends a fourth R2D message to at least one second AIoT device; wherein the second command request message is used to request the first reader to send a first command to at least one second AIoT device, and the fourth R2D message carries the first command.

[0024] In this implementation, if the first reader receives a second command request message sent by a core network element during the first timer operation, the first reader can perform the corresponding operation according to the second command request message.

[0025] Secondly, a communication method is provided, applied to a core network element. The method includes: after the core network element sends a first inventory request to at least one reader / writer to request the at least one reader / writer to perform an inventory operation, it receives an inventory report sent by the first reader / writer; wherein the at least one reader / writer includes the first reader / writer, the inventory report includes the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices, the multiple second AIoT devices are all AIoT devices that have been successfully connected randomly based on resource information among the woken-up first AIoT devices, and the first AIoT devices are all AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the first reader / writer.

[0026] In this implementation, the core network element does not need to receive multiple inventory reports. It only needs to receive one inventory report carrying the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices to obtain the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices. This not only reduces the signaling overhead of the first reader sending uplink data (such as inventory results) to the core network element, but also reduces the device power consumption of the core network element.

[0027] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, after receiving the inventory report sent by the first reader, the method further includes: the core network element sending a first command request message to the first reader; wherein the first command request message is used to request the first reader to send a first command to multiple second AIoT devices.

[0028] In this implementation, the core network element can control the first reader to perform read and write operations on multiple second AIoT devices by sending a first command request message to the first reader, thus ensuring compatibility with the command execution process.

[0029] In another possible implementation of the second aspect, the first command request message includes a device list and a first command request; wherein the device list includes identification information of multiple second AIoT devices, and the first command request is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command; or, the command request message includes multiple second command requests, each corresponding to a multiple second AIoT device, and the second command request is used to request the first command to be sent to the second AIoT device corresponding to the second command request.

[0030] In this implementation, the core network element sends one command request to the first reader / writer, or it can send multiple command requests to the first reader / writer. This allows the first reader / writer to not only send the first command to multiple second AIoT devices based on the received command requests, but also to reduce the signaling interaction between the core network element and the first reader / writer, thereby reducing the power consumption of both the core network element and the first reader / writer, and improving the flexibility and diversity of the command requests issued by the core network element.

[0031] In another possible implementation of the second aspect, after sending the first command request message to the first reader / writer, the method further includes: the core network element receiving multiple command response messages sent by the first reader / writer, the multiple command response messages corresponding to multiple second AIoT devices, and each command response message including the command response of the second AIoT device corresponding to the command response message; wherein, the command response of the second AIoT device is used to instruct the second AIoT device to execute the command execution result generated by the first command.

[0032] In this implementation, the core network element receives multiple command response messages, each of which includes the command response of the corresponding second AIoT device, thereby improving the accuracy of the core network element receiving command response messages from multiple second AIoT devices.

[0033] In another possible implementation of the second aspect, after sending the first command request message to the first reader / writer, the method further includes: the core network element receiving a command response message sent by the first reader / writer; wherein, the command response message includes a command response from a second AIoT device; the command response from the second AIoT device is used to instruct the second AIoT device to execute the command execution result generated by the first command.

[0034] In this implementation, the core network element receives a command response message that includes command responses from multiple second AIoT devices, reducing the signaling overhead of the first reader sending uplink messages to the core network element. This eliminates the need for the core network element to receive multiple command response messages, thus reducing the power consumption of the core network element.

[0035] In another possible implementation of the second aspect, a second timer is set in the core network element, which is started when the inventory report sent by the first reader is received.

[0036] In another possible implementation of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending a second command request message to the first reader during the operation of the second timer or at the end of the second timer's countdown; wherein the second command request message is used to request the first reader to send a first command to at least one second AIoT device.

[0037] Thirdly, a communication method is provided, applied to a first reader / writer. The method includes: the first reader / writer responding to a first command request message from a core network element requesting the first reader / writer to send a first command to a plurality of second AIoT devices, sending a second R2D message to the plurality of second AIoT devices; after receiving the command response from each of the plurality of second AIoT devices, sending a command response message including the command responses of the plurality of second AIoT devices to the core network element based on the plurality of command responses; wherein the command responses of the second AIoT devices are used to indicate the command execution result generated by the second AIoT devices executing the first command, the plurality of second AIoT devices are all AIoT devices that have been successfully connected randomly among the woken-up first AIoT devices, and the first AIoT devices are all AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the first reader / writer.

[0038] In this implementation, the first reader sends a command response message to the core network element, which can achieve the purpose of sending command responses from multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element. This reduces the signaling overhead of the first reader sending uplink messages to the core network element and lowers the power consumption of both the first reader and the core network element.

[0039] In one possible implementation of the third aspect, the first command request message includes a device list and a first command request; wherein the device list includes identification information of multiple second AIoT devices, and the first command request is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command; or, the first command request message includes multiple second command requests, each corresponding to a multiple second AIoT device, and the second command request is used to request the first command to be sent to the second AIoT device corresponding to the second command request.

[0040] In this implementation, the first reader can send a first command request message to multiple second AIoT devices by receiving a first command request message from the core network element. This reduces the signaling interaction between the core network element and the first reader, which helps to reduce the power consumption of both the core network element and the first reader.

[0041] In another possible implementation of the third aspect, before sending a second R2D message to multiple second AIoT devices in response to a first command request message from a core network element, the method further includes: sending a paging message and a first R2D message to a first AIoT device in response to a first inventory request from a core network element; wherein the paging message is used to wake up some or all of the first AIoT devices, and the first R2D message includes resource information; receiving inventory results sent by each of the multiple second AIoT devices; the multiple second AIoT devices are all AIoT devices that have been successfully connected randomly among the woken-up first AIoT devices according to the resource information.

[0042] In another possible implementation of the third aspect, after receiving a random access response from each of the multiple second AIoT devices, the method further includes: the first reader sending multiple inventory reports to the core network element; wherein, one inventory report is used to indicate the inventory result of at least one second AIoT device.

[0043] In this implementation, the first reader sends multiple inventory reports to the core network element. Each inventory report includes the inventory results of at least one second AIoT device, so that the first reader sends the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element through multiple inventory reports.

[0044] Fourthly, a communication method is provided, applied to a core network element. The method includes: after the core network element sends a first command request message to a first reader / writer requesting the first reader / writer to send a first command to multiple second AIoT devices, it receives a command response message sent by the first reader / writer including command responses from multiple second AIoT devices. The multiple second AIoT devices are all AIoT devices that have been successfully connected randomly among the first AIoT devices that have been woken up; the first AIoT devices are all AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the first reader / writer.

[0045] In this implementation, the core network element can obtain command responses from multiple second AIoT devices by receiving a single command response message from the first reader / writer. This eliminates the need for the core network element to receive command response messages multiple times, reducing the signaling overhead of the first reader / writer sending uplink messages to the core network element and also lowering the power consumption of both the first reader / writer and the core network element.

[0046] In one possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the first command request message includes a device list and a first command request; wherein the device list includes identification information of multiple second AIoT devices, and the first command request is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command; or, the first command request message includes multiple second command requests, each corresponding to a multiple second AIoT device, and the second command request is used to request the first command to be sent to the second AIoT device corresponding to the second command request.

[0047] In this implementation, the core network element sends a first command request message to the first reader / writer, which can achieve the purpose of requesting the first reader / writer to send first commands to multiple second AIoT devices. This reduces the signaling interaction between the core network element and the first reader / writer, and helps to reduce the power consumption of the core network element and the first reader / writer.

[0048] In another possible implementation of the fourth aspect, before sending the first command request message to the first reader / writer, the method further includes: receiving multiple inventory reports sent by the first reader / writer; wherein, one inventory report is used to indicate the inventory result of at least one second AIoT device.

[0049] In this implementation, the core network element receives multiple inventory reports sent by the first reader / writer. Each inventory report includes the inventory results of at least one second AIoT device, enabling the core network element to obtain the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices sent by the first reader / writer through multiple inventory reports.

[0050] Fifthly, a communication device is provided for use with a first reader / writer, the device comprising: a module for executing the methods of the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and / or a module for executing the methods of the third aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0051] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided for use in a core network element. The apparatus includes: a module for performing the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and / or a module for performing the method in any possible implementation thereof.

[0052] In a seventh aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising: a reader and a core network element, wherein the reader is used to execute the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and the core network element is used to execute the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0053] Eighthly, a communication device is provided, comprising: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The memory stores computer programs or instructions, and the processor controls the transceiver to transmit and receive signals. The processor also calls and executes the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, causing the processor to implement any of the above aspects and any possible implementations of those aspects.

[0054] A ninth aspect provides a communication device, comprising: a processor; the processor being configured to invoke a computer program or instructions in a memory, causing the communication device to execute any of the above aspects and any possible implementation thereof.

[0055] Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory for storing program instructions. The processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0056] In a tenth aspect, a chip device is provided, including a processor for invoking a computer program or instructions in the memory to cause the processor to perform any of the above aspects and any possible implementations of the above aspects.

[0057] Alternatively, the processor may be coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0058] Eleventhly, a chip system is provided, including a memory and a processor, wherein a program / instruction stored in the memory, when executed by the processor, implements any of the above aspects and any possible implementation of the above aspects.

[0059] In a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided having a computer program / instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements any of the foregoing aspects and any possible implementation of the foregoing aspects.

[0060] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program / instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement any of the foregoing aspects and any possible implementation of the foregoing aspects. Attached Figure Description

[0061] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0062] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a network device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0063] Figure 3 is a structural example diagram of the protocol stack provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0064] Figure 4 is a protocol stack structure diagram between an AIoT device and an AF provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0065] Figure 5 is another protocol stack structure diagram between an AIoT device and an AF provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0066] Figure 6 is an example diagram of a paging scenario provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0067] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a one-round inventory process based on CBRA provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0068] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a one-round inventory process based on CFRA provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0069] Figure 9 is an example diagram of the communication method provided in the embodiment of this application;

[0070] Figure 10 is an example diagram of the communication method provided in the embodiment of this application;

[0071] Figure 11 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0072] Figure 12 is an example diagram of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0073] Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0074] Figure 14 is an example of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0075] Figure 15 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0076] Figure 16 is an example diagram of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0077] Figure 17 is an example of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0078] Figure 18 is an example of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0079] Figure 19 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0080] Figure 20 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0081] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0082] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) systems, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, sidelink communication systems, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication systems, non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication systems, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication systems, or new radio access technology (NR). Among these, 5G mobile communication systems can include non-standalone (NSA) and / or standalone (SA) networking. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to future communication systems. This application does not limit the scope of these applications.

[0083] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1(a), the communication system may include an AIoT device 110, a network device 120, and an AIoT reader / writer 130. The network device 120 and the AIoT reader / writer 130 can communicate via a wireless link.

[0084] Figure 1(a) exemplarily illustrates a plurality of AIoT devices 110, a network device 120, and an AIoT reader 130. Optionally, the communication system may also include a plurality of AIoT devices, a plurality of network devices, or a plurality of AIoT readers.

[0085] The aforementioned AIoT device 110 is a device for inventorying assets. Assets may include hardware assets, software assets, and data assets related to the AIoT device 110, which are not limited in this embodiment. In some embodiments, hardware assets may be the brand, model, quantity, or usage status of sensors, etc., which are not limited in this embodiment. In some embodiments, software assets may be the name, version, developer, functional description, or scope of use of application software, etc., which are not limited in this embodiment. In some embodiments, data assets may be user data using the AIoT device 110, such as user identity information, user usage habits, etc., which are not limited in this embodiment. For some or all characteristics of the AIoT device 110, please refer to the descriptions in existing standards of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0086] It should be understood that the description of some or all of the characteristics of the AIoT device 110 described herein with reference to the existing 3GPP standards is only a possible example description, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. As the communication standard protocol version evolves or is updated, some or all of the characteristics of the AIoT device 110 described herein may refer to the evolved or updated version; or some or all of the characteristics of the AIoT device 110 may also refer to the description in related technologies.

[0087] AIoT device 110 includes, but is not limited to: passive devices based on the backscattering principle (e.g., passive tags), semi-passive devices based on the backscattering principle (e.g., semi-passive tags), and active communication devices with power consumption in the hundreds of microwatts range. Passive devices can also be referred to as ultra-low power terminals. Passive tags are just one form of this passive IoT device; those skilled in the art will understand that passive AIoT devices are not limited to the form of passive tags.

[0088] AIoT device 110 can be applied in various scenarios, such as smart buildings, asset tracking, agriculture, and smart homes. For example, AIoT device 110 can be a smart switch, smart lock, smart meter, sensor-based device for monitoring machine status, environmental conditions, etc., building automation and control equipment, asset tagging device, etc., and this application embodiment does not limit this. In these scenarios, the networking requirements of AIoT device 110 are generally simple, possibly involving simple asset information reporting or sending very little sensor data.

[0089] Furthermore, different application scenarios lead to different requirements for AIoT devices. Currently, considering the energy storage capacity and signal transmission capability of different devices, the following three categories of AIoT devices are defined:

[0090] Device type 1a: This refers to devices without energy storage capabilities or independent signal generation and amplification capabilities. This is the lowest-cost device type, relying on backscattering for communication. The power consumption of the device during signal reception or transmission is less than 1 microwatt or less than 10 microwatts.

[0091] Device type 1b: This refers to devices with energy storage capabilities but no independent signal generation capabilities. Because the device can store energy, after collecting enough electrical energy, it can amplify the backscattered signal, covering a longer distance. The power consumption of this type of device during signal reception or transmission is between that of device type 1a and device type 2.

[0092] Device Type 2: This refers to devices that possess both energy storage capabilities and independent signal generation and amplification capabilities. The communication capabilities of this type of device are similar to traditional IoT devices. The power consumption during signal reception or transmission is less than 1 milliwatt or less than 10 milliwatts.

[0093] It should be noted that the embodiments of this application only use the above three device types as examples to illustrate the types of AIoT devices. In actual applications, there may be other different device types, which are not limited in this application embodiment.

[0094] In some embodiments, the AIoT device 110 can communicate with the AIoT reader 130 (including interactive signaling and / or data, where data includes, but is not limited to, asset information, sensor data, etc.). For example, the AIoT reader 130 can read data from the AIoT device and send the data to the network device 120. The data can be the result of the AIoT device 110 executing commands such as read commands, write commands, disable commands, or start commands sent by the AIoT reader 130. For example, when the AIoT device 110 is a sensor, in a sensor data reading scenario, the network device 120 sends a read command to the sensor through the AIoT reader 130, and the AIoT reader 130 can acquire the data from the sensor.

[0095] The network device 120 described above may be a device that provides wireless interface transmission services for the AIoT device 110. This application embodiment does not specifically limit the form of the network device 120.

[0096] Network device 120 can be network-side equipment such as access network equipment. Access network equipment is sometimes also called access node. Access network equipment has wireless transceiver capabilities and is used to communicate with terminals. Access network equipment includes, but is not limited to, base stations, evolved NodeBs (eNodeBs), transmission reception points (TRPs) in the aforementioned communication systems, next-generation NodeBs (gNBs) in 5G mobile communication systems, access network equipment or modules of access network equipment in open RAN (ORAN) systems, satellites in NTN communication systems, base stations in future mobile communication systems, or access nodes in WiFi systems. Access network equipment can also be modules or units that can implement some of the functions of a base station. Access network equipment can be macro base stations, micro base stations, or indoor stations, relay nodes or donor nodes, or wireless controllers in cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenarios. Optionally, access network equipment can also be servers, wearable devices, or vehicle-mounted equipment, etc. For example, the access network equipment in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a roadside unit (RSU). Multiple access network devices in a communication system can be base stations of the same type or different types. Base stations can communicate with terminals directly or via relay stations. Terminals can communicate with multiple base stations using different access technologies. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or device form used in the access network equipment. In this application, the access network equipment is referred to as a network device.

[0097] In this application, the means for implementing the functions of a network device can be a network device itself, or a means capable of supporting the network device in implementing those functions, such as a processor, circuit, chip, or chip system. This means can be installed in or connected to the network device. In the technical solutions provided in this application, the example of a network device being used to implement the functions of a network device is used to describe the technical solutions provided in this application.

[0098] The AIoT reader / writer in this application can also be described as an AIoT reader, AIoT reading / writing device, AIoT reading device, or simply a reader / writer, etc., without limitation. The AIoT reader / writer acts as an intermediate node for communication between AIoT devices and access network devices or core network devices. This AIoT reader / writer can be an entity of the radio access network (RAN) (such as a base station or other network device) or a terminal device. A base station can have multiple readers / writers.

[0099] The terminal device in this application can be a wireless terminal device capable of receiving network device scheduling and instruction information. The wireless terminal device can be a device providing voice and / or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with wireless connectivity, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. For example, the terminal device can communicate with one or more core networks or the Internet via a radio access network (RAN). The terminal device can also be referred to as a terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminal devices can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, or satellite communication, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable device, vehicle, aircraft (such as drone, helicopter, airplane), hot air balloon, ship, robot, robotic arm, or smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the form of the terminal device.

[0100] In this application, the apparatus for implementing the functions of a terminal device can be the terminal device itself, or any apparatus capable of supporting the terminal device in implementing those functions, such as a processor, circuit, chip, or chip system. This apparatus can be installed in or connected to the terminal device. In the technical solutions provided in this application, the example of a terminal device being used to implement the functions of a terminal device is used to describe the technical solutions provided in this application.

[0101] Access network equipment and / or terminal equipment can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or in the air on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. This application does not limit the application scenarios of the access network equipment and terminal equipment. They can be deployed in the same or different scenarios; for example, both can be deployed on land simultaneously; or the access network equipment can be deployed on land while the terminal equipment is deployed on water, etc., and so on.

[0102] Taking a reader / writer as a base station or other network device as an example, in another possible topology, as shown in Figure 1(b), the communication system provided in this application embodiment may include: an AIoT device 110 and a network device 120. The network device 120 in this communication system has reader / writer capabilities, and the AIoT device 110 and the network device 120 can directly transmit data information.

[0103] It should be understood that the topology shown in Figure 1(b) is merely an example description, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. It should also be understood that the number of AIoT devices 110 or network devices 120 shown in Figure 1(b) is also merely an exemplary description, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. For example, the number of AIoT devices 110 may be 5, 10, etc.

[0104] The aforementioned network device 120 may include multiple network elements, which can exchange information through interfaces. The architecture of network device 120 will be described in detail below, taking as an example a network device 120 comprising a first network element, a second network element, a third network element, a fourth network element, a fifth network element, and a sixth network element.

[0105] Please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a network device provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 2, the first network element can communicate with other network elements through interface Nnef, the second network element through interface Namf, the third network element through interface Naf, the fourth network element through interface Nudm, the fifth network element through interface Nnrf, and the sixth network element through interface Nausf. Furthermore, the second network element can also communicate with terminal devices through an interface.

[0106] In some embodiments, assuming the terminal device is a UE, the second network element communicates with the UE through the N1 interface. In other embodiments, the terminal device is a RAN, and the second network element communicates with the RAN through the N2 interface. In still other embodiments, the terminal device includes both a UE and a RAN, the second network element communicates with the RAN through the N2 interface, and the RAN then communicates with the UE.

[0107] It should be understood that the types and number of network elements of the network device shown in Figure 2 are only an exemplary description. The network device may also include other network elements (not shown in Figure 2), and there may be multiple first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth network elements. This application embodiment does not limit this.

[0108] The first network element can be responsible for managing the network data exposed by the network device. The first network element can be located between the server and network device network elements, thereby ensuring that the server can securely access the network device. The first network element can also be located between different network elements of the network device; this application embodiment does not limit this. In some embodiments, the first network element can be a network exposure function (NEF). In other embodiments, the first network element can be an ambient internet of things-controller (AIOT-C). The AIOT-C can be separately located in the network device from the NEF, or it can be integrated into the NEF; this application embodiment does not limit this.

[0109] The second network element can be responsible for the access and mobility management of AIoT devices in the mobile network, such as the registration management of AIoT devices. In some embodiments, the second network element can be an access and mobility management function (AMF). In other embodiments, the second network element can be an ambient internet of things function (AIOTF). The AIOTF can be set separately from the AMF in the network device, or it can be integrated into the AMF; this application does not limit this.

[0110] The third network element can receive requests sent by the server to the network device, and it can also send data from the network device to the server. In some embodiments, the third network element can be an application function (AF).

[0111] The fourth network element can serve as a database for user data, providing services such as user authentication, user identification, access authorization, registration, mobility, subscription, and SMS management. For example, the fourth network element can store user account opening data and contract data. In some embodiments, the fourth network element can be a unified data management (UDM) function.

[0112] The fifth network element is used to register and obtain information related to network functions. In some embodiments, the fifth network element can be a network repository function (NRF).

[0113] The sixth network element can process user authentication data and provide user authentication and authorization services to other network elements. In some embodiments, the sixth network element can be an authentication server function (AUSF).

[0114] It should be understood that the above-mentioned network elements are all network elements in existing communication networks. The above-mentioned network elements can also be other network elements with corresponding functions. The embodiments of this application only provide a brief introduction to this. The functions and applications of the above-mentioned network elements are not limited to this.

[0115] The aforementioned AIOTF is also known as the core network element of the Environmental Internet of Things (referred to as the core network element).

[0116] In this embodiment, after receiving an AIoT service request from the AF, the AIOTF triggers the AIoT reader / writer to perform AIoT service operations on the AIoT device. The service request can be a data entry request or a command request, with the command request indicating a first command. The first command includes at least one of a read command, a write command, a disable command, or a start command. The AIOTF aggregates the data entry results or command execution results from the AIoT reader / writer and sends them to the AF. The command execution result is the command execution result received by the AIoT reader / writer from the AIoT device in response to the first command.

[0117] The radio interface protocol stack (or simply protocol stack) between AIoT devices and AIoT readers is primarily designed to support data transmission for AIoT devices. As shown in Figure 3, the protocol stack mainly includes: a media access control (MAC) layer supporting AIoT and a physical layer (PHY) supporting AIoT. The protocol stack can be divided into a control plane protocol stack and a user plane protocol stack. The control plane protocol stack supports control plane signaling and / or control plane data transmission for AIoT devices, while the user plane protocol stack supports user plane data transmission for AIoT devices.

[0118] The following section describes the protocol stack structure of AIoT devices, AIoT readers, and network devices under the two topologies shown in Figure 1.

[0119] Regarding the topology shown in Figure 1(a), Figure 4(a) illustrates the control plane protocol stack structure from the AIoT device to the AF, specifically including:

[0120] AIoT devices consist of an access stratum (AS), a non-access stratum (NAS), and an application layer. AIoT devices connect to the UE reader / writer via the access stratum.

[0121] The UE reader includes protocol layers such as the relay layer, radio resource control (RRC) layer, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, radio link control (RLC) layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer. The UE reader connects to the 5G radio access network via a relay.

[0122] Access network equipment includes RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, PHY, reader control layer, next generation application protocol (NGAP) layer, and lower-level protocol layers.

[0123] AMF includes the relay layer, RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, PHY, NGAP, service-based interface (SBI) layer, and lower layers.

[0124] AIOTF includes a relay layer, NAS layer, reader control layer, SBI layer, and lower-level protocol layers.

[0125] NEF includes a relay layer, an SBI layer, an application programming interface (API) based layer, and lower-level protocol layers.

[0126] AF includes the application layer, API layer, and lower-level protocol layers.

[0127] Figure 4(b) shows the user plane protocol stack structure from the AIoT device to the AF, specifically including:

[0128] AIoT devices comprise the AS layer, NAS layer, and application layer. AIoT devices connect to the UE reader / writer via the access layer. The UE reader / writer comprises the relay layer, AS layer, reader control layer, Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, Protocol Data Unit (PDU) layer, and Uu access stratum layers (Uu AS). Access network devices comprise the relay layer, air interface access layer, GPRS tunnel protocol-user plane (GTP-U) layer, and lower protocol layers. UPF comprises the relay layer, PDU layer, GTP-U layer, and lower layers. AIOTF comprises the relay layer, reader control layer, IP transport layer, SBI layer, and lower protocol layers. The contents of NEF and AF are described above in the description of Figure 4(a), and will not be repeated here.

[0129] Regarding the topology shown in Figure 1(b), Figure 5(a) illustrates the control plane protocol stack structure from the AIoT device to the AF, specifically including:

[0130] AIoT devices comprise the AS layer, NAS layer, and application layer. AIoT devices connect to AIoT readers / writers through the access layer; access network devices comprise the relay layer, access layer, NGAP layer, and lower layers; AIOTF comprises the relay layer, NAS layer, NGAP layer, SBI layer, and lower layers; NEF comprises the relay layer, SBI layer, API layer, and lower protocol layers; AF comprises the application layer, API layer, and lower protocol layers.

[0131] Figure 5(b) shows the user plane protocol stack structure from the AIoT device to the AF, specifically including:

[0132] AIoT devices comprise the AS layer, NAS layer, and application layer. AIoT devices connect to AIoT readers / writers through the access layer. Access network devices comprise the relay layer, access layer, NGAP layer, and lower layers; AMF comprises the relay layer, NGAP layer, SBI layer, and lower layers. AIOTF comprises the relay layer, NAS layer, NGAP layer, SBI layer, and lower layers; the contents of NEF and AF are described above in the description of Figure 4(a), and will not be repeated here.

[0133] After an AIoT reader sends a paging message to an AIoT device, it may trigger multiple inventory processes during this paging process. The AIoT reader sends multiple R2D messages to the AIoT device to trigger these multiple inventory processes. As shown in Figure 6, after sending a paging message, the AIoT reader sends multiple uplink time-domain resources and / or uplink frequency-domain resources to the AIoT device through multiple R2D messages. Multiple AIoT devices will perform random access on these multiple uplink time-domain or frequency-domain resources. Specifically, for each R2D message sent by the AIoT reader, at least one AIoT device will respond to the R2D message sent by the AIoT reader within a time slot.

[0134] In this embodiment, after AIOTF sends a storage request to the AIoT reader, it triggers the AIoT reader to send a paging message to the AIoT device. The paging message carries configuration information indicating the random access method between the AIoT device and the AIoT reader. Different random access methods result in different ways of receiving the storage results from the AIoT reader. These random access methods include contention-based random access (CBRA) and contention-free random access (CFRA).

[0135] For example, Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a one-round inventory process based on CBRA provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 7, it specifically includes the following process steps 1.1-1.7:

[0136] Step 1.1: AIOTF sends a disk storage request to the AIoT reader / writer. Correspondingly, the AIoT reader / writer receives the disk storage request.

[0137] The inventory request is used to request the AIoT reader to perform an inventory operation.

[0138] Step 1.2: In response to the inventory request, the AIoT reader sends a paging message to the AIoT device. The AIoT device then receives the paging message.

[0139] The paging message is used to wake up some or all AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the AIoT reader, enabling the woken AIoT devices to initiate a random access procedure. Optionally, the paging message includes the device identifier of the AIoT device. When the paging message includes the device identifier (ID) of the AIoT device, it is used to wake up the AIoT device identified by that device ID. When the paging message includes device identification filtering information, it is used to wake up the AIoT device corresponding to the device ID that matches the identification filtering information. The identification filtering information indicates partial information about the AIoT device's device ID; for example, it may include partial bits of the AIoT device's device ID. When the AIoT device's device ID includes identification filtering information, it is determined that the AIoT device matches the identification filtering information. When the AIoT device's device ID does not include identification filtering information, it is determined that the AIoT device does not match the identification filtering information. When the paging message does not include the AIoT device's device ID, it is used to wake up all AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the AIoT reader.

[0140] In this application, the device ID of the AIoT device can be a device permanent identifier (DPI), such as the serial number of the AIoT device, or a device temporary identifier (DTI), or other unique identification information that identifies the AIoT device. No limitation is made here.

[0141] Step 1.3: The AIoT reader sends a reader-to-device (R2D) message (e.g., an R2D trigger message) to the AIoT device, and the AIoT device receives the corresponding R2D message.

[0142] The R2D message (e.g., the R2D trigger message) includes resource information. This resource information includes uplink time-domain resources and / or uplink frequency-domain resources. This resource information is used by the AIoT device to send the first message (message 1, MSG1) to the AIoT reader. For example, if the resource information includes uplink time-domain resources, the AIoT device can send MSG1 to the AIoT reader within a single time slot of the uplink time-domain resources.

[0143] Step 1.4: Multiple AIoT devices send MSG1 to the AIoT reader / writer. The MSG1 message includes RN16, and the corresponding AIoT reader / writer receives the RN16 message.

[0144] RN16 includes a 16-bit random number. Multiple AIoT devices send MSG1 to the AIoT reader based on the uplink time-domain or frequency-domain resources included in the resource information. The AIoT devices sending MSG1 to the AIoT reader are all those that successfully connected randomly based on the resource information from the AIoT devices that initiated the random access process. For example, if the AIoT reader sends an R2D message to 10 AIoT devices, and the R2D message includes 5 pieces of resource information, 5 out of the 10 AIoT devices can successfully connect randomly based on the resource information.

[0145] As shown in Figure 7, MSG1 sent by AIoT device 1 to the AIoT reader includes RN16-1, MSG1 sent by AIoT device 2 to the AIoT reader includes RN16-2, and MSG1 sent by AIoT device 3 to the AIoT reader includes RN16-3. AIoT device 1, AIoT device 2, and AIoT device 3 are AIoT devices that have successfully connected randomly based on resource information.

[0146] Step 1.5: The AIoT reader sends MSG2 messages (including RN16) to multiple AIoT devices, and the corresponding multiple AIoT devices receive the MSG2 message.

[0147] The MSG2 message is the second message sent by the AIoT reader to multiple AIoT devices. The MSG2 message includes RN16 to enable reliable communication between the multiple AIoT devices and the AIoT reader. Optionally, the MSG2 message carries the uplink time domain resources and / or uplink frequency domain resources allocated by the AIoT reader to the AIoT devices.

[0148] Step 1.6: Each of the multiple AIoT devices sends a device-to-reader (D2R) message (including inventory results) to the AIoT reader / writer. Correspondingly, the AIoT reader / writer receives multiple D2R messages.

[0149] If, among multiple AIoT devices, the RN16 included in the MSG2 message received by each AIoT device is the same as the RN16 sent by that AIoT device to the AIoT reader, the AIoT device sends a third message (message 3, MSG3) to the AIoT reader. MSG3 can be a D2R message. The D2R message includes the inventory results of the AIoT device, which may include the identification information of the AIoT device.

[0150] For example, as shown in Figure 7, if the RN16 included in the MSG2 message received by AIoT device 1 is the same as the RN16-1 sent by AIoT device 1 to the AIoT reader, AIoT device 1 sends D2R message 1 to the AIoT reader. D2R message 1 includes the inventory result 1 of AIoT device 1. Similarly, D2R message 2 includes the inventory result 2 of AIoT device 2, and D2R message 3 includes the inventory result 3 of AIoT device 3.

[0151] Step 1.7: The AIoT reader sends the inventory result to the AIOTF, and the AIOTF receives the inventory result.

[0152] For example, after receiving inventory result 1 from AIoT device 1 and inventory result 2 from AIoT device 2, the AIoT reader can send inventory result 1 and inventory result 2 to AIOTF. After receiving inventory result 3 from AIoT device 3, the AIoT reader can send inventory result 3 to AIOTF.

[0153] For example, Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a one-round inventory process based on CFRA provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 8, it specifically includes the following process steps 2.1-2.5:

[0154] Step 2.1: AIOTF sends a disk storage request to the AIoT reader / writer. Correspondingly, the AIoT reader / writer receives the disk storage request.

[0155] Step 2.2: The AIoT reader sends a paging message to the AIoT device. The AIoT device then receives this paging message.

[0156] Step 2.3: The AIoT reader sends R2D messages (e.g., R2D trigger messages) to multiple AIoT devices, and the corresponding AIoT devices receive the R2D messages.

[0157] Among them, multiple AIoT devices are randomly connected to all AIoT devices after the AIoT reader sends a paging message to the AIoT device.

[0158] The specific implementation of the above steps can be found in the detailed description of Figure 7 in the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0159] Step 2.4: Each of the multiple AIoT devices sends a D2R message (including inventory results) to the AIoT reader / writer. Correspondingly, the AIoT reader / writer receives multiple D2R messages. The D2R message is AIoT MSG1.

[0160] Upon receiving an R2D message, each AIoT device sends a D2R message to the AIoT reader / writer. The D2R message includes the inventory results of the AIoT device, which may include the AIoT device identifier.

[0161] For example, as shown in Figure 8, when AIoT device 1 receives an R2D message, it sends a D2R message 1 to the AIoT reader / writer. D2R message 1 includes the inventory result 1 of AIoT device 1. Similarly, D2R message 2 includes the inventory result 2 of AIoT device 2, and D2R message 3 includes the inventory result 3 of AIoT device 3.

[0162] Step 2.5: The AIoT reader sends the inventory result to the AIOTF, and the AIOTF receives the inventory result.

[0163] As can be seen, after the AIoT reader receives the inventory results of the AIoT device, it needs to send the inventory results of the AIoT device to AIOTF. In one round of inventory, the number of AIoT devices responding to R2D messages may be huge. The AIoT reader may need to send the inventory results to AIOTF multiple times, resulting in the AIoT reader sending multiple uplink messages to AIOTF. There is frequent signaling interaction between the AIoT reader and AIOTF, and the device power consumption is high.

[0164] Furthermore, based on the above embodiments, after AIOTF receives the inventory result sent by the AIoT reader, AIOTF can trigger the AIoT reader to perform service operations to perform at least one of the read operation, write operation, disable operation or start operation on multiple AIoT devices.

[0165] For example, as shown in Figure 9, after AIOTF receives the inventory results 1 of AIoT device 1 and 2 of AIoT device 2 from the AIoT reader, AIOTF can send Command Request Message 1 and Command Request Message 2 to the AIoT reader. Command Request Message 1 triggers the AIoT reader to send a first command to AIoT device 1, and Command Request Message 2 triggers the AIoT reader to send a first command to AIoT device 2. After receiving Command Request Message 1, the AIoT reader sends R2D Message 2 carrying the first command to AIoT device 1. Similarly, after receiving Command Request Message 2, the AIoT reader sends R2D Message 3 carrying the first command to AIoT device 2. After receiving R2D Message 2, AIoT device 1 executes the first command and sends Command Response 1 to the AIoT reader; similarly, after receiving R2D Message 2, AIoT device 2 executes the first command and sends Command Response 2 to the AIoT reader. After receiving command response 1 from AIoT device 1, AIoT sends command response 1 to AIOTF; similarly, after receiving command response 2 from AIoT device 2, AIoT reader / writer sends command response 2 to AIOTF.

[0166] As can be seen, after AIOTF receives the inventory results from multiple AIoT devices, AIOTF needs to send command request messages to multiple AIoT devices. Correspondingly, AIOTF will also receive command responses from multiple AIoT devices sent by the AIoT reader / writer. This leads to frequent signaling interactions between the AIoT reader / writer and AIOTF, which puts great pressure on the intra-node processing capacity of the AIoT reader / writer and AIOTF, and is prone to business failures.

[0167] Furthermore, after AIOTF sends a readout request to the AIoT reader, the AIoT reader can send multiple R2D messages to AIoT devices within its coverage area to trigger multiple readout processes. Each readout process must be completed before the next can be triggered. Because the AIoT reader cannot know whether there is a command request message from AIOTF after each readout result is sent, it doesn't know whether it needs to wait or for how long, which can prevent subsequent readout operations from functioning correctly.

[0168] For example, as shown in Figure 10, after AIOTF sends a storage request to the AIoT reader, during the first round of storage, after the AIoT reader sends storage result 3 to AIOTF, the AIoT reader cannot determine whether AIOTF has sent a command request message to itself. The AIoT reader will continue to wait, which will cause the AIoT reader to be unable to execute the subsequent second round of storage process normally.

[0169] To address the issue of high signaling overhead caused by AIoT readers sending multiple inventory reports to the AIOTF during a single inventory process to transmit the inventory results of all second AIoT devices to the core network element, this application provides a communication method. After receiving the inventory results from each of the multiple second AIoT devices responding to the first R2D message, the first reader sends a single inventory report to the core network element containing the inventory results of each of the multiple second AIoT devices. Thus, by sending the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices in a single inventory report to the core network element, the first reader reduces the signaling overhead between the first reader and the core network element, eliminating the need to send the inventory results of each AIoT device separately.

[0170] The solution provided in this application will be described in detail below with reference to the corresponding flowcharts. It is understood that the illustrative flowcharts provided in this application primarily use different devices (e.g., terminal devices, network devices) as examples of the execution subjects of this interactive illustration to illustrate the method, but this application does not limit the execution subjects of the interactive illustrations. For example, the devices (e.g., terminal devices, network devices) in the illustrative flowcharts can also be chips, chip systems, or processors that support the implementation of this method on the device, or logic modules or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the device.

[0171] As a general statement, the message or signaling interactions involved in the interaction process of this application embodiment can be standard messages or signaling or newly introduced messages or signaling. This application embodiment does not make specific limitations on this.

[0172] Figure 11 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. It can be understood that the first reader / writer in Figure 11 can be any AIoT reader / writer in Figure 1, or it can refer to a device (e.g., processor, chip, or chip system) within an AIoT reader / writer. The AIoT device can be any AIoT device in Figure 1, or it can refer to a device (e.g., processor, chip, or chip system) within an AIoT device. As shown in Figure 11, the method includes the following steps:

[0173] S1101, the core network element sends a first disk storage request to the first reader / writer; correspondingly, the first reader / writer receives the first disk storage request.

[0174] The first inventory request is used to request the first reader to perform an inventory operation. The inventory operation refers to the operation of inventorying the AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the first reader.

[0175] The first reader / writer can be described as a first reader, a first reading / writing device, a first reading device, etc. The first reader / writer can be a terminal device or an entity of the RAN, but this application embodiment does not limit it.

[0176] S1102, the first reader responds to the first inventory request by sending a paging message and a first R2D message to the first AIoT device; correspondingly, the first AIoT device receives the paging message and the first R2D message.

[0177] The paging message is used to wake up some or all of the first AIoT devices, enabling the woken AIoT devices to initiate a random access process. The paging message may carry the device IDs of all or some of the AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the first reader / writer. The first R2D message includes resource information. For a description of the paging message and resource information, please refer to Figure 7 above; it will not be repeated here.

[0178] The first AIoT device refers to all or some of the AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the first reader / writer. Assuming the coverage area of ​​the first reader / writer includes 100 AIoT devices, the first reader / writer broadcasts paging messages and a first R2D message to all 100 AIoT devices.

[0179] S1103, after multiple second AIoT devices successfully connect randomly according to resource information, each of the multiple second AIoT devices sends an inventory result to the first reader / writer; correspondingly, the first reader / writer receives the inventory result sent by each second AIoT device.

[0180] The inventory result of the second AIoT device can be carried in the random access response (D2R message) sent by the second AIoT device to the first reader / writer. One inventory result can be an AIoT NAS data packet. Multiple second AIoT devices refer to all AIoT devices that have successfully connected randomly from the woken-up first AIoT device based on resource information.

[0181] The inventory results for the second AIoT device can include the device's identification information. This identification information refers to a unique code or identifier that identifies the second AIoT device; for example, the device identifier of the second AIoT device.

[0182] Optionally, after the first AIoT device initiating random access sends the first R2D message, there may be a situation where the first AIoT device initiating random access fails to be allocated resource information and thus fails to successfully access the network. Therefore, after allocating resource information to the first AIoT device initiating random access, any device that successfully accesses the network based on the uplink time domain resources / uplink frequency domain resources included in the resource information is referred to as the second AIoT device.

[0183] In this embodiment of the application, each second AIoT device can send a random access response to the first reader based on CFRA or CBRA. The specific implementation process can be found in the descriptions in Figures 7 and 8 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0184] S1104, the first reader sends an inventory report to the core network element based on the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices; correspondingly, the core network element receives the inventory report.

[0185] The inventory report is used to indicate the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices.

[0186] In this embodiment, after receiving a random access response from each of the multiple second AIoT devices, the first reader does not immediately send the inventory results of the second AIoT devices included in the random access response to the core network element. Instead, it stores the inventory results of each second AIoT device until the first reader receives random access responses from all the second AIoT devices, at which point the first reader obtains the inventory results of all the second AIoT devices. In Figure 7, the AIoT device sending MSG1 received by the first reader is a second AIoT device. Therefore, the first reader knows all the second AIoT devices. After obtaining the inventory results of all the second AIoT devices, the first reader encapsulates the inventory results of the multiple second AIoT devices into a single inventory report and sends this inventory report to the core network element.

[0187] Optionally, the first reader / writer can encapsulate the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices into a single NGAP message and send it to the core network element.

[0188] For example, as shown in Figure 12, assuming multiple second AIoT devices include AIoT device 1, AIoT device 2, and AIoT device 3, when the first reader receives D2R message 1 sent by AIoT device 1, the first reader stores inventory result 1 in D2R message 1; when the first reader receives D2R message 2 sent by AIoT device 2, the first reader stores inventory result 2 in D2R message 2; when the first reader receives D2R message 3 sent by AIoT device 3, the first reader stores inventory result 3 in D2R message 3. At this time, the first reader receives the inventory results of all the second AIoT devices. The first reader can encapsulate the inventory results of these three AIoT devices in a single NGAP message and send it to the core network element. That is, the NGAP message sent by the first reader to the core network element includes inventory result 1, inventory result 2, and inventory result 3.

[0189] For example, an NGAP message is as follows: Inventory Report(correlationID, readerID, inventory result1, inventory result2, inventory result3). Here, correlationID uniquely identifies a message, readerID represents the identification information of the first reader / writer, inventory result1 represents inventory result 1 for AIoT device 1, inventory result2 represents inventory result 2 for AIoT device 2, and inventory result3 represents inventory result 3 for AIoT device 3.

[0190] It should be understood that the number of second AIoT devices included in Figure 12 is only an example. In actual scenarios, the number of second AIoT devices is all AIoT devices that have successfully connected randomly based on resource information. Figure 12 uses CBRA as an example for random access, but CFRA is also applicable to the scheme of this application. This application will not further describe the implementation of CFRA with accompanying drawings. For details, please refer to the CFRA random access process in Figure 8 and the implementation process in Figure 12, which will not be elaborated here.

[0191] In the communication method of this application embodiment, after the first reader receives the inventory results sent by each of the second AIoT devices responding to the first R2D message, it sends an inventory report including the inventory results of each of the second AIoT devices to the core network element based on the inventory results of each second AIoT device. It can be seen that by sending one inventory report to the core network element, the first reader can send the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element. Compared to sending multiple inventory reports to the core network element, which would require multiple inventory reports, this reduces the signaling overhead of sending uplink messages from the first reader to the core network element.

[0192] In this embodiment, after the first reader sends the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element, the core network element can send a first command request message to the first reader to trigger the first reader to perform service operations on the multiple second AIoT devices, or it can send multiple first command request messages to the first reader to trigger the first reader to perform service operations on the multiple second AIoT devices. The service operations can include read operations, write operations, disable operations, or start operations, etc. The first reader sends a first command (e.g., read command, write command, disable command, or start command, etc.) to the multiple second AIoT devices, and after receiving the command responses from the multiple second AIoT devices, it sends the command responses from the multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element.

[0193] Optionally, after receiving command responses from multiple second AIoT devices, the first reader / writer can send command responses from multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element via a single command response message, or via multiple command response messages. Specifically, the following implementation methods are included.

[0194] The first implementation method, taking the example of a first reader / writer sending command responses from multiple second AIoT devices to a core network element via multiple command response messages, will illustrate the flow of the communication method in this application embodiment. For example, Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in this application embodiment. As shown in Figure 13, the method includes the following steps:

[0195] S1301, the core network element sends a first disk storage request to the first reader / writer; correspondingly, the first reader / writer receives the first disk storage request.

[0196] S1302, the first reader / writer sends a paging message and a first R2D message to the first AIoT device; correspondingly, the first AIoT device receives the paging message and the first R2D message. The paging message is used to instruct some or all of the first AIoT devices to initiate a random access procedure, and the first R2D message includes resource information.

[0197] S1303, each of the multiple second AIoT devices sends an inventory result to the first reader / writer; correspondingly, the first reader / writer receives the inventory results sent by the multiple second AIoT devices.

[0198] S1304, the first reader / writer sends an inventory report to the core network element based on the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices; correspondingly, the core network element receives the inventory report. The inventory report indicates the inventory results of the multiple second AIoT devices.

[0199] The implementation process of S1301 to S1304 is described in the above implementation process of S1101 to S1104, and will not be repeated here.

[0200] S1305, the core network element sends a first command request message to the first reader / writer; correspondingly, the first reader / writer receives the first command request message.

[0201] The first command request message is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command to multiple second AIoT devices. The first command includes at least one of a read command, a write command, a disable command, or a start command.

[0202] For example, assuming the first command includes a read command, the core network element sends a first command request message to the first reader / writer to request the first reader / writer to send read commands to multiple second AIoT devices, so that the first reader / writer can obtain the data information when the multiple second AIoT devices execute the read command.

[0203] In this implementation, the first command request message specifically includes the following three types of content:

[0204] In the first scenario, the first command request message consists of a device list and a first command request. The device list includes identification information for multiple second AIoT devices, and the first command request is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command.

[0205] Here, the identification information of the second AIoT device may include at least one of the following: the device ID of the second AIoT device, the access stratum identity (AS ID) corresponding to the device ID of the second AIoT device, the NGAP ID generated by the core network element, or the NGAP ID generated by the first reader or the base station where the first reader is located. For a detailed description of the device ID of the second AIoT device, please refer to Figure 7 above; it will not be repeated here. The AS ID of the second AIoT device is assigned to the second AIoT device by the first reader during the inventory process. The NGAP ID generated by the core network element is the identification information of the second AIoT device generated by the core network element to identify the relationship between the first reader and the core network element. The first command request message sent by the core network element to the first reader may carry the NGAP ID generated by the core network element. The NGAP ID generated by the first reader or the base station where the first reader is located is the identification information of the second AIoT device between the first reader and the core network element. The inventory report sent by the first reader to the core network element may carry the NGAP ID generated by the first reader.

[0206] It should be noted that for the same second AIoT device, the NGAP ID generated by the first reader or the base station where the first reader is located can be different from the NGAP ID generated by the core network element. Optionally, after the first reader or the base station where the first reader is located generates an NGAP ID and sends the generated NGAP ID to the core network element along with the inventory report, the core network element may not generate an NGAP ID and may directly use the NGAP ID generated by the first reader or the base station where the first reader is located.

[0207] In this application, the core network element can construct a first command request message and then encapsulate a device list including the identification information of multiple second AIoT devices and the first command request within the first command request message, sending it to the first reader / writer. Thus, the core network element can request the first reader / writer to send first commands to multiple second AIoT devices by sending only one first command request message, reducing signaling interaction between the core network element and the first reader / writer, and consequently reducing the energy consumption of both.

[0208] For example, as shown in Figure 14, assuming the inventory report received by the core network element includes inventory result 1 for AIoT device 1, inventory result 2 for AIoT device 2, and inventory result 3 for AIoT device 3, the core network element can construct a first command request, namely, Command request AIOT NAS PDU. The core network element can encapsulate the device list and the first command request together in the same NGAP message, namely Command Request message(correlation ID, Command request AIOT NAS PDU, deviceID list), where deviceID list includes the identification information of AIoT device 1, AIoT device 2, and AIoT device 3.

[0209] In the second scenario, the first command request message includes one message, which contains multiple second command requests. These multiple second command requests correspond to multiple second AIoT devices. The second command requests are used to request the sending of the first command to the second AIoT device corresponding to the second command request.

[0210] In this application, the core network element can construct a second command request (Command request AIOT NAS PDU) for each of the multiple second AIoT devices, and then encapsulate the multiple second command requests in a first command request message and send them to the first reader / writer.

[0211] For example, still using Figure 14 as an example, the core network element can construct a second command request for AIoT device 1, AIoT device 2, and AIoT device 3 respectively, namely Command request AIOT NAS PDU1, Command request AIOT NAS PDU2, and Command request AIOT NAS PDU3. The core network element can encapsulate these three second command requests in the same NGAP message, namely Command Request message(correlation ID, Command request AIOT NAS PDU1, Command request AIOT NAS PDU2, Command request AIOT NAS PDU3).

[0212] Optionally, each second command request may carry the identification information of a second AIoT device, or each second command request may carry a marker, with one marker corresponding to one second AIoT device, so that multiple second command requests can correspond to multiple second AIoT devices. It should be understood that the second command request is not limited to carrying the identification information or marker of the second AIoT device; it may also carry other information used to mark the correspondence between the second command request and the second AIoT device, as long as it allows one command request to correspond to one second AIoT device.

[0213] Therefore, by sending only one first command request message to the first reader / writer, the core network element can achieve the purpose of requesting the first reader / writer to send the first command to multiple second AIoT devices without the core network element sending multiple command request messages to the first reader / writer. This reduces the signaling interaction between the core network element and the first reader / writer, which is beneficial to reducing the energy consumption of the core network element and the first reader / writer.

[0214] In the third scenario, the first command request message includes multiple command request messages, each corresponding to a different second AIoT device. Each command request message includes a second command request from the corresponding second AIoT device. In this case, when the core network element sends the first command request message to the first reader / writer, it is actually sending multiple command request messages to the first reader / writer.

[0215] For example, the inventory report received by the core network element includes the inventory results of AIoT device 1, AIoT device 2, and AIoT device 3. The core network element needs to send a first command request message to the first reader / writer to request the first reader / writer to send a first command to AIoT device 1, AIoT device 2, and AIoT device 3. The core network element constructs a command request message for each of the three AIoT devices: Command Request message(correlation ID, Command Request AIOT NAS PDU1), Command Request message(correlation ID, Command Request AIOT NAS PDU2), and Command Request message(correlation ID, Command Request AIOT NAS PDU3). The core network element sends these three command request messages to the first reader / writer to request the first reader / writer to send the first command to AIoT device 1, AIoT device 2, and AIoT device 3.

[0216] S1306, the first reader sends a second R2D message to multiple second AIoT devices; correspondingly, each of the multiple second AIoT devices receives the second R2D message. The second R2D message carries a first command.

[0217] In this implementation, the first reader sends a second R2D message to each of the multiple second AIoT devices, ensuring that each second AIoT device receives the second R2D message. For example, the second R2D message may include a Command Request AIOT NAS PDU.

[0218] Optionally, the second R2D message sent by the first reader to multiple second AIoT devices may also include identification information of the multiple second AIoT devices. For a detailed description of the identification information of the multiple second AIoT devices, please refer to the description of the first case in S1305 above, which will not be repeated here. For example, the second R2D message may include a Command Request AIOT NAS PDU and an AS ID List. The AS ID List includes identification information of the multiple second AIoT devices.

[0219] It should be understood that since the first reader sends the second R2D message to multiple second AIoT devices via broadcast, each second AIoT device needs to parse the received second R2D message to determine whether it was intended for it, resulting in resource waste and low efficiency. However, when the second R2D message includes the identification information of the second AIoT devices, each of the multiple second AIoT devices can determine whether the second R2D message was intended for them by checking whether the identification information included in the message contains their own identification information. This eliminates the need for all second AIoT devices to parse the received second R2D message, improving the efficiency of the first reader in obtaining command response messages.

[0220] S1307, each of the multiple second AIoT devices sends a command response to the first reader / writer; correspondingly, the first reader / writer receives the command response from each second AIoT device.

[0221] The command response from the second AIoT device is used to instruct the second AIoT device to execute the command execution result generated by the first command. For example, the command response could be "Command Response AIOT NAS PDU".

[0222] Assuming the first command includes a read command, the command response of the second AIoT device is the data information obtained after executing the read command. For example, assuming the second AIoT device is a water meter used by each household in a community, after receiving the read command sent by the first reader, the command response of the second AIoT device is the meter reading displayed on the water meter. Assuming the first command includes a write command, the command response of the second AIoT device is the result of executing the write command. For example, the command response of the second AIoT device could be "write successful" or "write failed." Assuming the first command includes a disable command, the command response of the second AIoT device is the result of executing the disable command. For example, the command response of the second AIoT device could be "disable successful" or "disabled failed." Assuming the first command includes a start command, the command response of the second AIoT device is the result of executing the start command. For example, the command response of the second AIoT device could be "start successful" or "start failed."

[0223] S1308, the first reader sends multiple command response messages to the core network element; correspondingly, the core network element receives these multiple command response messages.

[0224] Among them, multiple command response messages correspond to multiple second AIoT devices, and a single command response message includes the command response of the second AIoT device corresponding to the command response message.

[0225] In this implementation, after the first reader receives the command response from each of the multiple second AIoT devices, the first reader can send a command response message including the second AIoT devices to the core network element. For example, each command response message sent by the first reader to the core network element is a Command Response message (correlation ID, Reader ID, Command Response AIOT NAS PDU).

[0226] Taking Figure 14 as an example, after the first reader receives the command response 1 sent by AIoT device 1, the first reader sends a command response message 1 containing the command response 1 to the core network element. After the first reader receives the command response 2 sent by AIoT device 2, the first reader sends a command response message 2 containing the command response 2 to the core network element. After the first reader receives the command response 3 sent by AIoT device 3, the first reader sends a command response message 3 containing the command response 3 to the core network element.

[0227] In some embodiments, the AF can send time configuration information to the core network element, wherein the time configuration information includes a duration, such as 5 seconds or 10 seconds. After receiving the time configuration information sent by the AF, the core network element can aggregate multiple command response messages received from the first reader / writer according to the time configuration information, and then send the resulting message to the AF. Therefore, the core network element does not need to send each received command response message to the AF immediately, but instead aggregates the received command response messages every 10 seconds and sends the aggregated message to the AF, thereby reducing the processing load on the core network element and the forwarding load on the network.

[0228] In the communication method of this application embodiment, after the core network element receives the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices sent by the first reader / writer through an inventory report, the core network element sends a first command request message to the first reader / writer to trigger the first reader / writer to send a first command to the multiple second AIoT devices. After receiving the command response sent by each of the multiple second AIoT devices, the first reader / writer sends a command response message including the second AIoT device to the core network element. Thus, the first reader / writer sends the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element through a single inventory report, reducing the signaling overhead of sending uplink messages from the first reader / writer to the core network element. Furthermore, by sending only one first command request message to the first reader / writer, the core network element can achieve the purpose of requesting the first reader / writer to send a first command to multiple second AIoT devices without needing to send multiple command request messages, reducing signaling interaction between the core network element and the first reader / writer, which is beneficial for reducing the energy consumption of both the core network element and the first reader / writer.

[0229] The second implementation method, taking the example of the first reader / writer sending command responses from multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element through a single command response message, will introduce the flow of the communication method of this application embodiment. For example, Figure 15 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by this application embodiment. As shown in Figure 15, the method mainly includes the following steps:

[0230] S1501, the core network element sends a first disk storage request to the first reader / writer; correspondingly, the first reader / writer receives the first disk storage request.

[0231] S1502, the first reader / writer sends a paging message and a first R2D message to the first AIoT device; correspondingly, the first AIoT device receives the paging message and the first R2D message. The paging message is used to instruct some or all of the first AIoT devices to initiate a random access procedure. The first R2D message includes resource information.

[0232] S1503, each of the multiple second AIoT devices sends an inventory result to the first reader / writer; correspondingly, the first reader / writer receives the inventory results sent by the multiple second AIoT devices.

[0233] S1504, the first reader / writer sends an inventory report to the core network element based on the inventory results of each second AIoT device; correspondingly, the core network element receives the inventory report. The inventory report is used to indicate the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices.

[0234] S1505, the core network element sends a first command request message to the first reader / writer; correspondingly, the first reader / writer receives the command request message. The first command request message is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command to multiple second AIoT devices.

[0235] S1506, the first reader sends a second R2D message to multiple second AIoT devices; correspondingly, each of the multiple second AIoT devices receives the second R2D message. The second R2D message carries a first command.

[0236] S1507, each of the multiple second AIoT devices sends a command response to the first reader / writer; correspondingly, the first reader / writer receives the command response from each second AIoT device. The command response from each second AIoT device is used to instruct the second AIoT device to execute the command execution result generated by the first command.

[0237] The implementation process of S1501 to S1507 is described in the above implementation process of S1301 to S1307, and will not be repeated here.

[0238] S1508, the first reader generates a command response message based on the command responses from multiple second AIoT devices.

[0239] One command response message includes command responses from multiple second AIoT devices.

[0240] In this implementation, after receiving command responses from each of the multiple second AIoT devices, the first reader does not immediately send each command response to the core network element. Instead, it stores the command responses until it receives command responses from all the second AIoT devices. The first reader then encapsulates the command responses from the multiple second AIoT devices into a single NGAP message, resulting in a single command response message.

[0241] For example, as shown in Figure 16, assuming the first reader receives Command Response AIOT NAS PDU1 from AIoT device 1, the first reader stores Command Response 1; the first reader receives Command Response AIOT NAS PDU2 from AIoT device 2, and stores Command Response 2; the first reader receives Command Response AIOT NAS PDU3 from AIoT device 3, and stores Command Response 3. The first reader encapsulates the above three command responses to obtain a single command response message, namely Command Response message(correlation ID, Raeder ID, Command Response AIOT NAS PDU1, Command Response AIOT NAS PDU2, Command Response AIOT NAS PDU3).

[0242] S1509, the first reader sends a command response message to the core network element; correspondingly, the core network element receives the command response message.

[0243] In this implementation, after the first reader constructs a command response message based on the command responses of multiple second AIoT devices, the first reader sends a command response message to the core network element. This achieves the goal of sending command responses from multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element without sending multiple messages, thereby reducing the signaling overhead of the first reader sending messages to the core network element.

[0244] As shown in Figure 16, the first reader sends a command response message to the core network element. It can achieve the purpose of sending command response 1 of AIoT device 1, command response 2 of AIoT device 2, and command response 3 of AIoT device 3 to the core network element without sending a separate command response message for each AIoT device. This reduces the signaling overhead of the first reader sending uplink messages to the core network element and improves the efficiency of sending command responses.

[0245] In the communication method of this application embodiment, after the core network element receives the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices sent by the first reader / writer through an inventory report, the core network element sends a first command request message to the first reader / writer to trigger the first reader / writer to send a first command to the multiple second AIoT devices. After receiving the command response sent by each of the multiple second AIoT devices, the first reader / writer generates a command response message based on the multiple command responses and sends it to the core network element. Therefore, by sending the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element through an inventory report, the signaling overhead of the first reader / writer sending uplink messages to the core network element is reduced. Furthermore, the first reader sends a single command response message to the core network element, eliminating the need for the first reader to send multiple command response messages to the core network element. This achieves the goal of sending command responses from multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element, reducing the signaling overhead of the first reader sending uplink messages to the core network element, improving the efficiency of sending command responses, and helping to reduce the energy consumption of the core network element and the first reader.

[0246] In some embodiments, after the first reader receives the inventory results of each of the multiple second AIoT devices, the first reader does not store the inventory results of the second AIoT devices, but instead directly sends the received inventory results of the second AIoT devices to the core network element.

[0247] This can be understood as S1104, S1304, and S1504 being replaced by the first reader / writer sending multiple inventory reports to the core network elements. One inventory report is used to indicate the inventory results of at least one second AIoT device.

[0248] For example, assuming the first reader receives the inventory results of AIoT device 1 and AIoT device 2 simultaneously, the first reader sends an inventory report 1 to the core network element, which is used to indicate the inventory results of AIoT device 1 and AIoT device 2; after receiving the inventory result of AIoT device 3, the first reader sends an inventory report 2 to the core network element, which is used to indicate the inventory result of AIoT device 3.

[0249] It should be understood that in this embodiment, only S1104, S1304 and S1504 are replaced by the first reader sending multiple inventory reports to the core network element. The specific implementation of other steps in Figures 11, 13 and 15 above is also applicable to this embodiment, and will not be described in detail here.

[0250] To avoid a situation where the first reader / writer cannot determine whether the core network element has sent a first command request message after sending an inventory report to the core network element, causing the first reader / writer to continuously wait and be unable to execute subsequent inventory processes normally, a first timer can be set in the first reader / writer. When the first reader / writer sends an inventory report to the core network element, it starts the first timer. During the execution of the first timer, the first reader / writer determines whether to continue executing subsequent inventory processes based on whether it has received a command request message from the core network element. Specifically, this includes the following two scenarios:

[0251] In one scenario, after the first reader sends an inventory report containing the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element, the first reader starts a first timer. If the first reader does not receive a command request message from the core network element during the first timer's execution, it can continue to execute the next round of inventory processing without waiting for a command request message from the core network element, ensuring the normal operation of the inventory service. If the current inventory process is the last round, the first reader ends the inventory process.

[0252] Optionally, if the first reader does not receive a second command request message from a core network element during the first timer's operation, the first reader sends a third R2D message to at least one third AIoT device. The second command request message requests the first reader to send a first command to at least one second AIoT device. The third AIoT device and the second AIoT device can be the same, different, or partially the same; this application does not impose such restrictions. The third R2D message requests at least one third AIoT device to initiate random access and to obtain the inventory results of at least one third AIoT device. For a detailed description of the second command request message, please refer to the description of the first command request message in S1305 above; it will not be repeated here.

[0253] For example, as shown in Figure 17(a), during the first round of inventory processing, when the first reader sends inventory report 1 to the core network element, the first reader starts a first timer. The duration of the first timer is T1. If the first reader does not receive a second command request message from the core network element within the duration of the first timer T1, the first reader executes the second round of inventory processing. A detailed description of the first and second rounds of inventory processing by the first reader can be found in the inventory process shown in Figure 7 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0254] In another scenario, after the first reader sends an inventory report containing the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices to the core network element, the first reader starts a first timer. If the first reader receives a second command request message from the core network element during the first timer's execution, the first reader sends a fourth R2D message to at least one second AIoT device according to the command request message. The second command request message requests the first reader to send a first command to at least one second AIoT device, and the fourth R2D message carries the first command.

[0255] For example, as shown in Figure 17(b), during the first inventory process, when the first reader sends inventory report 1 to the core network element, the first reader starts a first timer. The duration of the first timer is T1. Within the duration of the first timer T1, the first reader receives a second command request message sent by the core network element. The second command request message requests the first reader to send a first command to AIoT device 1 and AIoT device 2. After receiving the second command request message, the first reader sends an R2D message 2 containing the first command to AIoT device 1 and AIoT device 2. In response to the first command, AIoT device 1 sends command response 1 to the first reader, and AIoT device 2 sends command response 2 to the first reader. After receiving command response 1 and command response 2, the first reader sends a command response message containing command response 1 and command response 2 to the core network element.

[0256] In this embodiment, a second timer is configured in the core network element, corresponding to the first timer. The second timer is started upon receiving an inventory report sent by the first reader / writer. When the core network element receives the inventory report from the first reader / writer, it starts the second timer. During the operation of the second timer or after the second timer expires, the core network element can send a second command request message to the first reader / writer; wherein, the second command request message is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command to at least one second AIoT device.

[0257] As shown in Figure 17(b), when the core network element receives the inventory report sent by the first reader, it starts a second timer. If the core network element needs to obtain the command execution results of AIoT device 1 and AIoT device 2 executing the first command, it can send a second command request message to the first reader during the second timer's operation. In this way, after receiving the second command request message, the first reader executes the operation of sending the first command to AIoT device 1 and AIoT device 2, but temporarily suspends the next round of inventory processing.

[0258] If the core network element needs to obtain the command execution results of AIoT device 1 and AIoT device 2 executing the first command, and the core network element does not send a second command request message to the first reader / writer during the second timer's operation, then the first reader / writer continues to execute the next round of inventory processing. If, during the next round of inventory processing, the first reader / writer receives a second command request message from the core network element, then after executing the next round of inventory processing, the first reader / writer can, based on the second command request message, execute the operation of sending the first command to AIoT device 1 and AIoT device 2.

[0259] It should be noted that Figure 17 above is an example of the first reader sending an inventory report to the core network element to report the inventory results of all AIoT devices in a round of inventory. The method of the first reader reporting the inventory results of all AIoT devices in a round of inventory to the core network element through multiple inventory reports is also applicable to this application. The specific implementation process will not be described in detail here.

[0260] For example, as shown in Figure 18(a), when the first reader sends inventory report 1, which includes inventory result 1 and inventory result 2, to the core network element, the first reader starts a first timer. The duration of the first timer is T1. If the first reader does not receive a second command request message from the core network element within the duration of the first timer T1, the first reader continues to send inventory report 2, which includes inventory result 3, to the core network element.

[0261] As shown in Figure 18(b), the first reader receives a second command request message from the core network element within the runtime T1 of the first timer. This second command request message requests the first reader to send a first command to AIoT device 1 and AIoT device 2. Upon receiving the second command request message, the first reader sends an R2D message 2 containing the first command to AIoT device 1 and AIoT device 2. In response to the first command, AIoT device 1 sends a command response 1 to the first reader, and AIoT device 2 sends a command response 2. After receiving command responses 1 and 2, the first reader sends a command response message containing both commands to the core network element. After receiving a D2R message containing inventory result 3 from AIoT device 3, the first reader sends an inventory report 2 containing inventory result 3 to the core network element, and starts the first timer when sending the inventory report 2.

[0262] If a single inventory report sent by the first reader to the core network element only includes the inventory result of one second AIoT device, the first reader can be configured with multiple third timers, each corresponding to a second AIoT device. When the first reader sends the inventory result of the second AIoT device to the core network element, the third timer corresponding to the second AIoT device is started.

[0263] If the first reader does not receive a third command request message from a core network element during the operation of the third timer corresponding to the second AIoT device, the first reader sends a fourth R2D message to at least one third AIoT device. The third command request message requests the first reader to send a first command to the second AIoT device corresponding to the third timer; the fourth R2D message requests at least one third AIoT device to initiate random access and to obtain the inventory results of at least one third AIoT device.

[0264] If the first reader receives a third command request message from a core network element during the operation of the third timer corresponding to the second AIoT device, it sends a fourth R2D message to the second AIoT device corresponding to the third timer. The third command request message requests the first reader to send a first command to the second AIoT device corresponding to the third timer, and the fourth R2D message carries the first command.

[0265] Correspondingly, the core network element is equipped with multiple fourth timers, which correspond one-to-one with multiple second AIoT devices. The fourth timer corresponding to the second AIoT device is started when the inventory result of the second AIoT device is received from the first reader.

[0266] During the operation of the fourth timer corresponding to the second AIoT device or after the timer ends, the core network element can send a third command request message to the first reader / writer; wherein, the third command request message is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command to the second AIoT device corresponding to the fourth timer.

[0267] It should be understood that the flowcharts or scenario diagrams shown in Figures 1 to 18 are for ease of understanding only and are not intended to limit the embodiments of this application to the examples shown. In fact, those skilled in the art can make equivalent transformations based on the examples in Figures 1 to 18 to obtain more implementation methods.

[0268] The communication method provided by the embodiments of this application has been described in detail above with reference to Figures 1 to 18. The device embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 19 to 20. It should be understood that the communication device of the embodiments of this application can execute the various communication methods of the foregoing embodiments of this application; that is, the specific working processes of the various products below can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0269] In the embodiments described above, the terminal device may execute some or all of the steps in each embodiment; the network device may execute some or all of the steps in each embodiment. These steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of this application may also perform other operations or variations thereof. Furthermore, the steps may be executed in different orders as presented in the embodiments, and it is not necessary to execute all the operations in the embodiments of this application. Moreover, the sequence number of each step does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0270] Figure 19 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 19, the communication device 1900 can exist independently or be integrated into other devices. It can communicate with the network devices mentioned above to implement the operations corresponding to the first reader or core network element in the above method embodiments.

[0271] The communication device 1900 may include a transceiver unit 1901. The communication device 1900 may also include a processing unit. The transceiver unit 1901 can implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing unit is used for data processing. The transceiver unit 1901 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0272] Optionally, when the communication device 1900 is used to implement the function of the first reader / writer:

[0273] The transceiver unit 1901 is used to respond to a first inventory request from a core network element by sending a paging message and a first reader-to-device R2D message to a first AIoT device; wherein, the first AIoT device is all AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the first reader, the paging message is used to instruct some or all of the first AIoT devices to initiate a random access procedure, and the first R2D message includes resource information.

[0274] The transceiver unit 1901 is also used to receive inventory results sent by each of the multiple second AIoT devices;

[0275] The transceiver unit 1901 is also used to send an inventory report to the core network element; wherein the inventory report is used to indicate the inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices.

[0276] Optionally, when the communication device 1900 is used to implement the functions of core network elements:

[0277] The transceiver unit 1901 is used to send a first inventory request to at least one reader / writer; wherein the at least one reader / writer includes a first reader / writer, and the first inventory request is used to request at least one reader / writer to perform an inventory operation;

[0278] The transceiver unit 1901 is also used to receive an inventory report sent by the first reader / writer; wherein the inventory report includes the inventory results of each of the multiple second AIoT devices, the multiple second AIoT devices are all AIoT devices that have been successfully connected randomly according to resource information among the first AIoT devices that have been woken up, and the first AIoT devices are all AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the first reader / writer.

[0279] It should be understood that the corresponding processes performed by each unit have been described in detail in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0280] The processing unit in the preceding embodiments can be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuitry. The transceiver unit 1901 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuitry. The transceiver unit can also be referred to as a communication unit or communication interface. The storage unit can be implemented by at least one memory.

[0281] Since the communication device 1900 provided in this embodiment can execute the above method, the technical effects it can achieve can be referred to the above method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0282] Figure 20 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device 2000 may be a chip, chip system, or processor, etc., in a terminal device or network device that implements the above-described methods. The communication device 2000 can be used to implement the methods described in the above-described method embodiments; for details, please refer to the descriptions in the above-described method embodiments.

[0283] As shown in Figure 20, the communication device 2000 may include one or more processors 2010, which may also be referred to as processing units or processing modules, and can implement certain control functions. The processor 2010 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, such as a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, while the central processing unit can be used to control the communication device 2000 (e.g., a base station, baseband chip, user, user chip), execute software programs, and process data from the software programs.

[0284] In an alternative design, the processor 2010 may also store instructions and / or data that can be executed by the processor 2010 to cause the communication device 2000 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments.

[0285] In another alternative design, the communication device 2000 may include a communication interface 2020 for implementing receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the communication interface 2020 may be a transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver. The transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver for implementing receiving and transmitting functions may be separate or integrated. The aforementioned transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver may be used for reading and writing code / data, or it may be used for transmitting or relaying signals.

[0286] Optionally, the communication device 2000 may include one or more memories 2030, which may store instructions that can be executed on the processor 2010, causing the communication device 2000 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memories 2030 may also store data. Optionally, the processor 2010 may also store instructions and / or data. The processor 2010 and the memories 2030 may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0287] It should be understood that, in one possible design, the steps in the method embodiments provided in this application can be implemented by integrated logic circuits in the processor's hardware or by instructions in software form. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software modules can reside in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, or other mature storage media in the art. This storage medium is located in memory, and the processor reads information from the memory and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are not provided here.

[0288] In one implementation, the communication device 2000 may correspond to the terminal device in the above method embodiments and may be used to execute the various steps and / or processes executed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The processor 2010 may be used to execute instructions stored in the memory 2030, and when the processor 2010 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 2010 is used to execute the various steps and / or processes of the above method embodiments corresponding to the terminal device.

[0289] In another implementation, the communication device 2000 may correspond to the network device in the above method embodiments and may be used to execute the various steps and / or processes executed by the network device in the above method embodiments. The processor 2010 may be used to execute instructions stored in the memory 2030, and when the processor 2010 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 2010 is used to execute the various steps and / or processes of the above method embodiments corresponding to the network device.

[0290] It should be understood that the aforementioned processing device can be one or more chips. For example, the processing device can be a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system-on-chip (SoC), a central processor unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a programmable logic device (PLD), or other integrated chips.

[0291] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory used in the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0292] According to the method provided in the embodiments of this application, this application also provides a chip system, which includes one or more processors for calling and executing instructions stored in memory, thereby causing the method described in the embodiments of this application to be executed. The chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0293] The chip system may include input circuits or interfaces for transmitting information or data, and output circuits or interfaces for receiving information or data.

[0294] According to the method provided in the embodiments of this application, this application also provides a communication system, which includes the aforementioned AIoT device, reader / writer, and core network element.

[0295] According to the method provided in the embodiments of this application, this application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to execute the various steps or processes performed by the AIoT device, reader, and core network element in any of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0296] According to the method provided in the embodiments of this application, this application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing program code. When the program code is run on a computer, it causes the computer to execute the various steps or processes performed by the AIoT device, reader, and core network element in any of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0297] The computer-readable storage medium may be the aforementioned volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or it may include both volatile memory and non-volatile memory.

[0298] In the embodiments of this application, the terms and English abbreviations are exemplary examples given for ease of description and should not be construed as limiting the application in any way. This application does not preclude the possibility of defining other terms that can achieve the same or similar functions in existing or future agreements.

[0299] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When these computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated.

[0300] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0301] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the sequence number of each process does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0302] In summary, the above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the technical solution of this application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a first reader / writer, the method includes: In response to a first inventory request from a core network element, a paging message and a first reader-to-device R2D message are sent to a first AIoT device; wherein, the first AIoT device is all AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the first reader, the paging message is used to wake up some or all of the first AIoT devices, and the first R2D message includes resource information. Receive inventory results sent by each of the multiple second AIoT devices; wherein, the multiple second AIoT devices are all AIoT devices that have been successfully connected randomly from the woken-up first AIoT devices according to the resource information; Send an inventory report to the core network element; wherein the inventory report is used to indicate the inventory results of the plurality of second AIoT devices. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, After sending an inventory report to the core network element, the method further includes: Receive a first command request message from the core network element; wherein, the first command request message is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command to the plurality of second AIoT devices; According to the first command request message, a second R2D message is sent to the plurality of second AIoT devices; wherein the second R2D message carries the first command. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first command request message includes a device list and a first command request; wherein, the device list includes the identification information of the plurality of second AIoT devices, and the first command request is used to request the first reader / writer to send the first command; or... The first command request message includes multiple second command requests, each corresponding to one of the multiple second AIoT devices. The second command request is used to request that the first command be sent to the second AIoT device corresponding to the second command request. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The first command includes at least one of a read command, a write command, a disable command, or a start command. The method according to any one of claims 2-4, characterized in that, The second R2D message also includes identification information of the plurality of second AIoT devices. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The identification information of the second AIoT device is the device identifier ID of the second AIoT device; and / or, The identification information of the second AIoT device is the access layer identifier AS ID corresponding to the device identifier ID of the second AIoT device. The method according to any one of claims 2-6, characterized in that, After sending the second R2D message to the plurality of second AIoT devices, the method further includes: Receive command responses from each of the plurality of second AIoT devices; the command responses of the second AIoT devices are used to instruct the second AIoT device to execute the command execution result generated by the first command; Multiple command response messages are sent to the core network element. The multiple command response messages correspond to the multiple second AIoT devices. Each command response message includes the command response of the second AIoT device corresponding to the command response message. The method according to any one of claims 2-6, characterized in that, After sending the second R2D message to the plurality of second AIoT devices, the method further includes: Receive command responses from each of the plurality of second AIoT devices; wherein, the command responses of the second AIoT devices are used to instruct the second AIoT device to execute the command execution result generated by the first command; Based on the plurality of command responses, a command response message is sent to the core network element; wherein, the command response message includes the command responses of the plurality of second AIoT devices. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The first reader is equipped with a first timer, which is started when the first reader sends the inventory report to the core network element. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The method further includes: If no second command request message is received from the core network element during the first timer operation, a third R2D message is sent to at least one third AIoT device; wherein, the second command request message is used to request the first reader to send a first command to the at least one second AIoT device; the third R2D message is used to request the at least one third AIoT device to initiate random access and obtain the inventory results of the at least one third AIoT device. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The method further includes: If a second command request message is received from the core network element during the operation of the first timer, a fourth R2D message is sent to at least one second AIoT device; wherein the second command request message is used to request the first reader to send a first command to the at least one second AIoT device, and the fourth R2D message carries the first command. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to core network elements, the method includes: Send a first disk storage request to at least one reader / writer; wherein the at least one reader / writer includes a first reader / writer, and the first disk storage request is used to request the at least one reader / writer to perform a disk storage operation; The system receives an inventory report sent by the first reader / writer; wherein the inventory report includes inventory results of multiple second AIoT devices, the multiple second AIoT devices being all AIoT devices that have been successfully connected to the first AIoT device that has been woken up, based on the resource information, and the first AIoT devices being all AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the first reader / writer. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, After receiving the inventory report sent by the first reader / writer, the method further includes: Send a first command request message to the first reader / writer; wherein the first command request message is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command to the plurality of second AIoT devices. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The first command request message includes a device list and a first command request; wherein, the device list includes the identification information of the plurality of second AIoT devices, and the first command request is used to request the first reader / writer to send the first command; or... The command request message includes multiple second command requests, each corresponding to one of the multiple second AIoT devices. The second command request is used to request the first command to be sent to the second AIoT device corresponding to the second command request. The method according to claim 13 or 14 is characterized in that, After sending the first command request message to the first reader / writer, the method further includes: The system receives multiple command response messages sent by the first reader / writer, each corresponding to one of the multiple second AIoT devices. Each command response message includes the command response of the corresponding second AIoT device. The command response of the second AIoT device is used to instruct the second AIoT device to execute the command execution result generated by the first command. The method according to claim 13 or 14 is characterized in that, After sending the first command request message to the first reader / writer, the method further includes: The system receives a command response message sent by the first reader / writer; wherein the command response message includes command responses from the plurality of second AIoT devices; the command responses from the second AIoT devices are used to instruct the second AIoT devices to execute the command execution result generated by the first command. The method according to any one of claims 12-16, characterized in that, The core network element is equipped with a second timer. The second timer is started when the disk storage report sent by the first reader is received. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The method further includes: During the operation of the second timer or after the second timer ends, a second command request message is sent to the first reader / writer; wherein the second command request message is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command to the at least one second AIoT device. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a first reader / writer, the method includes: In response to a first command request message from a core network element, a second reader-to-device R2D message is sent to a plurality of second AIoT devices; wherein, the first command request message is used to request the first reader to send a first command to the plurality of second AIoT devices; the second R2D message carries the first command; the plurality of second AIoT devices are all AIoT devices that have been successfully connected randomly from the first AIoT devices that have been woken up; the first AIoT devices are all AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the first reader. Receive command responses from each of the plurality of second AIoT devices; wherein, the command responses of the second AIoT devices are used to instruct the second AIoT device to execute the command execution result generated by the first command; Based on the plurality of command responses, a command response message is sent to the core network element; wherein, the command response message includes the command responses of the plurality of second AIoT devices. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that, The first command request message includes a device list and a first command request; wherein, the device list includes the identification information of the plurality of second AIoT devices, and the first command request is used to request the first reader / writer to send the first command; or... The first command request message includes multiple second command requests, each corresponding to one of the multiple second AIoT devices. The second command request is used to request that the first command be sent to the second AIoT device corresponding to the second command request. The method according to claim 19 or 20 is characterized in that, Before sending the second R2D message to multiple second AIoT devices in response to the first command request message from the core network element, the method further includes: In response to a first inventory request from the core network element, a paging message and a first R2D message are sent to the first AIoT device; wherein the paging message is used to wake up some or all of the first AIoT devices, and the first R2D message includes resource information; Receive inventory results sent by each of the plurality of second AIoT devices; the plurality of second AIoT devices are all AIoT devices that have been successfully connected randomly from the woken-up first AIoT devices according to the resource information; Multiple inventory reports are sent to the core network element; one inventory report is used to indicate the inventory results of at least one second AIoT device. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to core network elements, the method includes: A first command request message is sent to the first reader / writer, wherein the first command request message is used to request the first reader / writer to send a first command to the plurality of second AIoT devices; the plurality of second AIoT devices are all AIoT devices that have been successfully connected randomly among the first AIoT devices that have been woken up; the first AIoT devices are all AIoT devices within the coverage area of ​​the first reader / writer. Receive a command response message sent by the first reader / writer; wherein the command response message includes command responses from the plurality of second AIoT devices. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The first command request message includes a device list and a first command request; wherein, the device list includes the identification information of the plurality of second AIoT devices, and the first command request is used to request the first reader / writer to send the first command; or... The first command request message includes multiple second command requests, each corresponding to one of the multiple second AIoT devices. The second command request is used to request that the first command be sent to the second AIoT device corresponding to the second command request. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, Before sending the first command request message to the first reader / writer, the method further includes: Receive multiple inventory reports sent by the first reader / writer; wherein, one inventory report is used to indicate the inventory results of at least one second AIoT device. A communication device includes one or more processors, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory, characterized in that: The processor executes the computer program to implement the method of any one of claims 1-11; and / or, to implement the method of any one of claims 12-18; and / or, to implement the method of any one of claims 19-21; and / or, to implement the method of any one of claims 22-24. A communication system, characterized in that, Including readers and core network elements; The reader is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-11; and / or, to perform the method according to any one of claims 19-21; The core network element is used to perform the method described in any one of claims 12-18; and / or, to perform the method described in any one of claims 22-24. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program / instructions stored thereon, characterized in that, When executed by a processor, the computer program / instruction implements the method of any one of claims 1-11; and / or, implements the method of any one of claims 12-18; and / or, implements the method of any one of claims 19-21; and / or, implements the method of any one of claims 22-24. A chip system, comprising a memory and a processor, characterized in that, When the program / instructions stored in the memory are executed by the processor, they implement the method of any one of claims 1-11; and / or, the method of any one of claims 12-18; and / or, the method of any one of claims 19-21; and / or, the method of any one of claims 22-24. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes: a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-11; and / or, implement the method of any one of claims 12-18; and / or, implement the method of any one of claims 19-21; and / or, implement the method of any one of claims 22-24.

Images