CN109729549B

CN109729549B - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN109729549B
Application number: CN201711034017.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨娇; 李岩
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-10-30
Filing date: 2017-10-30
Publication date: 2021-05-18
Anticipated expiration: 2037-10-30
Also published as: WO2019085728A1; CN109729549A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a communication method and a communication device, wherein the communication method comprises the following steps: a session management function network element acquires identification information, wherein the identification information is used for identifying a first data path in a plurality of data paths between user equipment and a plurality of anchor point user plane function network elements, and the data paths belong to the same session; and the session management function network element sends the QoS information of the first data path to a wireless access network, wherein the QoS information is used for establishing wireless resources. By adopting the embodiment of the application, the wireless resources can be established only for the data path with the data transmission requirement, so that the waste of the wireless resources is avoided.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus.

Background

The multi-homed technology is an important network service mode, and has the advantages of improving network reliability, realizing balanced load, reducing transmission delay, increasing network bandwidth and the like. With the development of the next generation Internet application and technology, the multi-homed technology of the sixth Version of Internet Protocol (Internet Protocol Version 6, IPv6) will have a wide application prospect. A User Equipment (UE) supporting a multi-homed technology may establish a plurality of Data paths with a Data Network (DN) through a plurality of anchor point User Plane Function Network elements (UPFs), where one anchor point UPF corresponds to one Data path. Currently, when the UE is in an idle state, if downlink data needs to be sent to the UE or the UE needs to send uplink data, a Radio Access Network (RAN) may simultaneously recover the multiple data paths, that is, Radio resources are respectively established for the multiple data paths, which may possibly cause waste of Radio resources.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application discloses a communication method and a communication device, which can establish wireless resources only for a data path with a data transmission requirement, thereby avoiding the waste of the wireless resources.

A first aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a communication method, including: the method comprises the steps that a session management function network element acquires identification information of a first data path, wherein the first data path is one of a plurality of data paths between user equipment and a plurality of anchor user plane function network elements, the data paths belong to the same session, the session management function network element acquires QoS (quality of service) information of the first data path according to the identification information of the first data path, and sends the QoS information of the first data path to a wireless access network, and the QoS information is used for establishing wireless resources for the first data path. In this way, the wireless resource can be established only for the data path with the data transmission requirement, namely, the first data path, and the waste of the wireless resource is avoided.

In a possible design, a specific manner for the session management function network element to obtain the identification information of the first data path may be: the session management function network element receives the identification information from the user equipment or the branch node user plane function network element, or the session management function network element determines the identification information after receiving the notification message from the anchor point user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path.

In one possible design, the method may further include: and the session management function network element determines a first data path from the plurality of data paths according to the identification information.

In one possible design, the identification information may include at least one of an internet protocol IP prefix of the user equipment, an identification of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, or a logical identification of the first data path.

In a possible design, the session management function network element may specifically send the QoS information of the first data path to the radio access network via the access and mobility management function network element.

A second aspect of the embodiments of the present application discloses a communication method, including: the branch node user plane functional network element receives downlink data from the anchor user plane functional network element through the first data path, determines identification information of the first data path corresponding to the anchor user plane functional network element, and sends the identification information of the first data path to the session management functional network element, wherein the identification information is used for determining QoS information of the first data path. In this way, the wireless resource can be established only for the data path with the data transmission requirement, namely, the first data path, and the waste of the wireless resource is avoided.

In one possible design, the identification information includes at least one of an internet protocol IP prefix of the user equipment, an identification of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, or a logical identification of the first data path.

A third aspect of the embodiments of the present application discloses a communication method, including: the method comprises the steps that user equipment acquires identification information of a first data path, wherein the first data path is one of a plurality of data paths between the user equipment and a plurality of anchor point user plane function network elements, the data paths belong to the same session, the user equipment sends the identification information to an access and mobility management function network element, and the identification information is used for determining QoS information of the first data path. In this way, the wireless resource can be established only for the data path with the data transmission requirement, namely, the first data path, and the waste of the wireless resource is avoided.

In a possible design, the identification information may be an identification of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, and the user equipment obtains, from the session management function network element, a first correspondence between an IP prefix of the user equipment and the identification of the anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, and obtains, according to the first correspondence, the identification of the anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path.

In a possible design, the identification information may be a logical identification of the first data path, and the user equipment may obtain, from the session management function network element, a second correspondence between an IP prefix of the user equipment and the logical identification of the first data path, and obtain the logical identification of the first data path according to the second correspondence.

A fourth aspect of the present embodiment discloses a communication method, including: the access and mobility management function network element receiving from the session management function network element first identification information for a first data path, the first data path being one of a plurality of data paths between the user equipment and a plurality of anchor user plane function network elements, the multiple data paths belong to the same session, and after receiving the first identification information, the access and mobility management function network element, receiving second identification information of a second data path in the plurality of data paths from the user equipment, if the second data path identified by the second identification information is not the same data path as the first data path identified by the first identification information, the second identification information is sent to the session management function network element, so that whether the data paths used for transmitting the uplink data and the downlink data are the same or not can be pre-judged, and the speed of establishing wireless resources for the data paths with the data transmission requirements can be increased.

A fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a communication apparatus, including:

an obtaining module, configured to obtain identification information, where the identification information is used to identify a first data path in multiple data paths between a user equipment and multiple anchor point user plane function network elements, where the multiple data paths belong to a same session.

And the sending module is used for sending the QoS information of the first data path to the wireless access network, wherein the QoS information is used for establishing wireless resources, and the wireless resources can be established only for the data path with the data transmission requirement, so that the waste of the wireless resources is avoided.

In one possible design, the obtaining module is specifically configured to:

identification information is received from the user equipment or the branch node user plane function network element. Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and after receiving the notification message from the anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, determining the identification information.

In one possible design, further comprising:

and the determining module is used for determining the first data path according to the identification information.

In one possible design, the sending module is specifically configured to:

and sending the QoS information of the first data path to the wireless access network through the access and mobility management function network element.

A sixth aspect of the embodiments of the present application discloses a communication apparatus, including:

and the receiving module is used for receiving the downlink data from the anchor user plane functional network element through the first data path.

And the sending module is used for sending the identification information of the first data path to the session management function network element, and the identification information is used for determining the QoS (quality of service) information of the first data path, so that the wireless resources can be established only for the data path with the data transmission requirement, and the waste of the wireless resources is avoided.

A seventh aspect of the present embodiment discloses a communication apparatus, including:

And the sending module is used for sending identification information to the network element with the access and mobility management functions, the identification information is used for determining the QoS (quality of service) information of the first data path, and the wireless resources can be established only for the data path with the data transmission requirement, so that the waste of the wireless resources is avoided.

In a possible design, the identification information includes an identifier of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, and the obtaining module is further configured to obtain, from the session management function network element, a first correspondence between an IP prefix of the user equipment and the identifier of the anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path.

The obtaining module is further configured to obtain, according to the first corresponding relationship, an identifier of an anchor user plane functional network element corresponding to the first data path.

In a possible design, the identification information includes a logical identifier of the first data path, and the obtaining module is further configured to obtain, from the session management function network element, a second correspondence between the IP prefix of the user equipment and the logical identifier of the first data path.

And the obtaining module is further used for obtaining the logic identifier of the first data path according to the second corresponding relation.

An eighth aspect of the embodiments of the present application discloses a communication apparatus, including:

a receiving module, configured to receive first identification information from a session management function network element, where the first identification information is used to identify a first data path in multiple data paths between a user equipment and multiple anchor user plane function network elements, where the multiple data paths belong to a same session.

The receiving module is further configured to receive second identification information from the user equipment after receiving the first identification information, where the second identification information is used to identify a second data path in the multiple data paths.

And a sending module, configured to send the second identification information to the session management function network element if the second data path identified by the second identification information is not the same data path as the first data path identified by the first identification information, so as to pre-determine whether the data paths used for transmitting the uplink data and the downlink data are the same.

A ninth aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a communication apparatus, including: a processor, a transceiver and a memory, the processor, the transceiver and the memory being connected by a bus, the memory storing executable program code, the transceiver being controlled by the processor for transceiving messages, the processor being configured to invoke the executable program code to perform the communication method of the first, second, third or fourth aspect.

A tenth aspect of embodiments of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, having stored therein instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the communication method according to the first, second, third or fourth aspect.

An eleventh aspect of embodiments of the present application provides a computer program product containing instructions, which when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the communication method according to the first, second, third or fourth aspect.

A twelfth aspect of embodiments of the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor, configured to enable a data transceiver to implement the functions recited in any one of the first aspect to the eleventh aspect, for example, to generate or process information recited in the foregoing methods.

In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the data-transceiving equipment. The chip system may be constituted by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

In the embodiment of the application, the session management function network element obtains identification information, the identification information identifies a first data path in a plurality of data paths between the user equipment and a plurality of anchor point user plane function network elements, the plurality of data paths belong to the same session, the session management function network element sends QoS (quality of service) information of the first data path to the wireless access network, wireless resources can be established for the first data path based on the QoS information, and wireless resources can be established only for the data path with data transmission requirements, so that waste of the wireless resources is avoided.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments or the background art of the present application, the drawings required to be used in the embodiments or the background art of the present application will be described below.

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating another communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart diagram of another communication method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application;

fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating another communication method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application;

fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating another communication method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating another communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a further communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device disclosed in the embodiments of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device disclosed in the embodiments of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device disclosed in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device disclosed in the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be specifically applied to various communication networks, such as: the technical solution of The present embodiment may also be used in future networks, such as a Fifth Generation Mobile Communication Technology (UMTS) network, a New Radio (NR) network, or a D2 Mobile Communication Technology (5G) network, which may also be called a New Radio (NR) network, or a 3578 network, as Long as there are similar problems to The GSM network, CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access, TD-SCDMA), UMTS (Universal Mobile Communication System, UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, etc. as Communication technologies are continuously developed, The present invention may also be used in future networks, such as a New Radio (NR) network, or a network that may be used in D2 Mobile Communication (2D) network, which may also be called a New Radio (2M) network, or The like, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be adopted.

The User Equipment (UE) described in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a Terminal Device, a Mobile Station (MS), a Terminal (Terminal), a Mobile Terminal (Mobile Terminal), a Subscriber Unit (SU), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Mobile Station (MB), a Remote Station (Remote Station, RS), an Access Point (AP), a Remote Terminal (Remote Terminal, RT), an Access Terminal (AT), a User Terminal (UT), a User Agent (UA), a Terminal Device (User Device, UD), a Mobile Device built in a computer or mounted on a vehicle, and the like. The terminal may be a wireless terminal or a wired terminal. The wireless terminal may refer to a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, which may communicate with one or more core networks via a Radio Access Network (RAN).

The RAN described in the embodiments of the present application may specifically refer to a base station in a communication system. A base station may refer to a device in an access network that communicates over the air-interface, through one or more sectors, with UEs and that may coordinate management of attributes for the air-interface. For example, the Base Station may be a Base Station in GSM or CDMA, such as a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a Base Station in WCDMA, such as a NodeB, an evolved Node b in LTE, such as an eNB or an e-NodeB (evolved Node b), a Base Station in a 5G system, such as an NR (or referred to as a gNB or referred to as another name), a Base Station in a future network, an evolved Node b in LTE that can support both LTE and 5G services after being upgraded, and the like, which is not limited in this application. The base station related to the present application may also refer to a Transmission Point (TP), a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), a relay device, or other network element devices with a function of a base station.

Please refer to fig. 1, which is a block diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 1 is applicable to a multi-homed scenario of IPv6 under a 5G communication system. The communication system described in this embodiment includes: RAN, Session Management Function network element (SMF), Access and Mobility Management Function network element (AMF), and UPF.

The SMF is used for establishing, modifying and releasing the session; and allocation of an Internet Protocol (IP) prefix of the UE. In addition, the SMF may also be used to determine a Service Session Continuity (SSC) mode of a session, selection of an anchor User Plane Function (UPF) element, and the like.

The AMF is responsible for registration management and mobility management of the UE. In addition, the AMF can also be used for functions such as lawful interception and the like.

In the example of fig. 1, the UPFs include a Branching node user plane function network element (BP UPF) and an anchor Point UPF. The UPF may be, for example, a Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN-GW), a Serving Gateway (S-GW), a Gateway GW forwarding plane, a Software Defined Network (SDN) Switch (Switch), and other devices.

The anchor point UPF is used for completing forwarding, statistics and the like of user messages, and one anchor point UPF corresponds to one data path.

The BP UPF is configured to receive downlink data sent by the anchor UPF, and forward the downlink data to the UE through the RAN. In addition, the BP UPF is further configured to receive uplink data sent by the UE from the RAN, and forward the uplink data to the corresponding anchor point UPF. After the UE enters an idle state, if an N9 interface between the BP UPF and the anchor point UPF is released, the anchor point UPF and the BP UPF are disconnected; if the N9 interface between the BP UPF and the anchor point UPF is not released, the connection between the anchor point UPF and the BP UPF is maintained.

Please refer to fig. 2, which is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication method described in this embodiment is applied to a scenario where downlink data needs to be sent to a UE when the UE is in an idle (idle) state. Fig. 2 exemplifies two anchor UPFs (anchor UPF1 and anchor UPF2), the communication method includes:

201. the anchor UPF1 receives the downstream data.

The multiple data paths may be established for the UE in the same session, one data path exists between each anchor point UPF and the UE, the data path between the anchor point UPF1 and the UE is denoted as a first data path, the data path between the anchor point UPF2 and the UE is denoted as a second data path, and the first data path and the second data path belong to the same session. The data path may be referred to as a session leg.

202. The anchor UPF1 sends a notification message to the SMF.

Accordingly, the SMF receives the notification message.

203. And the SMF acquires the identification information and QoS information of the first data path corresponding to the anchor UPF 1.

The identification information of a data path may include at least one of an IP prefix of the UE, an identification of an anchor point UPF corresponding to the data path, or a logical identification of the data path. For example, the SMF may assign an IP prefix of the UE, a logical identification of the data path during the establishment of the session. The identity of the anchor UPF may be the IP address of the anchor UPF or the anchor UPF identity ID. The logical identifier of the data path may specifically be a number, such as 1, 2, 3, etc., a character, such as a, b, c, etc., or a character string, such as path _ a, path _ b, path _ c, etc.

For example, for a case that after the UE enters the idle state, the N9 interface between the BP UPF and the anchor UPF is released, that is, the anchor UPF and the BP UPF are disconnected, when the anchor UPF1 receives Downlink Data (Downlink Data) from a Data Network (DN), it may directly send a Notification message (such as Data Notification) to the SMF, and when the SMF receives the Notification message sent by the anchor UPF1, it acquires the identification information of the Data path (i.e., the first Data path) corresponding to the anchor UPF 1.

Alternatively, the SMF may send a response message (e.g., a Data Notification Ack) to the anchor UPF1 for the Notification message. Not shown in the figures.

In a possible implementation manner, for a situation that after the UE enters the idle state, an N9 interface between the BP UPF and the anchor point UPF is not released, that is, a connection between the anchor point UPF and the BP UPF is maintained, after receiving downlink data, the anchor point UPF1 forwards the downlink data to the BP UPF, and when receiving the downlink data, the BP UPF obtains identification information of a data path (that is, a first data path) corresponding to the anchor point UPF1 and sends a notification message to the SMF, where the notification message carries the identification information of the first data path corresponding to the anchor point UPF1, that is, the identification information of the first data path corresponding to the anchor point UPF1, which is obtained by the SMF, is directly carried in the notification message sent by the BP UPF.

Optionally, the SMF may send a response message to the BP UPF for the notification message. Not shown in the figures.

After obtaining the identification information of the first data path in any of the above manners, the SMF may determine, according to the identification information of the first data path, a first data path corresponding to the UPF1 from the first data path and the second data path, and obtain Quality of Service (QoS) information of the first data path. For example, the SMF locally stores QoS information required by each data path, or the SMF interacts with another network element (e.g., a Policy Control Function (PCF) network element) to obtain the QoS information required by each data path.

204. And the SMF sends the identification information and the QoS information of the first data path to the AMF.

Accordingly, the AMF receives the identification information and QoS information of the first data path.

For example, the SMF may send an N11message (message) to the AMF and carry the identification information and QoS information for the first data path in an N11 message.

Alternatively, the AMF may send a response message (e.g., N11message Ack) to the SMF for the N11 message. Not shown in the figures.

It should be noted that the identification information and the QoS information of the first data path may be carried in the same message to be sent, or may be carried in different messages to be sent separately, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Alternatively, the SMF may invoke a service to pass information to the AMF. The information to be transferred includes identification information and QoS information of the first data path.

In a possible implementation manner, the SMF may also send only the QoS information of the first data path to the AMF without sending the identification information of the first data path, that is, the AMF does not need to know which data path the data path currently needing to establish the radio resource specifically is, for example, the SMF only carries the QoS information of the first data path and does not carry the identification information of the first data path in the N11message sent to the AMF. After the AMF sends the QoS information of the first data path to the RAN, the RAN may still establish radio resources for the first data path according to the QoS information of the first data path.

After receiving the identification information of the first data path, the AMF pages (paging) the UE through the RAN because the UE is in idle state at this time.

205. After receiving the paging message, the UE sends a Service Request (e.g., NAS Service Request) to the RAN.

Accordingly, the RAN receives the service request and forwards the service request to the AMF.

206. And the AMF sends the QoS information of the first data path to the RAN when receiving the service request forwarded by the RAN.

Accordingly, the RAN receives QoS information for the first data path.

For example, when receiving the service request of the UE, the RAN forwards the service request to the AMF, which may be sending an N2 message to the AMF and carrying the service request in an N2 message.

Alternatively, the RAN may invoke a service to deliver information to the AMF. The information to be communicated includes the service request.

When receiving the service Request forwarded by the RAN, the AMF may send an N2 Request (Request) or an N2 message to the RAN, and carry the QoS information of the first data path in the N2 Request or N2 message.

Alternatively, the AMF may invoke a service to the RAN that delivers the information. The information to be communicated includes QoS information for the first data path.

207. And the RAN establishes wireless resources for the first data path according to the QoS information of the first data path.

For example, after receiving the QoS information of the first data path, the RAN establishes radio resources required for the UE to communicate through the first data path according to the QoS information.

In a possible implementation manner, after the UE is switched from the idle state to the active state, when the anchor point UPF receives downlink data, assuming that the anchor point UPF2 receives the downlink data, after the AMF receives the identification information and the QoS information of the second data path corresponding to the anchor point UPF2 sent by the SMF, because the UE is in the active state, the AMF does not need to page the UE through the RAN and wait for a service request of the UE, but directly sends the QoS information of the second data path to the RAN, so that after receiving the QoS information of the second data path, the RAN establishes a required radio resource for the UE to communicate through the second data path according to the QoS information.

In this embodiment of the application, when downlink data needs to be sent to the UE, the SMF determines the identification information of the first data path after receiving a notification message sent by an anchor point UPF corresponding to the first data path, or acquires the identification information of the first data path from the notification message sent by the BP UPF, acquires QoS information of the first data path according to the identification information of the first data path, and sends the QoS information of the first data path to the RAN through the AMF. The RAN can establish the required radio resources for the first data path according to the QoS information. Although there may be multiple data paths between the UE and multiple anchor point UPFs, according to the solution of the embodiment of the present application, the RAN may establish radio resources only for the data path where there is a data transmission requirement (e.g., the first data path described above), thereby avoiding waste of radio resources.

Please refer to fig. 3, which is a flowchart illustrating another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method described in this embodiment is applied to a scenario where the UE needs to send uplink data when the UE is in an idle state. Fig. 3 exemplifies two anchor UPFs (anchor UPF1 and anchor UPF2), the communication method includes:

301. a session is established.

Wherein, the UE establishes a session through interaction with the RAN, the AMF, the SMF and the anchor UPF. In this process, multiple data paths may be established under the same session. The identification information of the data path may include at least one of an IP prefix of the UE, an identification of an anchor point UPF corresponding to the data path, or a logical identification of the data path.

During the process of establishing a session, the SMF may assign an IP prefix for the UE. Optionally, the SMF may set a first correspondence between the IP prefix and the identifier of the anchor UPF, and send the first correspondence to the UE. Optionally, the SMF may also allocate a logical identifier of the data path to each data path, set a second correspondence between the IP prefix and the logical identifier of the data path, and send the second correspondence to the UE. For example, the SMF sends the first or second correspondence to the UE via the corresponding anchor UPF. For example, the SMF may send an Internet Protocol Version six (IPv 6) Route Advertisement (RA) message to the UE through the corresponding anchor UPF, and carry a first correspondence between the IP prefix and the identifier of the anchor UPF or a second correspondence between the IP prefix and the logical identifier of the data path in the IPv6RA message.

For example, the UE establishes a data path (denoted as a first data path) between the UE and the anchor UPF1 by interacting with the RAN, AMF, SMF, and anchor UPF1 to complete the establishment of the session. Optionally, after establishing the first data path, the SMF sends, to the UE through the anchor UPF1, a correspondence between the IP prefix and the identifier of the anchor UPF1, or at least one of the correspondence between the IP prefix and the logical identifier of the first data path. If the data path between the UE and the anchor UPF2 needs to be re-established, since more than one data path needs to be established in total, at this time, the BP UPF should be added, and the UE establishes the data path (denoted as the second data path) between the UE and the anchor UPF2 by interacting with the RAN, the AMF, the SMF, the BP UPF, and the anchor UPF2, so as to complete the modification of the session. Optionally, after establishing the second data path, the SMF sends, to the UE through the anchor UPF2, a correspondence between the IP prefix and the identifier of the anchor UPF2, or at least one of the correspondence between the IP prefix and the logical identifier of the second data path.

302. The UE acquires identification information of a first data path.

For example, when the UE needs to send uplink data, the UE determines a data path (denoted as a first data path corresponding to the anchor UPF 1) for sending the uplink data, and acquires identification information of the first data path. The identification information may specifically be an IP prefix corresponding to the first data path among a plurality of IP prefixes allocated to the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, the identification information may specifically be an identification of the anchor point UPF1 corresponding to the first data path. For example, the UE first determines an IP prefix corresponding to the first data path, and obtains an identifier of an anchor UPF1 corresponding to the first data path according to a correspondence between the IP prefix and the identifier of the anchor UPF1 corresponding to the first data path.

In a possible implementation, the identification information may specifically be a logical identification of the first data path. For example, the UE first determines an IP prefix corresponding to the first data path, and obtains the logical identifier of the first data path according to a corresponding relationship between the IP prefix and the logical identifier of the first data path.

303. The UE sends identification information of the first data path to a RAN.

Accordingly, the RAN receives identification information for the first data path.

For example, the UE may send a Service Request (e.g., NAS Service Request) to the RAN, and carry the identification information of the first data path in the Service Request.

304. The RAN sends identification information of the first data path to an AMF.

Accordingly, the AMF receives identification information of the first data path.

For example, after receiving the service request sent by the UE, the RAN sends an N2 message to the AMF, and carries the service request in an N2 message.

305. The AMF sends the identification information of the first data path to the SMF.

Accordingly, the SMF receives identification information of the first data path.

For example, after receiving the N2 message sent by the RAN, the AMF parses the N2 message to obtain the identification information of the first data path, sends an N11message to the SMF, and carries the identification information of the first data path in the N11 message.

Alternatively, the AMF may invoke a service to pass information to the SMF. The information to be communicated includes identification information of the first data path.

After the AMF analyzes the identification information of the data path, the purpose of transmitting the identification information of the data path to the SMF is to determine whether or not to allow the SMF to establish radio resources for the data path.

306. The SMF acquires QoS information of the first data path.

For example, the SMF determines the first data path corresponding to the anchor UPF1 according to the identification information of the first data path, and obtains the QoS information of the first data path. For example, the SMF locally stores QoS information required for each data path, or the SMF interacts with another network element (e.g., a PCF network element) to obtain the QoS information required for each data path.

Optionally, the SMF may determine whether to allow establishment of radio resources for the first data path according to the identification information of the first data path. If yes, the QoS information of the first data path is obtained, and step 307 is executed.

307. The SMF sends the identification information and QoS information of the first data path to the AMF.

For example, after receiving the N11message sent by the AMF, if it is determined that the radio resource establishment for the first data path is allowed to recover the first data path, the SMF sends an N11message to the AMF, and carries the identification information and QoS information of the first data path in an N11 message.

308. The AMF sends QoS information for the first data path to the RAN.

Accordingly, the RAN receives QoS information for the first data path.

For example, the AMF may send an N2 request or N2 message to the RAN after receiving the identification information and QoS information of the first data path sent by the SMF through the N11message, and carry the QoS information of the first data path in the N2 request or N2 message.

309. And the RAN establishes wireless resources for the first data path according to the QoS information of the first data path.

In a possible implementation manner, in step 307, the SMF may also send only the QoS information of the first data path to the AMF without sending the identification information of the first data path, that is, the AMF does not need to know which path the data path currently needing to establish the radio resource specifically is, for example, the SMF only carries the QoS information of the first data path and does not carry the identification information of the first data path in the N11message sent to the AMF. After the AMF sends the QoS information of the first data path to the RAN, the RAN may still establish radio resources for the first data path according to the QoS information of the first data path.

In the embodiment of the application, when the UE needs to send uplink data, the UE determines identification information of a first data path used for sending the uplink data, sends the identification information of the first data path to the SMF through the RAN and the AMF, the SMF obtains QoS information of the first data path according to the identification information of the first data path, and if the SMF determines that it is allowed to establish radio resources for the first data path, the SMF sends the QoS information of the first data path to the RAN through the AMF. The RAN can establish the required radio resources for the first data path according to the QoS information. Although there may be multiple data paths between the UE and multiple anchor point UPFs, according to the solution of the embodiment of the present application, the RAN may establish radio resources only for the data path where there is a data transmission requirement (e.g., the first data path described above), thereby avoiding waste of radio resources.

It should be noted that, the UE may request to establish the radio resources for multiple data paths at the same time, the UE carries identification information of the multiple data paths in a service request sent to the RAN, after receiving the identification information of the multiple data paths, the SMF determines, according to the identification information, a data path that allows establishment of the radio resources among the multiple data paths, acquires QoS information of the data path that allows establishment of the radio resources, and returns the identification information and the QoS information of the data path that allows establishment of the radio resources, or the QoS information of the data path that allows establishment of the radio resources to the AMF, the AMF sends the QoS information of the data path that allows establishment of the radio resources to the RAN, and the RAN establishes the radio resources for each data path that allows establishment of the radio resources according to the respective QoS information.

Please refer to fig. 4, which is a flowchart illustrating another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method described in this embodiment is applied to a scenario where downlink data needs to be sent to the UE and the UE needs to send uplink data when the UE is in an idle state. Fig. 4 exemplifies two anchor UPFs (anchor UPF1 and anchor UPF2), the communication method includes:

401. a session is established.

For example, the UE establishes a data path (denoted as a first data path) between the UE and the anchor UPF1 by interacting with the RAN, AMF, SMF, and anchor UPF1 to complete the establishment of the session. Optionally, after establishing the first data path, the SMF sends, to the UE through the anchor UPF1, a correspondence between the IP prefix and the identifier of the anchor UPF1, or at least one of the correspondence between the IP prefix and the logical identifier of the first data path. If the data path between the UE and the anchor point UPF2 needs to be re-established, since more than one data path needs to be established in total, BP UPF should be added at this time, and the UE interacts with RAN, AMF, SMF, BP UPF, and anchor point UPF2 to establish the data path between the UE and the anchor point UPF2, so as to complete session modification. Optionally, after establishing the data path between the UE and the anchor UPF2, the SMF sends, to the UE through the anchor UPF2, at least one of a correspondence between the IP prefix and the identifier of the anchor UPF2, or a correspondence between the IP prefix and the logical identifier of the data path corresponding to the anchor UPF 2.

402. The anchor UPF1 receives the downstream data.

403. The anchor UPF1 sends a notification message to the SMF.

Accordingly, the SMF receives the notification message.

404. The SMF obtains first identification information and QoS information of a first data path corresponding to the anchor UPF 1.

405. The SMF sends the first identification information and the QoS information of the first data path to the AMF.

Accordingly, the AMF receives the first identification information and the QoS information of the first data path.

The specific implementation manner of steps 402 to 405 may refer to the related description in steps 201 to 204 in the communication method flow shown in fig. 2, and is not described herein again.

406. The UE acquires second identification information of a second data path.

For example, after receiving the first identification information of the first data path, the AMF pages the UE through the RAN because the UE is in idle state at this time. After receiving the paging message, when uplink data needs to be sent, the UE determines a data path (denoted as a second data path) for sending the uplink data, and acquires second identification information of the second data path. The second identification information may specifically be an IP prefix corresponding to the second data path among a plurality of IP prefixes allocated to the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, the second identification information may specifically be an identification of an anchor point UPF corresponding to the second data path. For example, the UE first determines an IP prefix corresponding to the second data path, and obtains the identifier of the anchor point UPF corresponding to the second data path according to the correspondence between the IP prefix and the identifier of the anchor point UPF corresponding to the second data path.

In a possible implementation, the identification information may specifically be a logical identification of the second data path. For example, the UE first determines an IP prefix corresponding to the second data path, and obtains the logical identifier of the second data path according to a corresponding relationship between the IP prefix and the logical identifier of the second data path.

407. The UE sends second identification information of the second data path to the RAN.

Accordingly, the RAN receives second identification information for the second data path.

For example, the UE may send a service request to the RAN, and carry the second identification information of the second data path in the service request.

408. The RAN sends second identification information of the second data path to the AMF.

Accordingly, the AMF receives second identification information of the second data path.

409. The AMF determines that the second data path identified by the second identification information is not the same data path as the first data path identified by the first identification information.

For example, after receiving the N2 message sent by the RAN, the AMF parses the N2 message to obtain the second identification information of the second data path. The AMF compares the second identification information with the first identification information of the first data path received in step 405, and determines that the second data path is not the same data path as the first data path if the second identification information is different from the first identification information or does not satisfy a preset correspondence.

The second identification information is different from the first identification information or does not satisfy a preset corresponding relationship, which means that:

the second identification information is the same type as the first identification information, and the second identification information is different from the first identification information. For example, the second identification information and the first identification information are both IP prefixes, and if the IP prefix corresponding to the second identification information is different from the IP prefix corresponding to the first identification information, it indicates that the second data path identified by the second identification information is not the same data path as the first data path identified by the first identification information.

When the type of the second identification information is different from that of the first identification information, the second identification information and the first identification information do not meet the preset corresponding relationship. For example, the second identification information is an IP prefix, the first identification information is a logical identification of the first data path, and if the IP prefix and the logical identification of the first data path do not satisfy the preset correspondence, it indicates that the second data path identified by the second identification information and the first data path identified by the first identification information are not the same data path.

It should be noted that, if the type of the second identification information is the same as that of the first identification information, and the second identification information is the same as that of the first identification information, or if the type of the second identification information is different from that of the first identification information, for example, the second identification information is an IP prefix, and the first identification information is a logical identification of the first data path, but the second identification information and the first identification information satisfy a preset corresponding relationship, it indicates that the second data path is the same data path as the first data path. Since the AMF has received the QoS information of the first data path acquired by the SMF in step 405, it is not necessary to send the second identification information of the second data path to the SMF to acquire the QoS information of the second data path, and thus the process does not execute steps 410 to 412.

410. The AMF sends second identification information of the second data path to the SMF.

Accordingly, the SMF receives second identification information of the second data path.

For example, when determining that the second data path is not the same data path as the first data path, the AMF sends an N11message to the SMF, and carries the second identification information of the second data path in an N11 message.

Alternatively, the AMF may invoke a service to pass information to the SMF. The information to be transferred includes second identification information of the second data path.

411. The SMF acquires QoS information of the second data path.

For example, after receiving the N11message sent by the AMF, if it is determined that the radio resource establishment for the second data path is allowed, the SMF acquires the QoS information of the second data path according to the second identification information of the second data path.

412. The SMF sends second identification information and QoS information of the second data path to the AMF.

Accordingly, the AMF receives second identification information and QoS information of the second data path.

For example, the SMF sends an N11message to the AMF and carries the second identification information and QoS information of the second data path in an N11 message.

Alternatively, the SMF may invoke a service to pass information to the AMF. The information to be transferred includes second identification information and QoS information of the second data path.

In a possible implementation manner, the SMF may also send only the QoS information of the second data path to the AMF without sending the identification information of the second data path, that is, the AMF does not need to know which path the data path currently needing to establish the radio resource specifically is, for example, the SMF only carries the QoS information of the second data path and does not carry the identification information of the second data path in the N11message sent to the AMF. After the AMF sends the QoS information of the second data path to the RAN, the RAN may still establish radio resources for the second data path according to the QoS information of the second data path.

413. The AMF sends QoS information of the first data path and/or QoS information of the second data path to the RAN.

Accordingly, the RAN receives QoS information for the first data path and/or QoS information for the second data path.

For example, if the AMF receives the second identification information and QoS information of the second data path returned by the SMF, the AMF sends an N2 request or N2 message to the RAN and carries the QoS information of the first data path and the QoS information of the second data path in the N2 request or N2 message.

Alternatively, the AMF may invoke a service to the RAN that delivers the information. The information to be transferred includes QoS information of the first data path and QoS information of the second data path.

If the AMF does not receive the second identification information and the QoS information of the second data path returned by the SMF, the AMF sends an N2 request or N2 message to the RAN, and only carries the QoS information of the first data path in the N2 request or N2 message.

414. And the RAN establishes wireless resources for the first data path and/or the second data path according to the QoS information of the first data path and/or the QoS information of the second data path.

For example, the RAN establishes radio resources for a corresponding data path according to the received QoS information, establishes radio resources for a first data path according to the QoS information of the first data path if the received N2 request or N2 message includes only the QoS information of the first data path, establishes radio resources for the first data path according to the QoS information of the first data path if the received N2 request or N2 message includes the QoS information of the first data path and the second data path, and establishes radio resources for the second data path according to the QoS information of the second data path.

In this embodiment, the SMF obtains QoS information of a first data path used for transmitting downlink data according to identification information of the first data path, and sends the identification information and the QoS information of the first data path to the AMF. The AMF receives, from the UE through the RAN, identification information of a second data path for transmitting uplink data. And the AMF compares the identification information of the second data path with the identification information of the first data path, if the identification information of the second data path is different from the identification information of the first data path or does not meet the preset corresponding relationship, the AMF determines that the second data path is not the same as the first data path, so that the identification information of the second data path is sent to the SMF to obtain the QoS information of the second data path, and the QoS information of the first data path and the QoS information of the second data path are sent to the RAN to establish wireless resources for the first data path for transmitting downlink data and the second data path for transmitting uplink data respectively. If the AMF determines that the second data path is the same data path as the first data path, the AMF does not need to send the identification information of the second data path to the SMF to acquire the QoS information of the second data path, and the establishment of the wireless resource for the first data path which is used for transmitting the downlink data and the uplink data at the same time is realized by sending the QoS information of the first data path to the RAN. Therefore, whether the data paths used for transmitting the uplink data and the downlink data are the same or not is judged in advance, so that the condition that the QoS information is acquired for the same data path twice can be avoided, the speed of establishing the wireless resources for the data path with the data transmission requirement can be increased, the wireless resources can be established only for the data path with the data transmission requirement, and the waste of the wireless resources is avoided.

Please refer to fig. 5, which is a flowchart illustrating another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method described in this embodiment includes:

501. and the session management function network element acquires the identification information.

The identification information is used for identifying a first data path in a plurality of data paths between the user equipment and a plurality of anchor user plane function network elements. The multiple data paths belong to the same session.

In a possible implementation manner, the identification information includes at least one of an IP prefix of the user equipment, an identification of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, or a logical identification of the first data path.

In a possible implementation manner, a specific implementation manner of the session management function network element acquiring the identification information is as follows:

the session management function network element receives the identification information from the user equipment or the branch node user plane function network element.

The specific implementation manner of the session management function network element receiving the identification information from the user equipment may refer to steps 303 to 305 in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

The specific implementation manner of the session management function network element receiving the identification information from the branch node user plane function network element may refer to step 203 in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

In a possible implementation manner, a specific implementation manner of the session management function network element acquiring the identification information is as follows: and after receiving the notification message from the anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, the session management function network element determines the identification information.

After receiving the notification message from the anchor user plane functional network element corresponding to the first data path, the specific implementation manner of determining the identifier information may refer to steps 202 and 203 in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

502. And the session management function network element sends the QoS information of the first data path to a wireless access network.

Wherein the QoS information is used for establishment of radio resources.

In one possible implementation, the session management function network element determines the first data path according to the identification information.

In a possible implementation manner, a specific implementation manner in which the session management function network element sends the QoS information of the first data path to the radio access network is as follows:

and the session management function network element sends the QoS information of the first data path to the wireless access network through the access and mobility management function network element.

The specific implementation manner of the session management function network element sending the QoS information of the first data path to the radio access network may refer to steps 204 and 206 in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the application, a session management function network element obtains identification information, the identification information identifies a first data path in a plurality of data paths between a user equipment and a plurality of anchor user plane function network elements, the plurality of data paths belong to the same session, the session management function network element sends quality of service (QoS) information of the first data path to a wireless access network, and wireless resources can be established for the first data path based on the QoS information. Although there may be multiple data paths between the user equipment and multiple anchor user plane function network elements, according to the solution of the embodiment of the present application, the radio access network may only establish radio resources for the data path (e.g. the first data path described above) where there is a data transmission requirement, thereby avoiding waste of radio resources.

Please refer to fig. 6, which is a flowchart illustrating another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method described in this embodiment includes:

601. and the branch node user plane functional network element receives downlink data from the anchor user plane functional network element through the first data path.

602. And the branch node user plane function network element sends the identification information of the first data path to a session management function network element.

Wherein the identification information is used for determination of quality of service, QoS, information for the first data path.

For a specific implementation manner of sending, by the user plane functional network element of the branch node, the identifier information of the first data path to the session management functional network element, reference may be made to step 203 in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

In this embodiment, the branch node user plane functional network element receives downlink data from the anchor user plane functional network element through the first data path, determines identification information of the first data path corresponding to the anchor user plane functional network element, and sends the identification information of the first data path to the session management functional network element, where the identification information is used to determine QoS information of the first data path. Although there may be multiple data paths between the user equipment and multiple anchor user plane function network elements, according to the solution of the embodiment of the present application, the radio access network may only establish radio resources for the data path (e.g. the first data path described above) where there is a data transmission requirement, thereby avoiding waste of radio resources.

Please refer to fig. 7, which is a flowchart illustrating another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method described in this embodiment includes:

701. the user equipment acquires the identification information.

In a possible implementation manner, the identification information includes an identification of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, and the communication method further includes:

the user equipment acquires a first corresponding relation between an IP prefix of the user equipment and an identifier of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path from the session management function network element, and acquires the identifier of the anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path according to the first corresponding relation.

In one possible implementation, the identification information includes a logical identification of the first data path, and the communication method further includes:

and the user equipment acquires a second corresponding relation between the IP prefix of the user equipment and the logic identifier of the first data path from the session management function network element, and acquires the logic identifier of the first data path according to the second corresponding relation.

The specific implementation manner of the user equipment acquiring the identification information may refer to step 302 in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

702. And the user equipment sends the identification information to an access and mobility management function network element.

The specific implementation manner of sending the identification information to the access and mobility management function network element by the user equipment may refer to steps 303 and 304 in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the application, the user equipment acquires identification information of a first data path, the first data path is one of a plurality of data paths between the user equipment and a plurality of anchor user plane function network elements, the plurality of data paths belong to the same session, the user equipment sends the identification information to an access and mobility management function network element, and the identification information is used for determining the QoS information of the first data path. Although there may be multiple data paths between the user equipment and multiple anchor user plane function network elements, according to the solution of the embodiment of the present application, the radio access network may only establish radio resources for the data path (e.g. the first data path described above) where there is a data transmission requirement, thereby avoiding waste of radio resources.

Please refer to fig. 8, which is a flowchart illustrating another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method described in this embodiment includes:

801. the access and mobility management function network element receives the first identification information from the session management function network element.

The first identification information is used for identifying a first data path in a plurality of data paths between the user equipment and a plurality of anchor user plane function network elements. The multiple data paths belong to the same session.

The specific implementation manner of the access and mobility management function network element receiving the first identifier information from the session management function network element may refer to step 204 in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

802. And after receiving the first identification information, the access and mobility management function network element receives second identification information from the user equipment.

Wherein the second identification information is used for identifying a second data path in the plurality of data paths.

The specific implementation manner of the network element with access and mobility management function receiving the second identifier information from the user equipment may refer to steps 407 and 408 in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

803. If the second data path identified by the second identification information is not the same data path as the first data path identified by the first identification information, the access and mobility management function network element sends the second identification information to the session management function network element.

Wherein, the specific implementation manner of determining, by the access and mobility management function network element, that the second data path identified by the second identification information and the first data path identified by the first identification information are not the same data path, and sending the second identification information to the session management function network element may refer to steps 409 and 410 in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

In an embodiment of the application, the access and mobility management function network element receives, from the session management function network element, first identification information of a first data path, the first data path being one of a plurality of data paths between the user equipment and a plurality of anchor user plane function network elements, the multiple data paths belong to the same session, and after receiving the first identification information, the access and mobility management function network element, receiving second identification information of a second data path in the multiple data paths from the user equipment, if the second identification information is different from the first identification information or does not meet a preset corresponding relationship, determining that the second data path is not the same as the first data path, therefore, the second identification information is sent to the session management function network element, whether the data paths used for transmitting the uplink data and the downlink data are the same or not can be judged in advance, and the speed of establishing wireless resources for the data paths with the data transmission requirements can be increased.

Please refer to fig. 9, which is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication apparatus described in this embodiment is configured to perform the foregoing corresponding method implemented by the SMF, and the communication apparatus includes:

an obtaining module 901, configured to obtain identification information, where the identification information is used to identify a first data path in multiple data paths between a user equipment and multiple anchor user plane function network elements, where the multiple data paths belong to a same session.

A sending module 902, configured to send, to a radio access network, QoS information of the quality of service of the first data path, where the QoS information is used for establishing a radio resource.

In a possible implementation manner, the obtaining module 901 is specifically configured to:

and receiving the identification information from the user equipment or the branch node user plane function network element. Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and determining the identification information after receiving a notification message from the anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path.

In one possible implementation, the communication apparatus further includes:

a determining module 903, configured to determine the first data path according to the identification information.

In a possible implementation manner, the identification information includes at least one of an internet protocol IP prefix of the user equipment, an identification of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, or a logical identification of the first data path.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending module 902 is specifically configured to:

and sending the QoS information of the first data path to the wireless access network through an access and mobility management function network element.

It can be understood that the functions of each functional module of the communication apparatus in this embodiment may be specifically implemented according to the method on the SMF side in the foregoing method embodiment, and the specific implementation process may refer to the relevant description of the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

Please refer to fig. 10, which is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication apparatus described in this embodiment is configured to perform the corresponding method implemented by the BP UPF described above, and the communication apparatus includes:

a receiving module 1001, configured to receive downlink data from an anchor user plane functional network element through a first data path.

A sending module 1002, configured to send, to a session management function network element, identification information of the first data path, where the identification information is used to determine quality of service QoS information of the first data path.

It can be understood that the functions of the functional modules of the communication apparatus in this embodiment may be specifically implemented according to the method on the BP UPF side in the foregoing method embodiment, and the specific implementation process may refer to the relevant description of the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

Please refer to fig. 11, which is a schematic structural diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus described in this embodiment is configured to perform the corresponding method implemented by the UE described above, and the communication apparatus includes:

an obtaining module 1101, configured to obtain identification information, where the identification information is used to identify a first data path in multiple data paths between the user equipment and multiple anchor user plane function network elements, where the multiple data paths belong to a same session.

A sending module 1102, configured to send the identification information to an access and mobility management function network element, where the identification information is used to determine quality of service QoS information of the first data path.

In a possible implementation manner, the identification information includes an identification of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, and the obtaining module 1101 is further configured to obtain, from a session management function network element, a first corresponding relationship between an IP prefix of a user equipment and the identification of the anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path.

The obtaining module 1101 is further configured to obtain, according to the first corresponding relationship, an identifier of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path.

In a possible implementation manner, the identification information includes a logical identifier of the first data path, and the obtaining module 1101 is further configured to obtain, from a session management function network element, a second correspondence between an IP prefix of a user equipment and the logical identifier of the first data path.

The obtaining module 1101 is further configured to obtain the logic identifier of the first data path according to the second corresponding relationship.

It can be understood that the functions of the functional modules of the communication apparatus in this embodiment may be specifically implemented according to the method on the UE side in the foregoing method embodiment, and the specific implementation process may refer to the related description of the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

Please refer to fig. 12, which is a schematic structural diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device described in this embodiment is configured to perform the corresponding method implemented by the AMF, and the communication device includes:

a receiving module 1201, configured to receive first identification information from a session management function network element, where the first identification information is used to identify a first data path in multiple data paths between a user equipment and multiple anchor user plane function network elements, where the multiple data paths belong to a same session.

The receiving module 1201 is further configured to receive second identification information from the user equipment after receiving the first identification information, where the second identification information is used to identify a second data path in the multiple data paths.

A sending module 1202, configured to send the second identifier to the session management function network element if the second data path identified by the second identifier is not the same data path as the first data path identified by the first identifier.

It can be understood that the functions of the functional modules of the communication apparatus in this embodiment may be specifically implemented according to the method on the AMF side in the foregoing method embodiment, and the specific implementation process may refer to the related description of the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

Please refer to fig. 13, which is a schematic structural diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device includes: a processor 1301 and a transceiver 1302.

Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory 1303, where the memory 1303 is configured to store instructions, and the instructions are executed to complete the steps of the communication device. Further, the memory 1303 may also store other data information, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

Alternatively, the function of the transceiver 1302 may be realized by a transceiver circuit or a dedicated chip for transceiving. Processor 1301 may be considered to be implemented with a dedicated processing chip, processing circuit, processor, or a general purpose chip.

For the concepts, explanations, details and other steps related to the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application related to the communication device, please refer to the descriptions of the foregoing methods or other embodiments, which are not repeated herein.

In one embodiment, the communication device corresponds to the SMF described above, and is configured to perform the corresponding method implemented by the SMF described above. For example, the processor 1301 is configured to execute the corresponding methods implemented by the obtaining module 901 and the determining module 903 described above. The transceiver 1302 is configured to perform the corresponding methods implemented by the sending module 902 described above.

In another embodiment, the communication device corresponds to the BP UPF described above, and is configured to perform the corresponding method implemented by the BP UPF described above. For example, the transceiver 1302 is configured to perform the corresponding methods implemented by the receiving module 1001 and the sending module 1002.

In yet another embodiment, the communication device corresponds to the UE described above for performing the corresponding method implemented by the UE described above. For example, the processor 1301 is configured to execute the corresponding method implemented by the obtaining module 1101 described above. The transceiver 1302 is configured to perform the corresponding method implemented by the sending module 1102 as described above.

In yet another embodiment, the communication device corresponds to the AMF described above for performing the corresponding method implemented by the AMF described above. For example, the transceiver 1302 is configured to execute the corresponding methods implemented by the receiving module 1201 and the transmitting module 1202 described above.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wirelessly (e.g., infrared, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that incorporates one or more of the available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy Disk, hard Disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

In summary, the above embodiments are only used for illustrating the technical solutions of the present application, and not for limiting the same; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method is characterized in that the method is applied to a communication system, wherein the communication system comprises a session management function network element SMF, a plurality of anchor point user plane function network elements UPF, a branch node user plane function network element UPF, user equipment UE, an access and mobility management function network element AMF and a radio access network RAN; the UE has a plurality of data paths under the same session, a data path exists between each anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE, a first data path is a data path between a first anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE, and a data path between a second anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE is marked as a second data path;

the method comprises the following steps:

the first anchor point UPF receives downlink data, and the downlink data needs to be sent to the UE;

the SMF acquires identification information and QoS (quality of service) information of a first data path corresponding to the UPF (uplink packet flow) of the first anchor point;

the SMF sends the identification information and QoS information of the first data path to the AMF;

the AMF pages the UE through the RAN and receives a service request from the UE when the UE is in an idle state;

the AMF sends quality of service (QoS) information of the first data path to the RAN;

and the RAN establishes wireless resources for the first data path according to the QoS information of the first data path.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining of the identification information by the session management function network element comprises:

the session management function network element receives the identification information from the user equipment or the branch node user plane function network element; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and after receiving the notification message from the anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, the session management function network element determines the identification information.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

and the session management function network element determines the first data path according to the identification information.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

5. The method according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the identification information comprises at least one of an Internet Protocol (IP) prefix of the user equipment, an identification of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, or a logical identification of the first data path.

6. The method according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the session management function network element sends the quality of service, QoS, information of the first data path to a radio access network, and comprises:

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the session management function network element sends the quality of service (QoS) information of the first data path to a radio access network, and comprises:

8. A communication method is characterized in that the method is applied to a communication system, wherein the communication system comprises a session management function network element SMF, a plurality of anchor point user plane function network elements UPF, a branch node user plane function network element UPF, user equipment UE, an access and mobility management function network element AMF and a radio access network RAN; the UE has a plurality of data paths under the same session, a data path exists between each anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE, a first data path is a data path between a first anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE, and a data path between a second anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE is marked as a second data path;

the method comprises the following steps:

the UE establishes the session through interaction with the RAN, the AMF, the SMF and the anchor point UPF;

the UE acquires identification information of a first data path corresponding to the first anchor point UPF;

the UE sends identification information of the first data path to the SMF through the RAN and the AMF, wherein the identification information of the first data path is used for determining QoS (quality of service) information of the first data path;

the SMF acquires the QoS information of the first data path according to the identification information of the first data path;

the SMF sends QoS information of the first data path to the RAN through the AMF;

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the obtaining of the identification information by the session management function network element comprises:

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

12. The method according to any of claims 8 to 11, wherein the identification information comprises at least one of an internet protocol, IP, prefix of a user equipment, an identification of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, or a logical identification of the first data path.

13. The method according to any of claims 8 to 11, wherein the session management function network element sending quality of service, QoS, information of the first data path to a radio access network, comprises:

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the session management function network element sending the QoS information of the first data path to a radio access network, comprises:

15. A communication method is characterized in that the method is applied to a communication system, wherein the communication system comprises a session management function network element SMF, a plurality of anchor point user plane function network elements UPF, a branch node user plane function network element UPF, user equipment UE, an access and mobility management function network element AMF and a radio access network RAN; the UE has a plurality of data paths under the same session, a data path exists between each anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE, a first data path is a data path between a first anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE, and a data path between a second anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE is marked as a second data path;

the method comprises the following steps:

the AMF receiving, from the UE through the RAN, identification information of the second data path for transmitting uplink data;

the AMF compares the identification information of the second data path with the identification information of the first data path, and determines that the second data path is not the same data path as the first data path;

the AMF sends identification information of the second data path to the SMF,

the AMF receives the identification information of the second data path, which is sent by the SMF, and the SMF acquires the QoS information of the second data path according to the identification information of the second data path;

and the RAN establishes wireless resources for the first data path according to the QoS information of the first data path sent by the AMF, and/or establishes wireless resources for the second data path according to the QoS information of the second data path sent by the AMF.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the identification information comprises at least one of an Internet Protocol (IP) prefix of a user equipment, an identification of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, or a logical identification of the first data path.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the identification information comprises an identification of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, and wherein the method further comprises:

the user equipment acquires a first corresponding relation between an IP prefix of the user equipment and an identifier of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path from a session management function network element;

and the user equipment acquires the identifier of the anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path according to the first corresponding relation.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the identification information includes an identification of an anchor user plane function network element corresponding to the first data path, and wherein the method further comprises:

19. The method according to any of claims 15 to 18, wherein the identification information comprises a logical identification of the first data path, the method further comprising:

the user equipment acquires a second corresponding relation between the IP prefix of the user equipment and the logic identifier of the first data path from a session management function network element;

and the user equipment acquires the logic identifier of the first data path according to the second corresponding relation.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the obtaining of the identification information by the session management function network element comprises:

21. The method of claim 15 or 20, further comprising:

22. The method according to any of claims 15 to 18 and 20, wherein the sending, by the session management function network element, the QoS information of the first data path to the radio access network comprises:

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the session management function network element sending the quality of service (QoS) information of the first data path to a radio access network, comprises:

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the session management function network element sending the QoS information of the first data path to a radio access network, comprises:

25. A communication system, comprising: a session management function network element SMF, a plurality of anchor point user plane function network elements UPF, a branch node user plane function network element UPF, user equipment UE, an access and mobility management function network element AMF and a radio access network RAN; the UE has a plurality of data paths under the same session, a data path exists between each anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE, a first data path is a data path between a first anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE, and a data path between a second anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE is marked as a second data path;

wherein the content of the first and second substances,

26. A communication system, comprising: a session management function network element SMF, a plurality of anchor point user plane function network elements UPF, a branch node user plane function network element UPF, user equipment UE, an access and mobility management function network element AMF and a radio access network RAN; the UE has a plurality of data paths under the same session, a data path exists between each anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE, a first data path is a data path between a first anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE, and a data path between a second anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE is marked as a second data path;

wherein the content of the first and second substances,

27. A communication system, comprising: a session management function network element SMF, a plurality of anchor point user plane function network elements UPF, a branch node user plane function network element UPF, user equipment UE, an access and mobility management function network element AMF and a radio access network RAN; the UE has a plurality of data paths under the same session, a data path exists between each anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE, a first data path is a data path between a first anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE, and a data path between a second anchor UPF in the anchor UPFs and the UE is marked as a second data path;

wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the AMF sends identification information of the second data path to the SMF,

28. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that the storage medium stores instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to implement the communication method of any one of claims 1 to 24.