CN113746585B

CN113746585B - Time service method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN113746585B
Application number: CN202010466056.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 余芳; 李岩; 吴义壮
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-05-28
Filing date: 2020-05-28
Publication date: 2022-12-27
Anticipated expiration: 2040-05-28
Also published as: CN113746585A

Abstract

The application provides an authorization method and a communication device, whether a terminal device has a time service requirement can be determined by a core network element, and if the core network element determines that the terminal device has the time service requirement, indication information is sent to an access network element to indicate that the terminal device has the time service requirement. The access network element can determine that the terminal equipment has the time service requirement according to the indication information, so that the clock information can be sent to the terminal equipment. After receiving the clock information, the terminal device may perform clock synchronization according to the clock information. Based on the scheme, the access network element can only send clock information to the terminal equipment with the time service requirement according to the indication of the core network element, so that the overhead of an air interface signaling can be saved.

Description

Time service method and communication device

Technical Field

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

Background

A Time Sensitive Network (TSN) network provides a reliable delay transmission service based on two-layer switching, which can ensure the reliability of delay sensitive service data transmission and predictable end-to-end transmission delay.

In a system architecture diagram of interworking between a third generation partnership project (3 rd generation partnership project,3 GPP) network and a TSN network, a 3GPP fifth generation (5 g) system (5 g system,5 GS) as a whole is a TSN Bridge (TSN Bridge) with a time-aware function, and a User Equipment (UE), a Radio Access Network (RAN) network element and a User Plane Function (UPF) need to be synchronized to a 5GS internal clock, which also needs the UE to obtain a time service of the 5GS clock.

However, not all terminal devices have the requirement of acquiring 5GS clock time service, and how to time service for only the terminal devices with the time service requirement is a problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides an authorization method and a communication device, which can carry out time service on terminal equipment with only time service requirements, thereby saving air interface resources.

In a first aspect, a time service method is provided, which includes: a core network element determines that terminal equipment has time service requirements; and the core network element sends indication information to an access network element, wherein the indication information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment has time service requirements.

According to the time service method provided by the application, whether the terminal equipment has the time service requirement can be determined by the core network element, and if the core network element determines that the terminal equipment has the time service requirement, the core network element sends the indication information to the access network element so as to indicate that the terminal equipment has the time service requirement. The access network element can determine that the terminal equipment has the time service requirement according to the indication information, so that the clock information can be sent to the terminal equipment. After receiving the clock information, the terminal device may perform clock synchronization according to the clock information. Based on the scheme, the access network element can only send clock information to the terminal equipment with the time service requirement according to the indication of the core network element, so that the overhead of an air interface signaling can be saved.

In a possible implementation manner, the core network element is a session management network element.

That is, the session management network element may determine whether the terminal device has a time service requirement, and instruct the access network element to send clock information to the terminal device when the terminal device has the time service requirement. Based on the scheme, the access network element can only send clock information to the terminal equipment with the time service requirement according to the indication of the session management network element, so that the overhead of an air interface signaling can be saved.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the network element of the core network, that the terminal device has the time service requirement includes: under the condition that one or more of the following conditions are satisfied, the core network element determines that the terminal equipment has a time service requirement: the core network element determines that a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session is a session intercommunicated with a time delay sensitive network (TSN) according to a PDU session management parameter sent by the terminal equipment; the core network element determines that a Data Network (DN) associated with the current PDU session is a DN of Time Sensitive Communication (TSC) according to the TSN network session subscription information of the terminal device; the core network element receives a downlink general precision time protocol (gPTP) message aiming at the terminal equipment; and the core network element receives a TSN synchronous activation request aiming at the terminal equipment from an application network element of the TSN.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending, by the core network element, the indication information to the access network element includes: the core network element sends the indication information to the access network element through an N2 message; or, the core network element sends the indication information to the access network element through an access and mobility management network element; or, the core network element instructs the user plane network element to send the instruction information to the access network element through a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) message.

In a possible implementation manner, the core network element is a user plane network element.

That is, the user plane network element may determine whether the terminal device has a time service requirement, and instruct the access network element to send clock information to the terminal device when the terminal device has the time service requirement. Based on the scheme, the access network element can only send clock information to the terminal equipment with the time service requirement according to the indication of the user plane network element, so that the overhead of air interface signaling can be saved.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the network element of the core network, that the terminal device has the time service requirement includes:

the core network element determines that the terminal equipment has a time service requirement under the condition of detecting the gPTP message; or, the core network element determines that the terminal device has the time service requirement when receiving information indicating that the terminal device has the time service requirement from a session management network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending, by the core network element, the indication information to the access network element includes: and the core network element sends the indication information to the access network element through a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane GTP-U message.

In a second aspect, a time service method is provided, including: the access network element receives indication information from a core network element, wherein the indication information is used for indicating that terminal equipment has time service requirements; and the access network element sends clock information to the terminal equipment according to the indication information.

In a possible implementation manner, the core network element is an access and mobility management network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving, by the access network element, the indication information from the core network element includes: and the access network element receives a context modification request message aiming at the terminal equipment from the core network element, wherein the context modification request message comprises the indication information.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving, by the access network element, the indication information from the core network element includes: and the access network element receives a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane GTP-U message from a core network element, wherein the GTP-U message comprises the indication information.

In a third aspect, a time service method is provided, including: the access and mobile management network element receives indication information from the session management network element, wherein the indication information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment has time service requirements; and the access and mobile management network element sends a context modification request message aiming at the terminal equipment to an access network element, wherein the context modification request message comprises the indication information.

According to the time service method provided by the application, whether the terminal equipment has the time service requirement can be determined by the session management network element, and if the session management network element determines that the terminal equipment has the time service requirement, the access and mobile management network element is indicated to indicate that the terminal equipment has the time service requirement. The access and mobility management network element may send indication information to the access network element according to the indication of the session management network element to indicate that the terminal device has a time service requirement. The access network element can determine that the terminal equipment has the time service requirement according to the indication information, so that the clock information can be sent to the terminal equipment. After receiving the clock information, the terminal device may perform clock synchronization according to the clock information. Based on the scheme, the access network element can only send clock information to the terminal equipment with the time service requirement, so that the air interface signaling overhead can be saved.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a communications apparatus comprising means for performing the method of the first aspect to the third aspect, or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect to the third aspect.

In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including: input circuit, output circuit and processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal through the input circuit and output a signal through the output circuit, so that the communication apparatus performs the method in any possible implementation manner of the above first to third aspects, or the first to third aspects.

In a specific implementation process, the communication device may be a chip, the input circuit may be an input interface, the output circuit may be an output interface, and the processing circuit may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU). The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input by, for example and without limitation, a receiver, the signal output by the output circuit may be, for example and without limitation, output to and transmitted by a transmitter, and the input interface and the output interface may be an integrated input-output interface that functions as the input interface and the output interface, respectively, at different times. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation manners of the communication device and various circuits or interfaces.

In a sixth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to read instructions stored in the memory to perform the method of any possible implementation manner of the above first to third aspects, or the first to third aspects.

Optionally, the number of the processors is one or more, and the number of the memories is one or more.

Alternatively, the memory may be integral to the processor or provided separately from the processor.

In a specific implementation process, the memory may be a non-transient memory, such as a Read Only Memory (ROM), which may be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or may be separately disposed on different chips.

Optionally, the pass-through device may further comprise a transceiver, which may be used to receive signals and transmit signals.

The communication device in the above sixth aspect may be a chip, the processor may be implemented by hardware or software, and when implemented by hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like; when implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory, which may be integrated with the processor, located external to the processor, or stand-alone.

In a seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions), and when executed, causes the method in any possible implementation manner of the above first to third aspects, or the first to third aspects, to be performed.

In an eighth aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions) is stored, which when executed, causes the method in any possible implementation manner of the above first to third aspects, or first to third aspects, to be performed.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a communication system comprising one or more of: a core network element of the first aspect, an access network device of the second aspect, or an access and mobility management network element of the third aspect.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is an architectural diagram of one system that may be applied to the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a 5G system.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of 5GS and TSN network interworking.

Fig. 4 is a time synchronization model of a 5GS supported TSN network.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of an authorization method provided by the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a specific example of an authorization method provided herein.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a specific example of an authorization method provided herein.

Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of a specific example of an authorization method provided herein.

Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a specific example of the authorization method provided in the present application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a specific example of an authorization method provided by the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart of a specific example of an authorization method provided herein.

Fig. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided herein.

Fig. 13 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided herein.

Fig. 14 is a schematic block diagram of an access network element provided in the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, fifth generation (5 g) systems, new Radio (NR) or other communication systems that may be present in the future, etc.

Fig. 1 shows an architecture diagram of a system 100 that can be applied to the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the system 100 may include one or more of the following: terminal equipment 110, access network element 120, user plane element 130, data network 140, access and mobility management element 150, session management element 160, policy control element 170, application element 180 and unified data management element 190.

The terminal device 110: can be a User Equipment (UE), subscriber, access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user equipment. For example, the mobile phone may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet (pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in home (smart home), and the like. The terminal device 110 may also be a device or a circuit configuration provided in the various devices described above, for example, a chip or a system of chips.

Access network element 120: the wireless resources can be managed, access service is provided for the terminal equipment, and then forwarding of control signals and user data between the terminal equipment and the core network is completed.

The access network element 120 may be a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in the LTE system, a home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), a radio controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario, or the access network element may be an access network element in a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a 5G network, or an access network element in a future evolved public mobile network (PLMN) network, or the access network element may be an access point (access point, AP) in a WLAN, or an access point (nb) in a new radio system (NR) system, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. In one network configuration, the access network elements may comprise Centralized Unit (CU) nodes, or Distributed Unit (DU) nodes, or access network elements comprising CU nodes and DU nodes, or control plane CU nodes (CU-CP nodes) and user plane CU nodes (CU-UP nodes) and DU nodes.

The user plane network element 130: it is mainly responsible for processing user message, such as forwarding, charging, etc.

Data network 140: an operator network providing data transmission service for users, such as an IP Multimedia Service (IMS), the Internet, and the like.

Access and mobility management network element 150: the method is mainly responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as user location update, user registration network, user switching and the like.

The session management network element 160: the method is mainly responsible for session management in the mobile network, such as session establishment, modification and release. The specific functions include allocating an IP address to a user, selecting a user plane network element providing a message forwarding function, and the like.

Policy control network element 170: is responsible for providing policies such as quality of service (QoS) policies, slice selection policies, etc. to access and mobility management network elements, session management network elements.

The application network element 180: and the system is responsible for providing service requirements for the 3GPP network, such as influencing the routing decision of the session management network element on the service, interacting with the policy control network element to perform policy control and the like.

Unified data management network element 190: for storing user data such as subscription information, authentication/authorization information.

It should be understood that each of the above devices or network elements may be a device with corresponding functions, a software/hardware module (e.g., a chip) inside the device, and the like. It should also be understood that any device or network element referred to in this application may be implemented in software, or in a combination of software and hardware.

In one example, the system 100 shown in FIG. 1 may be the 5G system shown in FIG. 2. It should be understood that the system 100 may also be a 4G system or other 3GPP systems, which is not limited in this application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a 5G system architecture. In the system architecture diagram, the same reference numerals as in fig. 1 denote the names of the corresponding network elements in fig. 1 in the current 5G system. Referring to fig. 2, the 5G system architecture may include one or more of the following network elements: UE 110, (radio) access network (R) AN 120, user Plane Function (UPF) 130, data Network (DN) 140, access and mobility Management Function (AMF) 150, session Management Function (SMF) 160, policy Control Function (PCF) 170, application Function (AF) 180, and Unified Data Management (UDM) 190.

It should be understood that the name of each network element shown in fig. 2 is only one name, and the name does not limit the function of the network element itself. In different networks, the network elements may also be given other names, and this embodiment of the present application is not limited to this specific name. For example, in a 6G network, some or all of the above network elements may use the terminology in 5G, or may use other names, and so on, which are described herein in a unified manner and are not described in detail below. Similarly, the interface between the network elements shown in fig. 2 is only an example, and in a 5G network and other networks in the future, the interface between the network elements may not be the interface shown in the figure, which is not limited in this application.

It should also be understood that the embodiments of the present application are not limited to the system architecture shown in fig. 2. For example, a communication system to which the present application may be applied may comprise more or fewer network elements or devices. The devices or network elements in fig. 2 may be hardware, or may be functionally divided software, or a combination of the two. The devices or network elements in fig. 2 may communicate with each other through other devices or network elements.

In the forwarding process of the conventional ethernet network, when a large amount of data packets arrive at a forwarding port in a moment, the problem of large forwarding delay or packet loss is caused, so that the conventional ethernet network cannot provide a service with high reliability and guaranteed transmission delay, and cannot meet the requirements in the fields of automobile control, industrial internet and the like. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has defined a relevant TSN network standard for the requirement of reliable delay transmission, which provides reliable delay transmission service based on two-layer switching, guarantees reliability of delay-sensitive traffic data transmission, and predictable end-to-end transmission delay.

The system 100 shown in fig. 1 may interwork with a TSN network. Under the interworking architecture, system 100 as a whole acts as a logical TSN Bridge (TSN Bridge) that includes a TSN switch that functions as an interworking between the TSN system and system 100. The interworking architecture between the system 100 and the TSN network will be described by taking the system 100 as the 5G system shown in fig. 2 as an example.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an architecture for interworking 5GS and TSN networks. At the control plane, the 5GS exchanges information with nodes in the TSN system through the TSN switch of the control plane (i.e. the AF network element of the 5G), and the exchanged information includes, for example: capability information of the 5GS switching node, TSN configuration information (including time scheduling information of the TSN input/output port), and the like. The TSN AF network element provides the capability information of the 5GS switching node to a controller in the TSN system, and the TSN controller determines the TSN configuration information of the 5GS switching node for the TSN service according to the capability information of the 5GS switching node and the capability information of other TSN switching nodes. The TSN AF network element provides the TSN configuration information for the 5GS switching node determined by the TSN controller to the 5GS switching node. The capability information of the 5GS switching node comprises internal processing delay of the 5GS switching node, UE side transmission delay of the 5GS switching node and UPF side transmission delay of the 5GS switching node. The internal processing delay of the 5GS switching node further includes a UE side residence time (i.e., a processing residence time of the TSN packet in the UE and the TSN converter of the UE side), an UPF side residence time (i.e., a processing residence time of the TSN packet in the UPF and the TSN converter of the UPF side), and a transmission delay between the UE and the UPF, which is specifically expressed as a Packet Delay Budget (PDB) of the TSN packet between the UE and the UPF.

In the user plane, the UPF Network element of the 5GS receives a downlink TSN stream of the TSN system or transmits an uplink TSN stream to the TSN system through a Network-side TSN converter (NW-TT), wherein the NW-TT may be integrated with the UPF Network element or deployed independently from the UPF Network element. The UE of 5GS receives an uplink TSN stream of a TSN system or transmits a downlink TSN stream to the TSN system through a Device-side TSN translator (DS-TT), wherein the DS-TT can be integrated with the UE or deployed independently of the UE.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 illustrates a time synchronization model of a 5GS supported TSN network. In fig. 4, the whole 5GS serves as a TSN bridge with a time-aware function, where UE, RAN, and UPF serve as the user plane of the TSN bridge, and process the gPTP packet according to the indication of the control plane network element SMF. The external TSN clock is used as a main clock source, the 5GS internal accurately calculates the time delay required by the gPTP message transmission, and the TSN clock is timed to the DS-TT at the UE side. UE, RAN and UPF are synchronized to a 5GS internal clock, and the UE (or DS-TT at the UE side) acquires time service of the 5GS clock.

When the system 100 (e.g., 5 GS) is used as a TSN bridge, not all end devices (e.g., UEs) have a timing requirement for acquiring a clock (e.g., 5GS clock) of the system 100, and how to time the end devices having only the timing requirement is a problem to be solved.

In view of this, the present application provides a time service method, in which a core network element determines whether a terminal device has a time service requirement, and instructs an access network element to provide clock information to the terminal device when the terminal device has the time service requirement. The access network element can only send the clock information to the terminal equipment with the time service requirement according to the indication of the core network element, so that the air interface signaling overhead can be saved. The timing method provided by the present application is explained in detail below.

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a timing method provided by the present application. The steps of the method 200 shown in fig. 5 are explained below.

S210, the network element of the core network determines that the terminal equipment has time service requirements.

Optionally, the core network element may be a session management network element, and may also be a user plane network element.

S220, the core network element sends indication information to the access network element, and the indication information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment has time service requirements. Accordingly, the access network element receives the indication information.

And S230, the access network element sends clock information to the terminal equipment according to the indication information. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the clock information.

It should be understood that the clock information is clock information of the 3GPP network to which the core network element, the access network element, and the terminal device belong, for example, 5GS clock information.

The method 200 is further described below with respect to two cases, namely a session management network element and a user plane network element, which are core network elements.

1. The core network element is a session management network element

In S210, optionally, if one or more of (1) to (4) described below is satisfied, the session management network element may determine that the terminal device has a time service requirement.

(1) The session management network element determines that the PDU session is a session interworking with the TSN according to a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session management parameter sent by the terminal device.

When the terminal equipment requests to establish the PDU session, the session management parameters can be carried by the PDU session establishment request message. If the session Management parameter includes an indication that the terminal device supports interface Management Information Containers (Port Management Information Containers), it indicates that the session requested to be established by the terminal device is intercommunicated with the TSN.

(2) And the session management network element determines that the Data Network (DN) associated with the current PDU session is the DN of Time Sensitive Communication (TSC) according to the TSN network session subscription information of the terminal device.

In the process that the terminal device requests to establish the PDU session, the session management network element may obtain the subscription information of the terminal device from the unified data management network element, where the subscription information includes the TSN network session subscription information of the terminal device. The TSN network session subscription information of the terminal device may include attribute information indicating a DN of the PDU session, for example, the DN is a DN providing delay-sensitive communication, and optionally, the attribute information of the DN may further include that the PDU session corresponding to the DN is a session of an ethernet type. The session management network element may determine whether the DN associated with the current PDU session is the DN of the TSC or whether the DN is the DN of the TSC of the ethernet type according to the TSN network session subscription information.

It should be understood that the DN of the TSC of ethernet type means that the DN supports the protocol of ethernet type, while providing a delay sensitive communication service, supporting synchronous communication with deterministic communication and/or with high reliability and availability, providing QoS guarantees in terms of delay, packet loss and reliability for packet transmission, where strict synchronization between the end system and the transmission node is required.

(3) The session management network element detects a downlink gPTP message for the terminal equipment.

For example, if the session management network element detects a downlink gPTP message associated with a session, and the session is associated with the terminal device, the session management network element may confirm that the terminal device has a time service requirement.

It should be understood that a gPTP message may also be referred to as a gPTP message. The downlink gPTP message is used to convey time synchronization related parameters using the IEEE 802.1AS (timing and synchronization for time sensitive applications) protocol synchronization principle. The ptp message is received by the user plane network element from a neighboring TSN bridge and is therefore referred to as a downstream ptp message. After receiving the downlink gPTP message, the user plane network element reports the downlink gPTP message to the session management network element through the N4 session modification message, and the session management network element determines the PDU session according to the association relationship between the N4 session and the PDU session, so as to further determine that the PDU session is the PDU session of the terminal equipment, determine that the gPTP message is the downlink gPTP message for the terminal equipment, and thus determine that the terminal equipment has synchronous time service requirements.

(4) The session management network element receives a TSN synchronization activation request for the terminal device from an application network element of the TSN.

Here, the application network element of the TSN is referred to as TSN AF.

Optionally, the synchronization activation request includes an identification of the terminal device. Optionally, the synchronization activation request may further include one or more of information such as an identifier of a clock synchronization domain, an accuracy requirement of clock synchronization, and an identifier of a corresponding end device.

In S220, optionally, the session management network element may send the indication information to the access network element in a variety of ways as described below.

1. The session management network element sends the indication information to the access network element through the interface message between the access and mobility management network element and the access network element.

For example, the session management network element may send the indication information to the access network element via an N2 message. It should be understood that N2 is a name for the interface between the access and mobility management network element and the access network element.

It should be understood that the interface message between the access and mobility management element and the access network element sent by the session management element will be forwarded to the access network element via the access and mobility management element.

2. The session management network element may send the indication information to the access and mobility management network element first, and then the access and mobility management network element sends the indication information to the access network element.

That is, the session management network element first sends the indication information to the access and mobility management network element through an interface between the session management network element and the access and mobility management network element, and then the access and mobility management network element sends the indication information to the access network element through an interface between the access and mobility management network element and the access network element.

For example, the session management element may send the indication information to the access and mobility management element via an N11 message, and the access and mobility management element may then include the indication information in a context modification request message for the terminal device, and send the indication information by sending the context modification request message to the access network element. It should be appreciated that N11 is a name for the interface between the session management element and the access and mobility management elements.

3. And the session management network element indicates the user plane network element to send the indication information to the access network element through a GTP-U message.

And after determining that the terminal equipment has the time service requirement, the session management network element sends an indication to the user plane network element, wherein the indication is used for indicating the user plane network element to send the indication information to the access network element through a GTP-U message (or called as a GTP-U message). And after receiving the indication, the user plane network element sends the indication information to the access network element through a GTP-U message.

In summary, in the framework of interworking with the TSN network, the session management network element may determine whether the terminal device has a time service requirement, and instruct the access network element to send clock information to the terminal device when the terminal device has the time service requirement. Based on the scheme, the access network element can only send clock information to the terminal equipment with the time service requirement according to the indication of the session management network element, so that the overhead of an air interface signaling can be saved.

2. The core network element is a user plane network element

In S210, optionally, if the user plane network element detects a downlink gPTP message for the terminal device, it is determined that the terminal device has a time service requirement. Or, the user plane network element receives information indicating that the terminal equipment has time service requirement from the session management network element. That is, after determining that the terminal device has the time service requirement, the session management network element may indicate to the user plane network element that the terminal device has the time service requirement. For how the session management network element determines whether the terminal device has a time service requirement, reference may be made to the above description. In S220, optionally, the user plane network element may send the indication information to the access network element through a GTP-U packet.

For example, the indication information may be carried in a GTP-U packet header.

Optionally, the user plane network element may carry the indication information in the first GTP-U message or the first GTP-U messages for sending the QoS flow. Specifically, the QoS flow is the QoS flow of the terminal device, and the user plane network element carries an identifier (QoS flow identity, QFI) of the QoS flow in a GTP-U header of a GTP-U packet corresponding to the QoS flow, and the indication information; the indication information may be a specific identification bit set at a header of the GTP-U, for example, the specific identification bit is set to "0" or "1", and after receiving the GTP-U packet, the access network element determines whether the terminal device has a time service requirement according to the specific identification bit of the header of the GTP-U in the GTP-U packet, for example, if the specific identification bit is set to "1", the access network element may determine that the terminal device has the time service requirement.

In summary, in the framework of interworking with the TSN network, the user plane network element may determine whether the terminal device has a time service requirement, and instruct the access network element to send clock information to the terminal device when the terminal device has the time service requirement. Based on the scheme, the access network element can only send clock information to the terminal equipment with the time service requirement according to the indication of the user plane network element, so that the overhead of air interface signaling can be saved.

A specific implementation of the method 200 described above is further described below with reference to fig. 6 to 11. The methods shown in fig. 3 to 9 correspond to a case where the core network element is a session management network element, and the methods shown in fig. 10 and 11 correspond to a case where the core network element is a user plane network element.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a timing method provided by the present application. The method 300 is a specific example of the method 200, and the method 300 is described below.

S301, the terminal equipment sends PDU conversation establishment request information to the access and mobile management network element.

S302, the access and mobility management network element forwards the PDU session establishment request message to the session management network element.

Wherein the PDU session establishment request message includes session management parameters.

S303, the session management network element determines whether the PDU session requested to be established by the terminal device is intercommunicated with the TSN according to the session management parameter in the PDU session establishment request message.

After receiving the PDU session establishment request message sent by the access and mobile management network element, the session management network element indicates that the PDU session requested to be established by the terminal equipment is communicated with the TSN if the session management parameters in the PDU session establishment request message are determined to include the indication that the terminal equipment supports the interface management information container, so that the session management network element considers that the terminal equipment has time service requirements and executes the subsequent steps.

S304, the session management network element sends indication information to the access network element.

See the above description of step S220 for how to transmit.

S305, the network element of the access network sends clock information to the terminal equipment.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element may determine whether the terminal device has a time service requirement according to whether the session management parameter includes an indication that the terminal device supports the interface management information container. And under the condition that the terminal equipment has a time service requirement, the session management network element indicates the access network element to carry out time service on the terminal equipment.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a timing method provided by the present application. The method 400 is a specific example of the method 200, and the method 400 is described below.

S401, the terminal equipment sends PDU conversation establishment request information to the access and mobile management network element.

S402, the access and mobile management network element transmits the PDU session establishment request message to the session management network element.

S403, the session management network element obtains the subscription information of the terminal device from the unified data management network element.

After receiving the PDU session establishment request message sent by the access and mobility management network elements, the session management network element obtains the subscription information of the terminal device from the unified data management network element, where the subscription information includes the TSN network session subscription information of the terminal device, and the TSN network session subscription information of the terminal device may include attribute information indicating the DN of the PDU session.

S404, the session management network element determines whether the DN associated with the current PDU session is the DN of the TSC according to the TSN network session subscription information.

And if the session management network element determines that the DN associated with the current PDU session is the DN of the TSC according to the session subscription information of the TSN, the session management network element considers that the terminal equipment has the time service requirement and executes the subsequent steps.

S405, the session management network element sends indication information to the access network element.

See the above description of step S220 for how to transmit.

S406, the network element of the access network sends the clock information to the terminal equipment.

Based on the technical scheme, the session management network element can determine whether the terminal equipment has a time service requirement according to the TSN network session subscription information of the terminal equipment. And under the condition that the terminal equipment has a time service requirement, the session management network element indicates the access network element to carry out time service on the terminal equipment.

Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of a time service method provided by the present application. The method 500 is a specific example of the method 200, and the method 500 is described below.

S501, the session management network element detects whether there is a downlink gPTP message for the terminal device.

And if the session management network element detects the downlink gPTP message aiming at the terminal equipment, the terminal equipment is considered to have the time service requirement, and the subsequent steps are executed.

S502, the session management network element sends indication information to the access network element.

See the above description of step S220 for how to transmit.

And S505, the access network element sends clock information to the terminal equipment.

Based on the technical scheme, the session management network element can determine whether the terminal equipment has a time service requirement according to whether the downlink gPTP message aiming at the terminal equipment is received. And under the condition that the terminal equipment has a time service requirement, the session management network element indicates the access network element to carry out time service on the terminal equipment.

Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a time service method provided by the present application. The method 600 is a specific example of the method 200, and the method 600 is described below.

S601, the application network element of the TSN sends a TSN synchronous activation request to the session management network element.

And if the session management network element receives a TSN synchronous activation request aiming at the terminal equipment from an application network element of the TSN, the terminal equipment is considered to have a time service requirement, and the subsequent steps are executed.

S602, the session management network element sends the indication information to the access network element.

See the above description of step S220 for how to transmit.

S603, the network element of the access network sends the clock information to the terminal equipment.

Based on the above technical solution, the session management network element may determine whether the terminal device has a time service requirement according to whether a TSN synchronous activation request for the terminal device is received from an application network element of the TSN. And under the condition that the terminal equipment has a time service requirement, the session management network element indicates the access network element to carry out time service on the terminal equipment.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a timing method provided in the present application. The method 700 is a specific example of the method 200, and the method 700 is explained below.

S701, the session management network element indicates the user plane network element to detect the downlink gPTP message aiming at the terminal equipment.

S702, the user plane network element detects a downlink gPTP message for the terminal device.

It should be noted that S701 is an optional step. That is, the user plane network element may detect the downlink gPTP message according to the indication of the session management network element, or may detect the downlink gPTP message by itself.

S703, if the user plane network element detects the downlink gPTP message for the terminal device, it sends an indication message to the access network element.

And if the user plane network element detects the downlink gPTP message aiming at the terminal equipment, the terminal equipment is considered to have the time service requirement, and the indication information is sent to the access network element.

See the above description of step S220 for how to transmit.

S704, the network element of the access network sends clock information to the terminal equipment.

Based on the above technical scheme, the user plane network element may determine whether the terminal device has a time service requirement according to whether the downlink gPTP message for the terminal device is detected. And under the condition that the terminal equipment has a time service requirement, the user plane network element indicates the access network element to carry out time service on the terminal equipment.

Fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart of a time service method provided by the present application. The method 800 is a specific example of the method 200, and the method 800 is described below.

S801, the session management network element determines whether the terminal equipment has a time service requirement.

For how the session management network element determines whether the terminal device has a time service requirement, reference may be made to the determination manner in the

method

300, 400, 500, or 600.

S802, when the terminal equipment has the time service requirement, the session management network element indicates the user plane network element, and the terminal equipment has the time service requirement.

And S803, the user plane network element sends the indication information to the access network element.

How to transmit in detail can be seen from the above description of step S220.

S804, the network element of the access network sends clock information to the terminal equipment.

Based on the technical scheme, the user plane network element can determine that the terminal equipment has the time service requirement according to the indication of the session management network element and indicate the access network element to carry out time service on the terminal equipment.

It should be understood that the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

It is also to be understood that the terminology and/or the description of the various embodiments herein is consistent and mutually inconsistent if no specific statement or logic conflicts exists, and that the technical features of the various embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logical relationships.

While the time service method of the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 5 to 11, the communication device of the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to fig. 12 to 14, and it should be understood that the communication device in fig. 12 to 14 can perform the steps of the method provided by the present application.

Fig. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 12, the communication apparatus 2000 may include a transceiving unit 2100 and a processing unit 2200.

The transceiving unit 2100 may be used to transmit information to other apparatuses or devices, or receive information from other apparatuses. Such as sending or receiving indication information. The processing unit 2200 may be configured to perform internal processing of the apparatus, such as determining that the terminal device has a time service requirement.

In an implementation manner, the communication device 2000 corresponds to a core network element in the method 200, and the core network element in the method 200 may specifically be a session management network element in any one of the methods 300 to 600, or may also be a user plane network element in the method 700 or the method 800. The communication device 2000 may be a core network element or a chip configured in the core network element, or a component that can implement a communication function in the core network element.

Specifically, the processing unit 2200 is configured to determine that the terminal device has a time service requirement; the transceiving unit 2100 is configured to send indication information to an access network element, where the indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device has a time service requirement.

Optionally, the apparatus 2000 is a session management network element.

Optionally, the processing unit 2200 is specifically configured to: determining that the terminal device has a timing requirement if one or more of the following holds:

determining that the PDU session is a session intercommunicated with a time delay sensitive network (TSN) according to Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session management parameters sent by the terminal equipment; determining that a data network DN associated with the current PDU session is a DN of the TSC according to the TSN network session subscription information of the terminal equipment; determining that the transceiver unit 2100 receives a downlink gPTP message for the terminal device; determining that the transceiving unit 2100 receives a TSN synchronization activation request for the terminal device from an application network element of a TSN.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 2100 is specifically configured to: sending the indication information to the access network element through an N2 message; or, the indication information is sent to the access network element through an access and mobility management network element; or, the user plane network element is indicated to send the indication information to the access network element through a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane GTP-U message.

Optionally, the apparatus 2000 is a user plane network element.

Optionally, the processing unit 2200 is specifically configured to: determining that the terminal device has a time service requirement when determining that the transceiving unit 2100 detects a downlink gPTP message; alternatively, when determining that the transceiving unit 2100 receives information indicating that the terminal device has the time service requirement from a session management network element, it determines that the terminal device has the time service requirement.

Optionally, the transceiver 2100 is specifically configured to: and sending the indication information to the access network element through a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane GTP-U message.

In one implementation, the communication device 2000 corresponds to an access network element in any of the methods 200 to 800. The communication device 2000 may be an access network element or a chip configured in the access network element, or a component or an assembly capable of implementing a communication function in the access network element.

Specifically, the transceiver 2100 is configured to receive indication information from a core network element, where the indication information is used to indicate that a terminal device has a time service requirement; and sending clock information to the terminal equipment according to the indication information.

Optionally, the core network element is a session management network element.

Optionally, the core network element is an access and mobility management network element.

Optionally, the transceiver 2100 is specifically configured to: receiving a context modification request message aiming at the terminal equipment from the core network element, wherein the context modification request message comprises the indication information.

Optionally, the core network element is a user plane network element.

Optionally, the transceiver 2100 is specifically configured to: and receiving a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane GTP-U message from a core network element, wherein the GTP-U message comprises the indication information.

In one implementation, the communications apparatus 2000 corresponds to an access and mobility management network element in any of the methods 300 through 800. The communication apparatus 2000 may be an access and mobility management element or a chip configured in the access and mobility management element, or a component capable of implementing a communication function in the access and mobility management element.

Specifically, the transceiving unit 2100 is configured to receive indication information from a session management network element, where the indication information is used to indicate that a terminal device has a time service requirement; and sending a context modification request message aiming at the terminal equipment to an access network element, wherein the context modification request message comprises the indication information.

It should be understood that the apparatus 2000 may be used to implement the functions of any network element or device involved in any of the methods 200 to 800.

It should also be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted here.

It is also to be understood that the transceiving unit 2100 in the communication device 2000 may correspond to the transceiver 3300 in the communication device 3000 shown in fig. 13, and the processing unit 2200 in the communication device 2000 may correspond to the processor 3100 in the communication device 3000 shown in fig. 13.

Fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device 3000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication device 3000 may be a physical device, or may be a component or assembly, such as an integrated circuit or a chip, which can implement a communication function. The communication device 3000 may be any network element or device involved in any method provided herein.

Referring to fig. 13, the communication device 3000 includes: one or more processors 3100. Processor 3100 may store instructions for performing the methods of embodiments of the application. The processor 3100 may also be referred to as a processing circuit. Alternatively, processor 3100 may invoke an interface to implement receive and transmit functions. The interface may be a logical interface or a physical interface, which is not limited in this regard. For example, the interface may be a transceiver circuit, or an interface circuit. The transceiving functions of the interfaces may be separate or integrated. For example, an interface may comprise a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit, or an input circuit and an output circuit, or an input interface and an output interface, or a receiving interface and a transmitting interface. The interface may be used for reading and writing code/data, or the interface may be used for transmission or transfer of signals.

Alternatively, the interface may be implemented by a transceiver. Optionally, the communication device 3000 may further include a transceiver 3300. The transceiver 3300 may be referred to as a transceiving unit, a transceiver, a transceiving circuit, or a transceiver, etc. for implementing transceiving function.

Optionally, the communication device 3000 may further include a memory 3200. The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific deployment location of the memory 3200, and the memory may be integrated into the processor or may be independent from the processor. For the case where the computer device does not include memory, the computer device may be processing-enabled, and the memory may be deployed elsewhere (e.g., a cloud system).

Processor 3100, memory 3200, and transceiver 3300 communicate among themselves, passing control and/or data signals, over the internal connection paths.

It is understood that, although not shown, the communication device 3000 may also include other modules, such as a battery, etc.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, memory 3200 may store instructions for performing the methods of embodiments of the present application. The processor 3100 may execute the instructions stored in the memory 3200 and, in combination with other hardware (e.g. the transceiver 3300), perform the steps performed by the method described above, and the specific working procedures and advantages may be as described in the above method embodiments.

Processor 3100 may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the method may be performed by instructions in the form of hardware integrated logic circuits or software in a processor. The processor may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off the shelf programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules may be located in a Random Access Memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM, an electrically erasable programmable ROM, a register, or other storage medium known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads instructions in the memory and combines hardware thereof to complete the steps of the method.

It will be appreciated that the memory 3200 can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory ROM, a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory, RAM, which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (dynamic RAM, DRAM), synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), SLDRAM (synchronous DRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

The communication device 3000 may be a general-purpose computer device or a special-purpose computer device. In a specific implementation, the communication device 3000 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a web server, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal device, a communication device, an embedded device, or a device with a similar structure as in fig. 13. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the communication device 3000.

Fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network element provided in an embodiment of the present application, which may be a schematic structural diagram of a base station, for example. The base station 4000 may perform the functions of the access network element in the above method embodiments. As shown, the base station 4000 may include one or more radio frequency units, such as a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) 4100 and one or more baseband units (BBUs) (also referred to as Distributed Units (DUs)) 4200. The RRU 4100 may be referred to as a transceiver unit or a communication unit, and corresponds to the transceiver unit 2100 in fig. 12. Alternatively, the transceiver unit 4100 may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiving circuit, a transceiver, or the like, which may include at least one antenna 4101 and a radio frequency unit 4102. Alternatively, the transceiver 4100 may include a receiving unit and a sending unit, the receiving unit may correspond to a receiver (or receiver, receiving circuit), and the sending unit may correspond to a transmitter (or transmitter, sending circuit). The RRU 4100 is mainly used for transceiving radio frequency signals and converting radio frequency signals and baseband signals. The BBU4200 is mainly used for performing baseband processing, controlling a base station, and the like. The RRU 4100 and the BBU4200 may be physically disposed together or may be physically disposed separately, that is, distributed base stations.

The BBU4200 is a control center of the base station, and may also be referred to as a processing unit, and may correspond to the processing unit 2200 in fig. 12, and is mainly used to perform baseband processing functions, such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, spreading, and the like. For example, the BBU (processing unit) may be configured to control the base station to perform the operation procedure related to the access network element in the above method embodiment.

In an example, the BBU4200 may be formed by one or more boards, and the multiple boards may collectively support a radio access network of a single access system (e.g., an LTE network), or may respectively support radio access networks of different access systems (e.g., an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The BBU4200 further includes a memory 4201 and a processor 4202. The memory 4201 is used to store necessary instructions and data. The processor 4202 is configured to control the base station to perform necessary actions, for example, to control the base station to perform the operation procedure related to the network device in the above method embodiment. The memory 4201 and the processor 4202 may serve one or more boards. That is, the memory and processor may be provided separately on each board. Multiple boards may share the same memory and processor. In addition, each single board can be provided with necessary circuits.

It should be understood that the base station 4000 shown in fig. 14 can implement the various processes involving the network device in the foregoing method embodiments. The operations or functions of the modules in the base station 4000 are respectively to implement the corresponding flows in the above method embodiments. Reference may be made specifically to the description of the above method embodiments, and a detailed description is appropriately omitted herein to avoid redundancy.

The BBU4200 described above may be used to perform actions described in the previous method embodiment that are implemented internally by an access network element, while the RRU 4100 may be used to perform actions described in the previous method embodiment that are sent to or received from a terminal device by an access network element. Please refer to the description in the previous embodiment of the method, which is not repeated herein.

The present application further provides a computer program product comprising: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method performed by the core network element of method 200.

The present application further provides a computer program product comprising: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method performed by the access network element of method 200.

The present application further provides a computer program product comprising: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method performed by the access and mobility management network element of method 200.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method performed by the core network element of the aforementioned method 200.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of method 200 as performed by an access network element.

The present application also provides a computer readable storage medium having stored program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of method 200 performed by the access and mobility management network element.

The present application also provides a system comprising one or more network elements or devices involved in the method 200.

The embodiment of the application also provides a processing device, which comprises a processor and an interface; the processor is configured to perform the method performed by any network element or device in any of the method embodiments 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, it 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 on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, 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., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components may reside within a process or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and distributed between 2 or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with each other with a local system, distributed system, or network, such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

It should be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Thus, the various embodiments are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment throughout the specification. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

It should be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the numbers "first" and "second" 8230are used only for distinguishing different objects, such as for distinguishing different network devices, and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

It should also be understood that, in the present application, "when 8230a," "if," and "if" all refer to that the network element performs corresponding processing under some objective condition, and do not limit the time, do not require a judgment action when the network element is implemented, and do not mean that other limitations exist.

It is also understood that, in the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more.

It should also be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "B corresponding to a" means that B is associated with a, from which B can be determined. It should also be understood that determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may be determined from a and/or other information.

It should also be understood that the term "and/or" herein is merely one type of association relationship that describes an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B, may represent: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. A. B and/or C (or, a, B, and/or C), may represent the following seven cases: a is present alone, B is present alone, C is present alone, A and B are present together, A and C are present together, B and C are present together, and A, B and C are present together. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

Items appearing in this application similar to "include one or more of the following: the meaning of a, B, and C "typically means that the item may be any of the following, unless otherwise specified: a; b; c; a and B; a and C; b and C; a, B and C; a and A; a, A and A; a, A and B; a, A and C, A, B and B; a, C and C; b and B, B, B and C, C and C; c, C and C, and other combinations of A, B and C. The above description is made by taking 3 elements of a, B and C as examples of optional items of the item, when the expression "item includes at least one of the following: a, B, \8230;, and X ", i.e. with more elements in the expression, then the items to which the project can be applied can also be obtained according to the aforementioned rules.

It is understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, a terminal device and/or a network device may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiment of the present application, and these steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiment of the present application may also perform other operations or variations of various operations. Further, the various steps may be performed in a different order presented in the embodiments of the application, and not all operations in the embodiments of the application may be performed.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium if they are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as separate products. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a U disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory ROM, a random access memory RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A time service method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

a core network element determines that a terminal device has a time service requirement, wherein the core network element is an access and mobility management network element;

and the core network element sends indication information to an access network element, wherein the indication information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment has a time service requirement.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication information is further used to instruct the access network element to send clock information to the terminal device, where the clock information is clock information of the core network element, the access network element, and a network to which the terminal device belongs.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the clock information is fifth generation system 5GS clock information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the core network element determining that the end device has the time service requirement comprises:

and the core network element receives the indication information from the session management network element, wherein the indication information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment has time service requirements.

5. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sending, by the core network element, the indication information to the access network element comprises:

the core network element sends the indication information to the access network element through an N2 message; or,

and the core network element sends the indication information to the access network element through a context modification request message aiming at the terminal equipment.

6. A time service method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the access network element receives indication information from a core network element, wherein the indication information is used for indicating that terminal equipment has time service requirements, and the core network element is an access and mobility management network element;

and the access network element sends clock information to the terminal equipment according to the indication information.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the clock information is clock information of a network to which the core network element, the access network element, and the terminal device belong.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the clock information is fifth generation system 5GS clock information.

9. The method of any of claims 6 to 8, wherein the receiving, by the access network element, the indication information from the core network element comprises:

the access network element receives an N2 message from the core network element, wherein the N2 message comprises the indication information; or,

and the access network element receives a context modification request message aiming at the terminal equipment from the core network element, wherein the context modification request message comprises the indication information.

10. A communications apparatus, wherein the apparatus is an access and mobility management network element, the apparatus comprising:

the processing unit is used for determining that the terminal equipment has a time service requirement;

and the receiving and sending unit is used for sending indication information to an access network element, wherein the indication information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment has time service requirements.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the indication information is further configured to instruct the access network element to send clock information to the terminal device, where the clock information is clock information of a core network element, the access network element, and a network to which the terminal device belongs.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the clock information is fifth generation system 5GS clock information.

13. The apparatus of claim 10,

the transceiver unit is specifically configured to:

receiving the indication information from a session management network element, wherein the indication information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment has time service requirements;

the processing unit is specifically configured to:

and determining that the terminal equipment has time service requirements according to the indication information.

14. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the transceiver unit is specifically configured to:

sending the indication information to the access network element through an N2 message; or,

and sending the indication information to the access network element through a context modification request message aiming at the terminal equipment.

15. A communications apparatus, wherein the apparatus is an access network element, the apparatus comprising:

the terminal equipment comprises a receiving and sending unit, a time service unit and a time service unit, wherein the receiving and sending unit is used for receiving indication information from a core network element, the indication information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment has a time service requirement, and the core network element is an access and mobile management network element;

the transceiver unit is further configured to send clock information to the terminal device according to the indication information.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the clock information is clock information of a network to which the core network element, the access network element, and the terminal device belong.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the clock information is fifth generation system 5GS clock information.

18. The apparatus according to any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the transceiver unit is specifically configured to:

receiving an N2 message from the core network element, wherein the N2 message comprises the indication information; or,

receiving a context modification request message aiming at the terminal equipment from the core network element, wherein the context modification request message comprises the indication information.

19. A communications apparatus, comprising: a processor coupled with a memory, the memory to store a program or instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 5.

20. A communications apparatus, comprising: a processor coupled with a memory, the memory to store a program or instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 6 to 9.

21. A readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program or instructions, which when executed cause a computer to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 9.

22. A communication system, comprising one or more of: the communication device of any one of claims 10 to 14; a communication device as claimed in claim 15 or 18.