CN117062107A

CN117062107A - Communication method, device, communication equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN117062107A
Application number: CN202210488970.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王荣; 宋月; 魏彬
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2022-05-06
Filing date: 2022-05-06
Publication date: 2023-11-14

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a communication method, a communication device, communication equipment and a storage medium. The method comprises the following steps: at least one first Session Management Function (SMF) serving the same 5G virtual network group sends a first message to a first network element, the first message being at least one of: report messages, registration messages, update messages.

Description

Communication method, device, communication equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communications method, an apparatus, a communications device, and a storage medium.

Background

Currently, a 5G system supports a group of users who designate the same slice and the same data Network name (DNN, data Network Name) to sign up for a 5G Virtual Network (VN) group (group), and supports users in the 5G VN group to perform various types of LAN communication, including unicast, multicast, and the like, and this technical solution is called 5G LAN (LAN, local Area Network).

The 5G LAN is not currently supported to be built across session management functions (SMFs, session Management Function), and terminals belonging to one 5G VN group must be managed by the same SMF.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the existing technical problems, the embodiment of the invention provides a communication method, a device, a communication device and a storage medium.

In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention is as follows:

in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a communication method, where the method includes:

at least one first SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group sends a first message to a first network element, the first message being at least one of: report messages, registration messages, update messages.

In the above solution, the first message includes at least one of the following information: the identification of the 5G virtual network group, the identification of the first SMF, the identification of a user plane function (UPF, user Plane Function) of the first SMF selected and/or connected to serve the same 5G virtual network group, the identification of a first anchor UPF of the first SMF selected and/or connected to serve the same 5G virtual network group, terminal address information, forwarding information of UPF.

In the above scheme, the forwarding information of the UPF includes at least one of the following information:

virtual extended local area network (VXLAN, virtual eXtensible Local Area Network) Tunnel Endpoint (VTEP) information, VTEP address, VXLAN network identifier, bridge-Domain (BD).

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: the first SMF receives a second message sent by the first network element, where the second message includes at least first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

In the above scheme, the first information includes at least one of the following information:

tunnel interconnect information with UPF of SMF;

tunnel interconnect information between UPFs across SMFs;

data forwarding rule information for the 5G virtual network group.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: and the first SMF determines that the 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs needs to be networked across the SMF based on the subscription data of the terminal.

In the above solution, the subscription data includes at least a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs; or,

the subscription data comprises at least a first parameter, wherein the first parameter represents a service area of the 5G virtual network group; the first SMF determines, based on subscription information of the terminal, that a 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs needs to be networked across SMFs, including:

the first SMF compares the service area of the 5G virtual network group with the service area of the first SMF based on the first parameter, and determines whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across the SMF based on a comparison result.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: the first SMF obtains information of the first network element serving the 5G virtual network group.

In the above solution, the first SMF obtaining information of the first network element serving the 5G virtual network group includes:

the first SMF sending a third message to a network storage function (NRF, network Repository Function), the third message being for requesting to query or allocate a network element serving the 5G virtual network group, the third message including at least an identification of the 5G virtual network group;

the first SMF receives a fourth message sent by the NRF, where the fourth message includes information of the first network element.

the first SMF sending a fifth message to a unified data management (UDM, unified Data Management), the fifth message being for requesting second information of the terminal, the second information comprising at least information of the first network element;

the first SMF receives a sixth message sent by the UDM, the sixth message including at least the second information.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: the first SMF receives a seventh message sent by the first network element, wherein the seventh message is used for requesting to manage the 5G virtual network group; the seventh message includes at least: the identification of the 5G virtual network group and/or the first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: the first SMF sends an eighth message to the selected first anchor UPF, wherein the eighth message is used for requesting to manage the 5G virtual network group; the eighth message includes at least: the identity of the 5G virtual network group and/or the first information.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: and the first SMF receives a ninth message sent by the selected first anchor UPF, and the ninth message is used for informing the first anchor UPF to accept the management of the 5G virtual network group.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: and the first SMF receives a tenth message sent by the first network element, wherein the tenth message is used for notifying that the management of the 5G virtual network group is completed.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication method, where the method includes:

the first network element receives a first message sent by at least one first SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group, the first message being at least one of: report messages, registration messages, update messages.

In the above solution, the first message includes at least one of the following information: the identifier of the 5G virtual network group, the identifier of the first SMF, the identifier of the UPF of the same 5G virtual network group selected and/or connected by the first SMF, the identifier of the first anchor UPF of the same 5G virtual network group selected and/or connected by the first SMF, the terminal address information, and the forwarding information of the UPF.

VTEP information, VTEP address, VXLAN network identifier, bridging Domain (BD).

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: the first network element sends a second message to the first SMF, the second message including at least first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

tunnel interconnect information with UPF of SMF;

tunnel interconnect information between UPFs across SMFs;

data forwarding rule information for the 5G virtual network group.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: and the first network element determines the first information according to the information carried in the first message.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: the first network element sends a seventh message to the first SMF and/or at least one second SMF serving the 5G virtual network group, the seventh message being used to request management of the 5G virtual network group; the seventh message includes at least: the identification of the 5G virtual network group and/or the first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: the first network element sends an eleventh message to a first anchor point UPF selected by the first SMF and/or a second anchor point UPF selected by at least one second SMF serving the 5G virtual network group, the eleventh message being used for requesting management of the 5G virtual network group; the eleventh message at least comprises an identification of the 5G virtual network group and/or first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: the first network element sends a tenth message to the first SMF, where the tenth message is used to notify that management of the 5G virtual network group is completed.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication method, where the method includes:

the first SMF obtains information of a first network element; the first network element is a network element of a 5G virtual network group to which a terminal serving the first SMF service belongs.

In the above solution, the first SMF obtains information of a first network element, including:

the first SMF sends a third message to the NRF, where the third message is used to request to query or allocate a network element serving the 5G virtual network group, and the third message at least includes an identifier of the 5G virtual network group;

the first SMF sends a fifth message to the UDM, wherein the fifth message is used for requesting second information of the terminal, and the second information at least comprises information of the first network element;

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication method, where the method includes:

the NRF receives a third message sent by the first SMF, wherein the third message is used for requesting to inquire or distribute network elements serving a 5G virtual network group, and the 5G virtual network group is a 5G virtual network group to which a terminal served by the first SMF belongs; the third message at least comprises the identification of the 5G virtual network group;

the NRF determines a first network element serving the 5G virtual network group, and sends a fourth message to the first SMF, wherein the fourth message comprises information of the first network element.

In the above solution, the NRF determining a first network element serving the 5G virtual network group includes:

the NRF determines first network elements serving the 5G virtual network group based on the identification of the 5G virtual network group and local information, wherein the local information comprises a plurality of groups of first network element information associated or corresponding identification of the 5G virtual network group.

and the NRF allocates and records the first network element for the 5G virtual network group under the condition that the first network element is not allocated for the 5G virtual network group.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: the NRF receives a twelfth message sent by the first network element, wherein the twelfth message is used for requesting to register the first network element; the twelfth message at least comprises the identification of the first network element and/or the identification of the 5G virtual network group;

the NRF registers the first network element and sends a response message corresponding to the twelfth message to the first network element.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: the NRF sends a thirteenth message to the UDM, the thirteenth message being used to update information of the 5G virtual network group, the thirteenth message including at least information of the first network element and an identification of the 5G virtual network group.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication method, where the method includes:

the UDM receives a fifth message sent by a first SMF, wherein the fifth message is used for requesting second information of a terminal, the second information at least comprises information of a first network element serving a 5G virtual network group, and the 5G virtual network group is a 5G virtual network group to which the terminal served by the first SMF belongs;

the UDM sends a sixth message to the first SMF, the sixth message comprising at least the second information.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: the UDM receives a thirteenth message sent by NRF, wherein the thirteenth message is used for updating the information of the 5G virtual network group and at least comprises the information of the first network element and the identification of the 5G virtual network group;

and the UDM records the information of the first network element in the subscription data of the terminal.

In the above scheme, the method further comprises: the UDM receives a thirteenth message sent by a first SMF, wherein the thirteenth message is used for requesting to acquire subscription data of the terminal; the subscription data is used for the first SMF to determine that a 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs needs to be networked across the SMF;

and the UDM sends a response message corresponding to the thirteenth message to the first SMF, wherein the response message comprises the subscription data.

the subscription data comprises at least a first parameter representing a service area of the 5G virtual network group.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present invention further provide a communications apparatus, where the apparatus is applied to at least one first SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group; the device comprises: a first sending unit, configured to send a first message to a first network element, where the first message is at least one of the following: report messages, registration messages, update messages.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication apparatus, where the apparatus is applied to a first network element; the apparatus comprises a second receiving unit, configured to receive a first message sent by at least one first SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group, where the first message is at least one of: report messages, registration messages, update messages.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication apparatus, where the apparatus is applied to a first SMF; the device comprises an acquisition unit, a first network element and a second network element, wherein the acquisition unit is used for acquiring information of the first network element; the first network element is a network element of a 5G virtual network group to which a terminal serving the first SMF service belongs.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication apparatus, where the apparatus is applied to NRF; the device comprises a fourth receiving unit, a third processing unit and a fourth transmitting unit; wherein,

the fourth receiving unit is configured to receive a third message sent by the first SMF, where the third message is used to request to query or allocate a network element serving a 5G virtual network group, where the 5G virtual network group is a 5G virtual network group to which a terminal served by the first SMF belongs; the third message at least comprises the identification of the 5G virtual network group;

The third processing unit is configured to determine a first network element serving the 5G virtual network group;

the fourth sending unit is configured to send a fourth message to the first SMF, where the fourth message includes information of the first network element.

In a tenth aspect, embodiments of the present invention further provide a communications device, where the device is applied in UDM; the device comprises a fifth receiving unit and a fifth transmitting unit; wherein,

the fifth receiving unit is configured to receive a fifth message sent by the first SMF, where the fifth message is used to request second information of a terminal, where the second information includes at least information of a first network element serving a 5G virtual network group, where the 5G virtual network group is a 5G virtual network group to which the terminal served by the first SMF belongs;

the fifth sending unit is configured to send a sixth message to the first SMF, where the sixth message includes at least the second information.

In an eleventh aspect, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the program is executed by a processor to implement the steps of the communication method according to the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present invention.

In a twelfth aspect, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication device, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and capable of running on the processor, where the processor executes the program to implement the steps of the method described in the foregoing first aspect, second aspect, third aspect, fourth aspect or fifth aspect of the embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiment of the invention provides a communication method, a device, a communication device and a storage medium, wherein the method comprises the following steps: at least one first SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group sends a first message to a first network element, the first message being at least one of: report messages, registration messages, update messages. By adopting the technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention, the cross-SMF management of the 5G virtual network group is realized through the first network element serving the 5G virtual network group.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture to which a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a second flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an interaction flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a second schematic diagram of an interaction flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an interaction flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of an interaction flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a composition structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a second component structure of the communication device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a third component structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a composition structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of a composition structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of a hardware composition structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific examples.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention can be applied to various communication systems, such as: global system for mobile communications (GSM, global System of Mobile communication), long term evolution (LTE, long Term Evolution) or 5G systems, etc. Alternatively, the 5G system or 5G network may also be referred to as a New Radio (NR) system or NR network.

By way of example, the communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applied may include a control network element and a terminal device (may also be referred to as a terminal, a communication terminal, etc.); the control network element may be a device in communication with the terminal device. Wherein the control network element may provide communication coverage for a range of areas and may communicate with terminals located within the areas. Alternatively, the control network element may be a base station in each communication system, such as an evolved base station (eNB, evolutional Node B) in an LTE system, and also such as a base station (gNB) in a 5G system or an NR system.

It should be understood that a device having a communication function in a network/system according to an embodiment of the present application may be referred to as a communication device. The communication device may include a control network element and a terminal with communication functions, where the control network element and the terminal device may be specific devices described above, and are not described herein again; the communication device may also include other devices in the communication system, such as a network controller, a mobility management entity, and other network entities, which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably herein. The term "and/or" is herein merely an association relationship describing an associated object, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, may represent: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the front and rear associated objects are an "or" relationship.

The terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged where appropriate such that the embodiments of the application described herein may be implemented, for example, in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture to which a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application is applied; as shown in fig. 1, multiple SMFs may be included in a system, as well as anchor points/anchor UPFs (PSAs) under each SMF; two SMFs are illustrated as SMF1 and SMF2, but in practice, the present application is not limited to two SMFs.

The system of this embodiment adds a first network element to serve one or more 5G Virtual Network (VN) groups. In some embodiments, the SMF (e.g. SMF 1) may send information about a 5G VN group to the first network element for registration and/or registration and obtain authorization. The first network element may authorize the SMF (e.g., SMF 1) to provide 5G local area network (LAN, local Area Network) session services for the 5G VN group based on the local management capability, and send an authorization instruction to the SMF. In addition, the first network element can also determine whether other SMFs exist and the UPFs under the other SMFs serve the 5G VN group currently, and the first network element can manage and control the UPFs managed by different SMFs based on a certain policy.

Alternatively, the first network element may be a network element entity or a functional entity, which may be a separate network element entity or a functional entity, for example implemented by an existing network element entity or function, such as NRF or UDM; there may also be several network elements or functional arrangements, for example by NRF and UDM, the first network element being formed by at least part of the functions in the NRF and UDM arrangements. Alternatively, the first network element may be referred to as a Controller, a 5G VN Controller (5G VN Controller), a 5G VN Controller function (5G VN Controller Function), or a group session management function (Group Session Management function), etc., and the name of the first network element is not limited in this embodiment, as long as the function thereof can be implemented.

It should be noted that in fig. 1, an extensible virtual local area network (VxLAN, virtual eXtensible LAN) tunnel (not shown) may be created between the UPFs (PSAs), and the first network element may create a VxLAN tunnel between UPFs that belong to different SMF management based on policies.

The following embodiments of the present invention are presented based at least on the system architecture shown in fig. 1.

The embodiment of the invention provides a communication method, which is applied to a first SMF. FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the invention; as shown in fig. 2, the method includes:

Step 101: at least one first SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group sends a first message to a first network element, the first message being at least one of: report messages, registration messages, update messages.

In this embodiment, the first SMF is any SMF in a same 5G Virtual Network (VN) group. Referring to the example shown in fig. 1, the first SMF may be SMF1 and/or SMF2. The first SMF sends a first message to a first network element, wherein the first message is at least one of the following: report messages, register messages, update messages. Optionally, the first message may include information about the 5G virtual network group, and the first message may be at least one of a report message, a registration message, and an update message for the 5G virtual network group, where the first network element may register/register the 5G virtual network group according to content carried in the first message, and generate a group management policy related to the 5G virtual network group; or update or revise group management information or group management policies associated with the 5G virtual network group, etc.

In some alternative embodiments, the first message includes at least one of the following information: the Identification (ID) of the 5G virtual network group, the Identification (ID) of the first SMF, the identification of the UPF of the first SMF selected and/or connected service same 5G virtual network group, the identification of the first anchor UPF of the first SMF selected and/or connected service same 5G virtual network group, terminal address information, forwarding information of the UPF.

In this embodiment, optionally, the identifier of the UPF and the identifier of the first anchor UPF may be a UPF ID and the first anchor UPF ID, or may be an internet protocol version 4 (IPv 4, internet Protocol Version 4)/internet protocol version 6 (IPv 6, internet Protocol Version 6) address, and/or a fully defined domain name (FQDN, fully Qualified Domain Name) of the UPF and the first anchor UPF, respectively, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Optionally, the forwarding information of the UPF includes at least one of the following information: VXLAN Tunnel Endpoint (VTEP) information, VTEP address, VXLAN network identifier (VNI, VXLAN Network Identifier), bridge-Domain (BD).

In this embodiment, the first SMF selects a UPF for the terminal during the session establishment initiated by the terminal (the selected UPF may be, for example, the first anchor UPF described above). And the forwarding information of the UPF herein may be forwarding information of each UPF within the control range of the first SMF. And interaction can be performed between the UPFs through the established VXLAN tunnel, the forwarding information of the UPFs can be described through related information of the VXLAN tunnel, for example, the forwarding information of the UPFs includes at least one of the following information: VTEP information, VTEP address, VXLAN network identifier, bridging Domain (BD), etc.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises: the first SMF receives a second message sent by the first network element, where the second message includes at least first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

In this embodiment, after receiving the first message, the first network element may register/register the 5G virtual network group according to the content carried in the first message, to generate a group management policy related to the 5G virtual network group; or update or revise group management information or group management policies associated with the 5G virtual network group, etc. The first network element sends a second message to the first SMF, where the second message includes first information for managing the 5G virtual network group, where the first information is, for example, a group management policy or group management information related to the 5G virtual network group.

In some alternative embodiments, the first information includes at least one of the following information:

tunnel interconnect information with UPF of SMF;

tunnel interconnect information between UPFs across SMFs;

data forwarding rule information for the 5G virtual network group.

In this embodiment, the tunnel interconnection information between the UPFs of the SMF may include information indicating establishment, revision, release, etc. of a tunnel between the UPFs of the SMF, and may also include information indicating establishment, revision, release of a tunnel between the UPFs of the SMF. In some examples, the tunnel interconnection information between the UPFs of the SMF may include indication information indicating that a tunnel is established between the UPFs of the SMF. In other examples, the tunnel interconnection information between UPFs of the same SMF may also include tunnel interconnection information indicating that a tunnel is established between UPFs, for example, if a tunnel is established between two UPFs, the tunnel interconnection information between UPFs of the same SMF includes indication information indicating that a tunnel is established between UPFs of the same SMF, and/or may include tunnel interconnection information of two UPFs that establish a tunnel. For another example, if the originally established tunnel between two UPFs needs to be revised or released, the tunnel interconnection information between the UPFs of the same SMF may include indication information indicating that the tunnel between the two UPFs is revised or released, and/or may include revising or deleting the originally recorded tunnel interconnection information between the two UPFs, or the like. Accordingly, the tunnel interconnection information between the UPFs crossing the SMF may represent information such as tunnel establishment, revision, release, etc. between the UPFs crossing the SMF. Illustratively, the tunnel interconnection information between UPFs crossing SMFs may include indication information indicating establishment, revision, release, etc. of tunnels between UPFs crossing SMFs, and/or may include information indicating establishment, revision, release of tunnels between UPFs crossing SMFs.

In this embodiment, the data forwarding rule information of the 5G virtual network group may be, for example, a packet detection rule (PDR, packet Detection Rule)/forwarding operation rule (FAR, forwarding Action Rule) rule.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises: and the first SMF determines that the 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs needs to be networked across the SMF based on the subscription data of the terminal.

In this embodiment, the first SMF may obtain subscription data of the terminal from the UDM, and determine, based on the subscription data of the terminal, that the 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs needs to be networked across the SMF.

In some alternative embodiments, the subscription data includes at least a first identification indicating whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs; or, the subscription data at least comprises a first parameter, wherein the first parameter represents a service area of the 5G virtual network group; the first SMF determines, based on subscription information of the terminal, that a 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs needs to be networked across SMFs, including: the first SMF compares the service area of the 5G virtual network group with the service area of the first SMF based on the first parameter, and determines whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across the SMF based on a comparison result.

In this embodiment, as an implementation manner, the subscription data of the terminal may include a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate a networking characteristic of the 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs, that is, whether cross-SMF networking is required. In some examples, the first identifier is an indication (indicator), such as a Single-SMF indicator, multiple-SMF indicator, or Multiple-SMF indicator. The terminal may determine, according to the indication of the first identity, whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs. In other examples, it may also be determined whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs according to whether the first identifier is carried in subscription data of the terminal. For example, when the first identifier is a Single-SMF indicator, if the first identifier exists, it indicates that the 5G virtual network group does not need to be networked across SMFs, and if the first identifier does not exist, it indicates that the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs. For example, when the first identifier is a Multi-SMF indicator or a Multiple-SMF indicator, if the first identifier does not exist, it indicates that the 5G virtual network group does not need to be networked across SMFs, if the first identifier exists, it indicates that the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs, and the first SMF may determine whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs according to whether the first identifier is carried in subscription data of the terminal. In still other examples, the first identifier may be represented by a bit, if the bit position is 0, it indicates that the 5G virtual network group does not need to be networked across SMFs, and if the bit position is 1, it indicates that the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs, and the first SMF may determine, according to a value of the first identifier, whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs.

As another embodiment, the subscription data includes at least a first parameter, the first parameter representing a Service Area (Service Area) of the 5G virtual network group, the parameter being an existing parameter of the current 5G virtual network group. The first SMF may compare the service area of the 5G virtual network group with the service area of the first SMF; if the service area of the 5G virtual network group is smaller than or equal to the service area of the first SMF, the 5G virtual network group can be judged not to need to cross-SMF networking; if the service area of the 5G virtual network group is larger than the service area of the first SMF, the 5G virtual network group can be judged to need to be networked across the SMF.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises: the first SMF obtains information of the first network element serving the 5G virtual network group.

In this embodiment, when the first SMF determines that the 5G virtual network group needs to cross-SMF networking, the first SMF first obtains information of the first network element serving the 5G virtual network group, and further sends the first message to the first network element according to the information of the first network element.

In some alternative embodiments, the first SMF obtaining information of the first network element serving the 5G virtual network group includes: the first SMF sends a third message to the NRF, where the third message is used to request to query or allocate a network element serving the 5G virtual network group, and the third message at least includes an identifier of the 5G virtual network group; the first SMF receives a fourth message sent by the NRF, where the fourth message includes information of the first network element.

In this embodiment, the first SMF sends a third message to the NRF, where the third message may be, for example, a service discovery request message, configured to request to query or allocate a network element serving the 5G virtual network group. And the third message at least comprises the identification of the 5G virtual network group. And the NRF determines a first network element serving the 5G virtual network group through the information carried in the third message, and sends the information of the first network element to a first SMF through the fourth message.

The information of the first network element may be, for example, an identifier and/or an address of the first network element; the ID of the first network element may be the ID of the first network element, or may also be an IPv4/IPv6 address of the first network element, and/or a FQDN, etc., which is not limited in this embodiment.

In further alternative embodiments, the first SMF obtains information of the first network element serving the 5G virtual network group, including: the first SMF sends a fifth message to the UDM, wherein the fifth message is used for requesting second information of the terminal, and the second information at least comprises information of the first network element; the first SMF receives a sixth message sent by the UDM, the sixth message including at least the second information.

In this embodiment, the first SMF sends a fifth message to the UDM, where the fifth message is used to request second information of the terminal, and the second information includes at least information of the first network element. The second information of the terminal may be subscription data (or subscription information) of the terminal, for example. Optionally, the fifth message may include an identification of the terminal. And the UDM obtains second information of the terminal through information carried in the fifth message, and sends the second information to the first SMF through the sixth message.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises: the first SMF receives a seventh message sent by the first network element, wherein the seventh message is used for requesting to manage the 5G virtual network group; the seventh message includes at least: the identification of the 5G virtual network group and/or the first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the first SMF sends an eighth message to the selected first anchor UPF, wherein the eighth message is used for requesting to manage the 5G virtual network group; the eighth message includes at least: the identity of the 5G virtual network group and/or the first information.

In this embodiment, the first network element manages the anchor point UPF under each SMF indirectly through each SMF, that is, the first network element sends a seventh message to each first SMF, and the first SMF sends a message (that is, an eighth message) for 5G virtual network group management to the anchor point UPF in the jurisdiction.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises: and the first SMF receives a ninth message sent by the selected first anchor UPF, and the ninth message is used for informing the first anchor UPF to accept the management of the 5G virtual network group.

In this embodiment, the first network element directly manages the anchor point UPF serving the unified 5G virtual network group, that is, the first network element sends an eleventh message to the first anchor point UPF to request to manage the 5G virtual network group; after the first anchor point UPF receives the eleventh message, the first anchor point UPF sends a ninth message to the first SMF, and the first network element directly manages the anchor point UPF serving the unified 5G virtual network group, namely, the first network element sends the eleventh message to the first anchor point UPF and at least one second anchor point UPF serving the same 5G virtual network group so as to request management of the 5G virtual network group.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises: and the first SMF receives a tenth message sent by the first network element, wherein the tenth message is used for notifying that the management of the 5G virtual network group is completed.

Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present invention provide a communication method, where the method is applied to a first network element. FIG. 3 is a second flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the invention; as shown in fig. 3, the method includes:

step 201: the first network element receives a first message sent by at least one first SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group, the first message being at least one of: report messages, registration messages, update messages.

In this embodiment, the first network element receives a first message sent by at least one first SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group, and referring to fig. 1, the first network element may, for example, receive a first message sent by SMF1 serving the same 5G virtual network group, and/or receive a first message sent by SMF 2.

In this embodiment, optionally, the first message may include information about the 5G virtual network group, and the first message may be at least one of a report message, a registration message, and an update message for the 5G virtual network group, where the first network element may register/register the 5G virtual network group according to content carried in the first message, and generate a group management policy related to the 5G virtual network group; or update or revise group management information or group management policies associated with the 5G virtual network group, etc.

In some alternative embodiments, the first message includes at least one of the following information: the identifier of the 5G virtual network group, the identifier of the first SMF, the identifier of the UPF of the same 5G virtual network group selected and/or connected by the first SMF, the identifier of the first anchor UPF of the same 5G virtual network group selected and/or connected by the first SMF, the terminal address information, and the forwarding information of the UPF.

In this embodiment, optionally, the identifier of the UPF and the identifier of the first anchor UPF may be a UPF ID and the first anchor UPF ID, or may also be IPv4/IPv6 addresses, and/or FQDN, etc. of the UPF and the first anchor UPF, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Optionally, the forwarding information of the UPF includes at least one of the following information: VTEP information, VTEP address, VXLAN network identifier, bridging Domain (BD).

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises: the first network element sends a second message to the first SMF, the second message including at least first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

In some alternative embodiments, the method further comprises: and the first network element determines the first information according to the information carried in the first message.

tunnel interconnect information with UPF of SMF;

tunnel interconnect information between UPFs across SMFs;

data forwarding rule information for the 5G virtual network group.

In this embodiment, the data forwarding rule information of the 5G virtual network group may be, for example, a PDR/FAR rule.

In some alternative embodiments, the method further comprises: the first network element sends a seventh message to the first SMF and/or at least one second SMF serving the 5G virtual network group, the seventh message being used to request management of the 5G virtual network group; the seventh message includes at least: the identification of the 5G virtual network group and/or the first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

In other alternative embodiments, the method further comprises: the first network element sends an eleventh message to a first anchor point UPF selected by the first SMF and/or a second anchor point UPF selected by at least one second SMF serving the 5G virtual network group, the eleventh message being used for requesting management of the 5G virtual network group; the eleventh message at least comprises an identification of the 5G virtual network group and/or first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

In this embodiment, the management of the 5G virtual network group by the first network element may include two modes: the first way is that the first network element manages the anchor point UPF under each SMF indirectly through each SMF, that is, the first network element sends a seventh message to each first SMF and at least one second SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group, and the first SMF and at least one second SMF send a message for 5G virtual network group management to the anchor point UPF in each jurisdiction. The second way is that the first network element directly manages the anchor point UPF serving the unified 5G virtual network group, that is, the first network element sends an eleventh message to the first anchor point UPF and at least one second anchor point UPF serving the same 5G virtual network group to request management of the 5G virtual network group. The seventh message and the eleventh message at least include the identifier of the 5G virtual network group and/or the first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

Optionally, in the first manner, the first network element may further receive a response message corresponding to the seventh message sent by the first SMF and/or at least one second SMF. In the second manner, the first network element may further receive a response message corresponding to the eleventh message sent by the first anchor UPF and/or at least one second anchor UPF.

In some alternative embodiments, the method further comprises: the first network element sends a tenth message to the first SMF, where the tenth message is used to notify that management of the 5G virtual network group is completed.

The above communication method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to specific examples.

Example one

In this example, SMF1 is the SMF accessed by the current UE 1; SMF2 is the same SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group as SMF1, PSA UPF1 is the SMF1 selected or connected UPF, and PSA UPF2 is the SMF2 selected or connected UPF. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an interaction flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 4, the method includes:

step 301: UE1 initiates a PDU session establishment request to SMF1.

Step 302, SMF1 initiates a request for acquiring terminal subscription data to UDM, and acquires the subscription data of UE1 from UDM.

In this example, the subscription data may include a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate a networking characteristic of the 5G VN group, where the networking characteristic indicates whether the 5G VN group supports only a single SMF networking or needs to be networked across SMFs.

In step 303, the SMF1 locally performs a procedure such as PSA UPF selection, and determines whether the 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs needs to cross-SMF networking according to the received subscription data (e.g., the first identifier).

Step 304, for the case of needing to cross-SMF networking, SMF1 obtains information of the first network element from NRF.

Step 305, smf1 initiates registration/registration with the first network element and obtains authorization and related group management information.

This step corresponds to the first SMF in the previous embodiment sending the first message to the first network element.

Wherein, the message may include: 5G VN group ID, SMF ID, PSA UPF ID, and UPF forwarding information.

When the UPF adopts VxLAN technology to implement data forwarding, the UPF forwarding information includes, for example, information such as VTEP information, VTEP IP address, BD, VNI, and the like.

Step 306, the first network element forms group management information according to the information obtained from the SMF 1.

Here, the group management information is used to guide the SMF and or UPF serving the same 5G virtual network group to perform N19 tunnel management, and or data forwarding management. Specifically, the first network element builds a UPF topology (such as a star topology, a ring topology, etc.) according to a group management policy based on SMF and/or UPF information of the current 5G VN group access, and requests the SMF and/or UPF to create an N19 tunnel, and/or a data forwarding rule according to topology requirements.

Alternatively, the first network element may send a response message corresponding to the registration/registration message to SMF 1. The response message corresponds to the second message in the above embodiment, and the response message may include group management information (corresponds to the first message in the above embodiment).

Step 307, the first network element issues group management information to the SMF or UPF currently serving the 5G VN group.

Here, the group management information corresponds to the first information in the above-described embodiment. Group management information includes, but is not limited to: tunnel interworking information between UPFs with the SMF, tunnel interworking information between UPFs across the SMF, and data forwarding rule information for the 5G virtual network group.

The distribution of group management information includes two forms: direct management (see 307a procedure) and indirect management (see 307b procedure).

Step 307a (comprising step 307 a.1-step 307 a.2): the first network element sends a group management request to the PSA UPF 1 of the current session service and/or to one or more PSA UPFs (PSA UPF 2) serving the same 5G VN group and obtains the responses respectively. After each PSA UPF completes group management, a group management notification message is sent to the attributed SMF and a response is obtained.

Step 307b (comprising step 307 b.1-step 307 b.3): the first network element sends a group management request to SMF1 of the current session service and/or SMF2 of the same 5G VN group service, and each SMF sends a group management request to UPFs of the same 5G VN group service managed by the SMF and respectively obtains responses. After completion, each SMF returns a group management response to the first network element.

Step 308: the first network element sends a 5G VN group management completion notice to the SMF1 of the current session service, and informs the SMF to continue the session flow related to the subsequent terminal.

Step 309: the interaction of PDU session establishment request and response messages is performed between SMF1 and PSA UPF 1.

Step 310: SMF1 returns a PDU session establishment response to UE 1.

By adopting the technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention, the first message (at least one of the report message, the registration message and the update message) of the first SMF is received through the newly added first network element, the management authority of the first SMF to the 5G virtual network group is authorized according to the local strategy, and the related group management information is issued at the same time, so that the management of the 5G virtual network group crossing the SMF is realized.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a communication method which is applied to the first SMF. Fig. 5 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 5, the method includes:

step 401: the first SMF obtains information of a first network element; the first network element is a network element of a 5G virtual network group to which a terminal serving the first SMF service belongs.

In this embodiment, the first SMF may be any one of at least one SMF serving one 5G virtual network group. Alternatively, the first SMF may be an SMF accessed by the terminal in the process of initiating a PDU session request by the terminal.

In some alternative embodiments, the first SMF obtains information of a first network element, including: the first SMF sends a third message to a network storage function (NRF, NF Repository Function), where the third message is used to request to query or allocate a network element serving the 5G virtual network group, and the third message includes at least an identifier of the 5G virtual network group; the first SMF receives a fourth message sent by the NRF, where the fourth message includes information of the first network element.

In this embodiment, the first SMF sends a third message to the NRF, where the third message may be, for example, a service discovery request message, configured to request to query or allocate a network element serving the 5G virtual network group. And the third message at least comprises the identification of the 5G virtual network group. And the NRF determines a first network element serving the 5G virtual network group through the information carried in the third message, and sends the information of the first network element to a first SMF through the fourth message. The information of the first network element may be, for example, an identifier and/or an address of the first network element.

In other alternative embodiments, the first SMF obtains information of a first network element, including: the first SMF sending a fifth message to a unified data management (UDM, unified Data Management), the fifth message being for requesting second information of the terminal, the second information comprising at least information of the first network element; the first SMF receives a sixth message sent by the UDM, the sixth message including at least the second information.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises: at least one of the first SMFs serving the same 5G virtual network group sends a first message to a first network element, the first message being at least one of: report messages, registration messages, update messages.

Optionally, the forwarding information of the UPF includes at least one of the following information: VTEP information, VTEP address, VXLAN network identifier, bridge-Domain (BD).

Optionally, the first information includes at least one of the following information: tunnel interconnect information with UPF of SMF; tunnel interconnect information between UPFs across SMFs; data forwarding rule information for the 5G virtual network group.

Optionally, the subscription data includes at least a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs; or, the subscription data at least comprises a first parameter, wherein the first parameter represents a service area of the 5G virtual network group; the first SMF determines, based on subscription information of the terminal, that a 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs needs to be networked across SMFs, including: the first SMF compares the service area of the 5G virtual network group with the service area of the first SMF based on the first parameter, and determines whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across the SMF based on a comparison result.

Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present invention further provide a communication method, where the method is applied to NRF. Fig. 6 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 6, the method includes:

Step 501: the NRF receives a third message sent by the first SMF, wherein the third message is used for requesting to inquire or distribute network elements serving a 5G virtual network group, and the 5G virtual network group is a 5G virtual network group to which a terminal served by the first SMF belongs; the third message at least comprises the identification of the 5G virtual network group;

step 502: the NRF determines a first network element serving the 5G virtual network group, and sends a fourth message to the first SMF, wherein the fourth message comprises information of the first network element.

In some alternative embodiments, the NRF determining a first network element serving the 5G virtual network group includes: the NRF determines a first network element serving the 5G virtual network group based on the identifier of the 5G virtual network group and local information, wherein the local information comprises a plurality of groups of network element information association or corresponding identifiers of the 5G virtual network group.

In this embodiment, the local information may be preconfigured, or may be formed by recording after the NRF allocates the first network element for the 5G virtual network group for the first time, or may be formed by recording the 5G virtual network group that is carried by the first network element and can be served by the first network element when the first network element registers. Based on this, the NRF may perform a lookup through the local information to obtain information of the first network element corresponding to or matching the identifier of the 5G virtual network group.

In further alternative embodiments, the NRF determining a first network element serving the 5G virtual network group comprises: and the NRF allocates a first network element for the 5G virtual network group under the condition that the network element is not allocated for the 5G virtual network group.

In this embodiment, when determining that no network element is allocated to the 5G virtual network group, the NRF allocates a first network element for the 5G virtual network group for the first time, and records a correspondence or association between information of the allocated first network element and the 5G virtual network group, where the correspondence and association may be recorded in the local information.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises: the NRF receives a twelfth message sent by the first network element, wherein the twelfth message is used for requesting to register the first network element; the twelfth message at least comprises the identification of the first network element and/or the identification of the 5G virtual network group; the NRF registers the first network element and sends a response message corresponding to the twelfth message to the first network element.

In this embodiment, before performing service management on the 5G virtual network group, each first network element first performs service registration on the NRF, that is, the first network element sends a twelfth message to the NRF, where the twelfth message may also be referred to as a service registration request message, and is used to request registration on the first network element. After registering the first network element based on the content carried by the twelfth message, the NRF sends a response message corresponding to the twelfth message to the first network element, where the response message may also be referred to as a registration service response message.

Optionally, during or after the registration of the first network element by the NRF, the NRF records information of the 5G virtual network group that can be served by the first network element, for example, records a mapping relationship or association relationship between an identifier and/or an address of the first network element and the 5G virtual network group, so as to form local information, or records the local information in the local information.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises: the NRF sends a thirteenth message to the UDM, the thirteenth message being used to update information of the 5G virtual network group, the thirteenth message including at least information of the first network element and an identification of the 5G virtual network group.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a communication method which is applied to the UDM. Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 7, the method includes:

step 601: the UDM receives a fifth message sent by a first SMF, wherein the fifth message is used for requesting second information of a terminal, the second information at least comprises information of a first network element serving a 5G virtual network group, and the 5G virtual network group is a 5G virtual network group to which the terminal served by the first SMF belongs;

step 602: the UDM sends a sixth message to the first SMF, the sixth message comprising at least the second information.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises: the UDM receives a thirteenth message sent by NRF, wherein the thirteenth message is used for updating the information of the 5G virtual network group and at least comprises the information of the first network element and the identification of the 5G virtual network group; and the UDM records the information of the first network element in the subscription data of the terminal.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises: the UDM receives a thirteenth message sent by a first SMF, wherein the thirteenth message is used for requesting to acquire subscription data of the terminal; the subscription data is used for the first SMF to determine that a 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs needs to be networked across the SMF; and the UDM sends a response message corresponding to the thirteenth message to the first SMF, wherein the response message comprises the subscription data.

In some optional embodiments of the invention, the subscription data includes at least a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs; alternatively, the subscription data includes at least a first parameter, the first parameter representing a service area of the 5G virtual network group.

Example two

FIG. 8 is a second schematic diagram of an interaction flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 8, the method includes:

step 701: the first network element sends a service registration request to the NRF.

Here, the service registration request corresponds to the twelfth message described above.

Optionally, the service registration request is used for registering the first network element. The service registration request comprises at least an identification of the first network element and/or an identification of the 5G virtual network group.

Step 702: the NRF sends a service registration response to the first network element.

Step 703 to step 705: the SMF1 sends a service discovery request message to the NRF, the NRF determines a first network element serving the 5G VN group, returns a service discovery response message to the SMF1, and the response message carries an identification or an address of the first network element.

Wherein the service discovery request carries the 5G VN group information (e.g. 5G VN group ID).

NRF may determine the first network element by two cases: 1. information of a first network element corresponding to the 5G VN group is already available: after the NRF receives the request sent by the SMF, the first network element is determined according to the information of the 5G VN group and the local information carried in the message. 2. There is no information of the first network element corresponding to the 5G VN group: after the NRF receives the service discovery request message, a first network element is allocated to the 5G VN group according to a local strategy, and the first network element is recorded.

Alternatively, the SMF1 may send a service discovery request message to the NRF after the UE initiates the session establishment request.

Example three

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an interaction flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 9, the method includes:

step 801: the NRF is determined as the first network element of the 5G virtual network group service.

Step 802: the NRF sends an information update request to the UDM, wherein the information update request comprises the information of the first network element and the information of the 5G virtual network group.

Step 803: the UDM updates the subscription data of the 5G virtual network group.

In this embodiment, the subscription data of the terminal includes information of the 5G virtual network group and the corresponding or associated first network element. After receiving the information update request from the NRF, the UDM may update the information including the information of the first network element and the information of the 5G virtual network group in the information update request to subscription data of each terminal in the 5G virtual network group.

The steps 801 to 803 are pre-processes, and may be performed, for example, in a session process of another terminal in the 5G virtual network group.

Step 804: the SMF1 obtains subscription data of the terminal from the UDM, including information of the 5G virtual network group and information of the first network element.

The information of the first network element may be an identifier and/or an address of the first network element.

Step 805: the SMF1 determines the first network element from the subscription data.

Alternatively, the SMF1 may obtain the subscription data of the terminal from the UDM after the UE initiates the session establishment request.

Example four

In this example, the first network element is a group session management function (GSMF, group Session Management Function). Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of an interaction flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 10, the method includes:

step 901: UE1 establishes a PDU session.

Specifically, UE1 establishes one PDU session for accessing a 5G VN (UE 1 establishes a PDU session for accessing 5G VN).

In this example, UE1 is served by SMF1 and UPF 1.

Step 902: SMF1 reports/registers to GSMF, carrying UE1 home 5G VN group identity, SMF1 identity and UPF1 identity (Registered with 5G VN group ID,SMF1 identifier,UPF1identifier).

Step 903: alternatively, to enable communication between group members of different SMF services, SMF1 may Subscribe to a 5G VN group change event (Subscribe 5G VN group change event notification) with the GSMF.

Step 904: to enable management of 5G VN groups when UPF topology changes, SMF1 may Subscribe to GSMF when 5G VN group management changes, i.e. SMF1 subscribes to 5G VN group management events (Subscribe 5G VN group management event notification) to GSMF.

For example, when the GSMF decides to establish/release an N19 tunnel associated with SMF1, the GSMF is subscribed to.

Step 905: similar to step 901, ue2 establishes a PDU session.

Specifically, UE2 establishes a PDU session for accessing a 5G VN (UE 2 establishes a PDU session for accessing 5G VN).

In this example, UE2 is served by SMF1 and UPF 2.

Step 906: similar to step 902, SMF1 reports/registers with GSMF, carrying UE2 home 5G VN group identity, SMF1 identity and UPF2 identity (Registered with 5G VN group ID,SMF1identifier,UPF2 identifier).

Step 907: GSMF detects that a new UPF is involved in serving the 5G VN group, while the current UPF is under the same SMF, GSMF determines the UPF topology (GSMF detect multiple UPF involved within one SMF, GSMF determines the UPF topology.and construction the SMF1 to setup N19 tunnel).

In this example, GSMF instructs SMF1 to establish an N19 tunnel between UPF1 and UPF 2.

Step 908: the GSMF informs SMF1 to establish an N19 tunnel between UPF1 and UPF2 via a 5G VN group management message.

Here, the SMF1 is notified between the GSMF and the SMF1 by a 5G VN group management request/response (5G VN group management request/response) to establish an N19 tunnel between the UPF1 and the UPF2 (N19 tunnel setup between UPF and UPF 2).

Step 909: SMF1 establishes an N19 tunnel between UPF1 and UPF2 (N19 tunnel setup between UPF1 and UPF 2).

Step 910: similar to step 901, ue3 establishes a PDU session.

Specifically, UE3 establishes one PDU session for accessing a 5G VN (UE 3 establishes a PDU session for accessing 5G VN).

In this example, UE3 is served by SMF2 and UPF 3.

Step 911: similar to step 902, SMF2 reports/registers with GSMF, carrying UE3 home 5G VN group identity, SMF2 identity and UPF3 identity (Registered with 5G VN group ID,SMF2identifier,UPF3 identifier).

Step 912: similar to step 903. Alternatively, to enable communication between group members of different SMF services, SMF2 may Subscribe to a 5G VN group change event (Subscribe 5G VN group change event notification) with the GSMF.

Step 913: the GSMF detects that a plurality of SMFs serve the 5G VN group. According to different 5G VN group management policies, GSMF decides the topology of UPF (GSMF detect multiple SMF involved. Determinethe UPF topology.for example, GSMF instruct the SMF1 and SMF2 to establish N19 tunnel between UPF and UPF 3).

In this example, GSMF decides to establish an N19 tunnel between UPF1 and UPF 3.

Step 914: the GSMF informs SMF1 to establish an N19 tunnel between UPF1 and UPF3 via a 5G VN group management message.

Here, the SMF1 is notified between the GSMF and the SMF1 by a 5G VN group management request/response (5G VN group management request/response) to establish an N19 tunnel between the UPF1 and the UPF3 (N19 tunnel setup between UPF and UPF 3).

Step 915: optionally, the GSMF informs the SMF2 to establish the N19 tunnel between UPF1 and UPF3 via a 5G VN group management message.

Here, the SMF2 is notified between the GSMF and the SMF2 by a 5G VN group management request/response (5G VN group management request/response) to establish an N19 tunnel between the UPF1 and the UPF3 (N19 tunnel setup between UPF and UPF 3).

Step 916: SMF1 establishes an N19 tunnel between UPF1 and UPF3 (N19 tunnel setup between UPF1 and UPF 3).

Based on the above embodiment, the embodiment of the invention also provides a communication device. The apparatus is applied in at least one first SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group. Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a composition structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 11, the apparatus includes: a first sending unit 11, configured to send a first message to a first network element, where the first message is at least one of the following: report messages, registration messages, update messages.

In some optional embodiments of the invention, at least one of the following information is included in the first message: the identifier of the 5G virtual network group, the identifier of the first SMF, the identifier of the UPF of the same 5G virtual network group selected and/or connected by the first SMF, the identifier of the first anchor UPF of the same 5G virtual network group selected and/or connected by the first SMF, the terminal address information, and the forwarding information of the UPF.

In some alternative embodiments of the present invention, the forwarding information of the UPF includes at least one of the following information: VTEP information, VTEP address, VXLAN network identifier, BD.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the apparatus further comprises: a first receiving unit 12, configured to receive a second message sent by the first network element, where the second message includes at least first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the first information includes at least one of the following information:

tunnel interconnect information with UPF of SMF;

tunnel interconnect information between UPFs across SMFs;

data forwarding rule information for the 5G virtual network group.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the apparatus further includes a first processing unit 13, configured to determine, based on subscription data of a terminal, that a 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs needs to be networked across SMFs.

In some optional embodiments of the invention, the subscription data includes at least a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs; or,

the subscription data comprises at least a first parameter, wherein the first parameter represents a service area of the 5G virtual network group; the first processing unit 13 is configured to compare a service area of the 5G virtual network group with a service area of the first SMF based on the first parameter, and determine whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs based on a comparison result.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the apparatus further comprises a first processing unit 13 for obtaining information of the first network element serving the 5G virtual network group.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the apparatus further comprises a first receiving unit 12; the first processing unit 13 is configured to send, to an NRF through the first sending unit 11, a third message, where the third message is used to request to query or allocate a network element serving the 5G virtual network group, and the third message includes at least an identifier of the 5G virtual network group; and receiving, by the first receiving unit 12, a fourth message sent by the NRF, where the fourth message includes information of the first network element.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the apparatus further comprises a first receiving unit 12; the first processing unit 13 is configured to send, via the first sending unit 11, a fifth message to the UDM, where the fifth message is used to request second information of the terminal, where the second information includes at least information of the first network element; a sixth message sent by the UDM is received by the first receiving unit 12, the sixth message comprising at least the second information.

In some optional embodiments of the invention, the apparatus further comprises a first receiving unit 12, configured to receive a seventh message sent by the first network element, where the seventh message is used to request to manage the 5G virtual network group; the seventh message includes at least: the identification of the 5G virtual network group and/or the first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

In some alternative embodiments of the present invention, the first sending unit 11 is configured to send an eighth message to the selected first anchor UPF, where the eighth message is used to request to manage the 5G virtual network group; the eighth message includes at least: the identity of the 5G virtual network group and/or the first information.

In some alternative embodiments of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises a first receiving unit 12, configured to receive a ninth message sent by the selected first anchor UPF, where the ninth message is configured to notify the first anchor UPF to accept management of the 5G virtual network group.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the first receiving unit 12 is further configured to receive a tenth message sent by the first network element, where the tenth message is used to notify that management of the 5G virtual network group is completed.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the first processing unit 13 in the device may be implemented by a central processing unit (CPU, central Processing Unit), a digital signal processor (DSP, digital Signal Processor), a micro control unit (MCU, microcontroller Unit) or a programmable gate array (FPGA, field-Programmable Gate Array) in practical applications; the first transmitting unit 11 and the first receiving unit 12 in the device can be realized by a communication module (including a basic communication suite, an operating system, a communication module, a standardized interface, a protocol and the like) and a receiving and transmitting antenna in practical application.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a communication device. The device is applied to a first network element. Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a second component structure of the communication device according to the embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 12, the apparatus includes a second receiving unit 21, configured to receive a first message sent by at least one first SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group, where the first message is at least one of the following: report messages, registration messages, update messages.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the apparatus further comprises: a second sending unit 22, configured to send a second message to the first SMF, where the second message includes at least first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

tunnel interconnect information with UPF of SMF;

tunnel interconnect information between UPFs across SMFs;

data forwarding rule information for the 5G virtual network group.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the apparatus further comprises a second processing unit 23 for determining the first information from information carried in the first message.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the apparatus further comprises: a second sending unit 22, configured to send a seventh message to the first SMF and/or at least one second SMF serving the 5G virtual network group, where the seventh message is used to request management of the 5G virtual network group; the seventh message includes at least: the identification of the 5G virtual network group and/or the first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the apparatus further comprises: a second sending unit 22, configured to send an eleventh message to a first anchor point UPF selected by the first SMF and/or a second anchor point UPF selected by at least one second SMF serving the 5G virtual network group, where the eleventh message is used to request management of the 5G virtual network group; the eleventh message at least comprises an identification of the 5G virtual network group and/or first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the second sending unit 22 is further configured to send a tenth message to the first SMF, where the tenth message is used to notify that management of the 5G virtual network group is completed.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the second processing unit 23 in the device may be implemented by CPU, DSP, MCU or FPGA in practical application; the second transmitting unit 22 and the second receiving unit 21 in the device can be realized by a communication module (including a basic communication suite, an operating system, a communication module, a standardized interface, a protocol and the like) and a receiving and transmitting antenna in practical application.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a communication device. The apparatus is applied in a first SMF. Fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a third component structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 13, the apparatus includes an obtaining unit 31, configured to obtain information of a first network element; the first network element is a network element of a 5G virtual network group to which a terminal serving the first SMF service belongs.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the apparatus further comprises a third transmitting unit 33 and a third receiving unit 32; the obtaining unit 31 is configured to send, to the NRF through the third sending unit 33, a third message, where the third message is used to request to query or allocate a network element serving the 5G virtual network group, and the third message includes at least an identifier of the 5G virtual network group; and receiving, by the third receiving unit 32, a fourth message sent by the NRF, where the fourth message includes information of the first network element.

In some alternative embodiments of the invention, the apparatus further comprises a third transmitting unit 33 and a third receiving unit 32; the obtaining unit 31 is configured to send, via the third sending unit 33, a fifth message to the UDM, where the fifth message is used to request second information of the terminal, where the second information includes at least information of the first network element; a sixth message sent by the UDM is received by the third receiving unit 32, the sixth message comprising at least the second information.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the acquiring unit 31 in the device may be implemented by CPU, DSP, MCU or FPGA in practical application; the third transmitting unit 33 and the third receiving unit 32 in the device can be realized by a communication module (including a basic communication suite, an operating system, a communication module, a standardized interface, a protocol and the like) and a receiving and transmitting antenna in practical application.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a communication device. The device is applied to NRF. Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a composition structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 14, the apparatus includes a fourth receiving unit 41, a third processing unit 42, and a fourth transmitting unit 43; wherein,

the fourth receiving unit 41 is configured to receive a third message sent by the first SMF, where the third message is used to request to query or allocate a network element serving a 5G virtual network group, where the 5G virtual network group is a 5G virtual network group to which a terminal served by the first SMF belongs; the third message at least comprises the identification of the 5G virtual network group;

the third processing unit 42 is configured to determine a first network element serving the 5G virtual network group;

the fourth sending unit 43 is configured to send a fourth message to the first SMF, where the fourth message includes information of the first network element.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the third processing unit 42 is configured to determine, based on the identifier of the 5G virtual network group and local information, a first network element serving the 5G virtual network group, where the local information includes a plurality of groups of identifiers of the first network element information associated with or corresponding to the 5G virtual network group.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the third processing unit 42 is configured to allocate and record a first network element for the 5G virtual network group in a case where it is determined that the first network element is not allocated for the 5G virtual network group.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the fourth receiving unit 41 is further configured to receive a twelfth message sent by the first network element, where the twelfth message is used to request registration of the first network element; the twelfth message at least comprises the identification of the first network element and/or the identification of the 5G virtual network group;

the third processing unit 42 is further configured to register the first network element, and send a response message corresponding to the twelfth message to the first network element through the fourth sending unit 43.

In some optional embodiments of the invention, the fourth sending unit 43 is further configured to send a thirteenth message to the UDM, where the thirteenth message is used to update information of the 5G virtual network group, and the thirteenth message includes at least information of the first network element and an identification of the 5G virtual network group.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the third processing unit 42 in the device may be implemented by CPU, DSP, MCU or FPGA in practical application; the fourth transmitting unit 43 and the fourth receiving unit 41 in the device can be realized by a communication module (including a basic communication suite, an operating system, a communication module, a standardized interface, a standardized protocol, and the like) and a transceiver antenna in practical application.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a communication device. The device is applied to UDM. Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of a composition structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 15, the apparatus includes a fifth receiving unit 51 and a fifth transmitting unit 52; wherein,

the fifth receiving unit 51 is configured to receive a fifth message sent by the first SMF, where the fifth message is used to request second information of a terminal, where the second information includes at least information of a first network element serving a 5G virtual network group, where the 5G virtual network group is a 5G virtual network group to which the terminal served by the first SMF belongs;

the fifth sending unit 52 is configured to send a sixth message to the first SMF, where the sixth message includes at least the second information.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the fifth receiving unit 51 is further configured to receive a thirteenth message sent by the NRF, where the thirteenth message is used to update information of the 5G virtual network group, and the thirteenth message includes at least information of the first network element and an identifier of the 5G virtual network group;

The device further comprises a fourth processing unit 53 for recording information of the first network element in subscription data of the terminal.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the fifth receiving unit 51 is configured to receive a thirteenth message sent by the first SMF, where the thirteenth message is used to request to obtain subscription data of the terminal; the subscription data is used for the first SMF to determine that a 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs needs to be networked across the SMF;

the fifth sending unit 52 is further configured to send a response message corresponding to the thirteenth message to the first SMF, where the response message includes the subscription data.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the fourth processing unit 53 in the apparatus may be implemented by CPU, DSP, MCU or FPGA in practical application; the fifth transmitting unit 52 and the fifth receiving unit 51 in the device may be implemented in practical application by a communication module (including a basic communication suite, an operating system, a communication module, a standardized interface, a protocol, etc.) and a transceiver antenna.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a communication device, which is the first SMF, the first network element, the NRF or the UDM in the previous embodiment. Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of a hardware composition structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 16, the communication device includes a memory 62, a processor 61, and a computer program stored in the memory 62 and executable on the processor 61, and when the processor 61 executes the program, the steps of the communication method according to the embodiment of the present invention applied to the first SMF are implemented; or, when the processor 61 executes the program, the steps of the communication method of the first network element to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied are implemented; alternatively, the processor 61 implements the steps of the communication method to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied in NRF when executing the program; alternatively, the processor 61 implements the steps of the communication method of the embodiment of the present invention applied in UDM when executing the program.

Optionally, the network functions further comprise at least one network interface 63. Wherein the various components of the communication device are coupled together by a bus system 64. It is understood that the bus system 64 is used to enable connected communications between these components. The bus system 64 includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to the data bus. But for clarity of illustration the various buses are labeled as bus system 64 in fig. 16.

It will be appreciated that the memory 62 may be volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, and may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. Wherein the nonvolatile Memory may be Read Only Memory (ROM), programmable Read Only Memory (PROM, programmable Read-Only Memory), erasable programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM, erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), electrically erasable programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM, electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), magnetic random access Memory (FRAM, ferromagnetic Random Access Memory), flash Memory (Flash Memory), magnetic surface Memory, optical disk, or compact disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM, compact Disc Read-Only Memory); the magnetic surface memory may be a disk memory or a tape memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM, random Access Memory), 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, static Random Access Memory), synchronous static random access memory (SSRAM, synchronous Static Random Access Memory), dynamic random access memory (DRAM, dynamic Random Access Memory), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM, synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (ddr SDRAM, double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM, enhanced Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM, syncLink Dynamic Random Access Memory), direct memory bus random access memory (DRRAM, direct Rambus Random Access Memory). The memory 62 described in embodiments of the present invention is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

The method disclosed in the above embodiment of the present invention may be applied to the processor 61 or implemented by the processor 61. The processor 61 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in the processor 61 or by instructions in the form of software. The processor 61 may be a general purpose processor, DSP, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components, or the like. Processor 61 may implement or perform the methods, steps and logic blocks disclosed in embodiments of the present invention. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiment of the invention can be directly embodied in the hardware of the decoding processor or can be implemented by combining hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules may be located in a storage medium in a memory 62. The processor 61 reads information from the memory 62 and, in combination with its hardware, performs the steps of the method as described above.

In an exemplary embodiment, the communication device may be implemented by one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASIC, application Specific Integrated Circuit), DSP, programmable logic device (PLD, programmable Logic Device), complex programmable logic device (CPLD, complex Programmable Logic Device), FPGA, general purpose processor, controller, MCU, microprocessor, or other electronic element for performing the aforementioned methods.

In an exemplary embodiment, the present application also provides a computer readable storage medium, such as a memory 62 comprising a computer program executable by the processor 61 of the communication device to perform the steps of the method described above. The computer readable storage medium may be FRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash Memory, magnetic surface Memory, optical disk, or CD-ROM; but may be a variety of devices including one or any combination of the above memories.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which when executed by a processor implements the steps of the communication method of the embodiment of the application applied to UPF; or, the program when executed by a processor implements the steps of the communication method of the embodiment of the present application applied to the first network function; alternatively, the program when executed by the processor implements the steps of the communication method of the embodiment of the application applied to the second network function.

The methods disclosed in the method embodiments provided by the application can be arbitrarily combined under the condition of no conflict to obtain a new method embodiment.

The features disclosed in the several product embodiments provided by the application can be combined arbitrarily under the condition of no conflict to obtain new product embodiments.

The features disclosed in the embodiments of the method or the apparatus provided by the application can be arbitrarily combined without conflict to obtain new embodiments of the method or the apparatus.

In the several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. The above described device embodiments are only illustrative, e.g. the division of the units is only one logical function division, and there may be other divisions in practice, such as: multiple units or components may be combined or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not performed. In addition, the various components shown or discussed may be coupled or directly coupled or communicatively coupled to each other via some interface, whether indirectly coupled or communicatively coupled to devices or units, whether electrically, mechanically, or otherwise.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units 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 may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present invention may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may be separately used as one unit, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit; the integrated units may be implemented in hardware or in hardware plus software functional units.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that: all or part of the steps for implementing the above method embodiments may be implemented by hardware associated with program instructions, where the foregoing program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and when executed, the program performs steps including the above method embodiments; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: a removable storage device, ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disk, or other medium capable of storing program code.

Alternatively, the above-described integrated units of the present invention may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium if implemented in the form of software functional modules and sold or used as separate products. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention may be embodied essentially or in part in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a control network element, etc.) to perform all or part of the methods described in the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a removable storage device, ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disk, or other medium capable of storing program code.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art will readily recognize that variations or substitutions are within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of communication, the method comprising:

at least one first session management function SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group sends a first message to a first network element, the first message being at least one of: report messages, registration messages, update messages.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message includes at least one of the following information: the identifier of the 5G virtual network group, the identifier of the first SMF, the identifier of a user plane function UPF of the same 5G virtual network group selected and/or connected by the first SMF, the identifier of a first anchor point UPF of the same 5G virtual network group selected and/or connected by the first SMF, terminal address information, forwarding information of UPF.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the forwarding information for the UPF includes at least one of:

the virtual extended local area network VXLAN tunnel endpoint VTEP information, VTEP address, VXLAN network identifier, and bridging domain BD.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

the first SMF receives a second message sent by the first network element, where the second message includes at least first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first information comprises at least one of:

tunnel interconnect information with UPF of SMF;

tunnel interconnect information between UPFs across SMFs;

data forwarding rule information for the 5G virtual network group.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

and the first SMF determines that the 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs needs to be networked across the SMF based on the subscription data of the terminal.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the subscription data includes at least a first identification indicating whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs; or,

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:

the first SMF obtains information of the first network element serving the 5G virtual network group.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first SMF obtaining information for serving the first network element of the 5G virtual network group comprises:

the first SMF sends a third message to a network storage function NRF, where the third message is used to request to query or allocate a network element serving the 5G virtual network group, and the third message at least includes an identifier of the 5G virtual network group;

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the first SMF obtaining information for serving the first network element of the 5G virtual network group comprises:

the first SMF sends a fifth message to a Unified Data Management (UDM), wherein the fifth message is used for requesting second information of the terminal, and the second information at least comprises information of the first network element;

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:

the first SMF receives a seventh message sent by the first network element, wherein the seventh message is used for requesting to manage the 5G virtual network group; the seventh message includes at least: the identification of the 5G virtual network group and/or the first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

the first SMF sends an eighth message to the selected first anchor UPF, wherein the eighth message is used for requesting to manage the 5G virtual network group; the eighth message includes at least: the identity of the 5G virtual network group and/or the first information.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:

and the first SMF receives a ninth message sent by the selected first anchor UPF, and the ninth message is used for informing the first anchor UPF to accept the management of the 5G virtual network group.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the method further comprises:

and the first SMF receives a tenth message sent by the first network element, wherein the tenth message is used for notifying that the management of the 5G virtual network group is completed.

15. A method of communication, the method comprising:

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first message includes at least one of the following information: the identifier of the 5G virtual network group, the identifier of the first SMF, the identifier of a user plane function UPF of the same 5G virtual network group selected and/or connected by the first SMF, the identifier of a first anchor point UPF of the same 5G virtual network group selected and/or connected by the first SMF, terminal address information, forwarding information of UPF.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the forwarding information for the UPF includes at least one of:

18. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, further comprising:

the first network element sends a second message to the first SMF, the second message including at least first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first information comprises at least one of:

tunnel interconnect information with UPF of SMF;

tunnel interconnect information between UPFs across SMFs;

data forwarding rule information for the 5G virtual network group.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

and the first network element determines the first information according to the information carried in the first message.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

the first network element sends a seventh message to the first SMF and/or at least one second SMF serving the 5G virtual network group, the seventh message being used to request management of the 5G virtual network group; the seventh message includes at least: the identification of the 5G virtual network group and/or the first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

the first network element sends an eleventh message to a first anchor point UPF selected by the first SMF and/or a second anchor point UPF selected by at least one second SMF serving the 5G virtual network group, the eleventh message being used for requesting management of the 5G virtual network group; the eleventh message at least comprises an identification of the 5G virtual network group and/or first information for managing the 5G virtual network group.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the first network element sends a tenth message to the first SMF, where the tenth message is used to notify that management of the 5G virtual network group is completed.

24. A method of communication, the method comprising:

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the first SMF obtaining information for a first network element comprises:

26. The method of claim 24 wherein the first SMF obtaining information for a first network element comprises:

27. A method of communication, the method comprising:

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the NRF determining a first network element serving the 5G virtual network group comprises:

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the NRF determining a first network element serving the 5G virtual network group comprises:

30. The method of claim 27, wherein the method further comprises:

the NRF receives a twelfth message sent by the first network element, wherein the twelfth message is used for requesting to register the first network element; the twelfth message at least comprises the identification of the first network element and/or the identification of the 5G virtual network group;

31. The method according to any one of claims 27 to 30, further comprising:

the NRF sends a thirteenth message to the UDM, the thirteenth message being used to update information of the 5G virtual network group, the thirteenth message including at least information of the first network element and an identification of the 5G virtual network group.

32. A method of communication, the method comprising:

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the method further comprises:

the UDM receives a thirteenth message sent by NRF, wherein the thirteenth message is used for updating the information of the 5G virtual network group and at least comprises the information of the first network element and the identification of the 5G virtual network group;

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the method further comprises:

the UDM receives a thirteenth message sent by a first SMF, wherein the thirteenth message is used for requesting to acquire subscription data of the terminal; the subscription data is used for the first SMF to determine that a 5G virtual network group to which the terminal belongs needs to be networked across the SMF;

35. The method of claim 32, wherein the subscription data includes at least a first identification indicating whether the 5G virtual network group needs to be networked across SMFs; or,

36. A communication device, characterized in that said device is applied in at least one first SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group; the device comprises: a first sending unit, configured to send a first message to a first network element, where the first message is at least one of the following: report messages, registration messages, update messages.

37. A communication device, characterized in that the device is applied in a first network element; the apparatus comprises a second receiving unit, configured to receive a first message sent by at least one first SMF serving the same 5G virtual network group, where the first message is at least one of: report messages, registration messages, update messages.

38. A communication device, wherein the device is applied in a first SMF; the device comprises an acquisition unit, a first network element and a second network element, wherein the acquisition unit is used for acquiring information of the first network element; the first network element is a network element of a 5G virtual network group to which a terminal serving the first SMF service belongs.

39. A communication device, characterized in that the device is applied in NRF; the device comprises a fourth receiving unit, a third processing unit and a fourth transmitting unit; wherein,

40. A communication device, characterized in that the device is applied in a UDM; the device comprises a fifth receiving unit and a fifth transmitting unit; wherein,

41. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, characterized in that the program when executed by a processor realizes the steps of the method according to any of claims 1 to 14; or,

which program, when being executed by a processor, carries out the steps of the method according to any one of claims 15 to 23; or,

which program, when being executed by a processor, carries out the steps of the method according to any one of claims 24 to 26; or,

which program, when being executed by a processor, carries out the steps of the method according to any one of claims 27 to 31; or,

the program when executed by a processor performs the steps of the method of any of claims 32 to 35.

42. A communication device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that the processor implements the steps of the method of any of claims 1 to 14 when the program is executed; or,

the processor implementing the steps of the method of any one of claims 15 to 23 when executing the program; or,

The processor implementing the steps of the method of any one of claims 24 to 26 when executing the program; or,

the processor implementing the steps of the method of any one of claims 27 to 31 when executing the program; or,

the processor, when executing the program, implements the steps of the method of any one of claims 32 to 35.