CN117768871A

CN117768871A - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN117768871A
Application number: CN202211164082.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨林平; 徐玲
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-09-23
Filing date: 2022-09-23
Publication date: 2024-03-26
Also published as: WO2024060894A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and device, comprising the steps that a terminal device determines first subscription user data of a first SNPN, wherein the first subscription user data comprises first time information, the first time information is used for indicating the effective duration of the first subscription user data, and the residual effective duration of the first subscription user data is smaller than or equal to a time threshold; the terminal device deletes the first subscription user data or initiates a subscription process with the first SNPN, so that the terminal device can delete or contract the invalid subscription user data, and the waste of storage resources caused by the invalid subscription user data is reduced.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

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

Background

A stand-alone non-public network (SNPN) is a network operated by a non-public network operator, compliant with the third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) standard, which may be implemented independent of support of a public land mobile network (public land mobile network, PLMN), such as a self-established network of a mall, hospital, campus, etc.

The terminal device supports registration of subscription data (subscriber data) provided by a third party to the SNPN. SNPN belongs to private network, and support is widely deployed. Then over time the number of SNPNs registered by the terminal device increases, so does the locally stored subscription data of the SNPN, increasing the storage cost of the terminal device and increasing the time delay for the terminal device to reside in the SNPN.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and device for managing SNPN subscription user data and reducing storage cost of the subscription user data.

In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which may be performed by a terminal device or by a component of the terminal device. In the method, a terminal device determines first subscriber data of a first independent non-public network SNPN; the first subscription user data comprises first time information, wherein the first time information is used for indicating the effective duration of the first subscription user data, and the remaining effective duration of the first subscription user data is smaller than or equal to a time threshold; the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data or initiates a subscription procedure with the first SNPN.

In the embodiment of the application, the subscription user data of the SNPN comprises time information for indicating the effective duration, so that the terminal equipment can manage the subscription user data of the SNPN according to the effective duration of the subscription user data. Specifically, the terminal device may delete the dead (or about to be dead) subscriber data, so that storage resources of the dead (or about to be dead) subscriber data may be released, storage cost of the subscriber data may be reduced, and the number of subscriber data may be reduced, and flows of network searching, authentication, etc. of the terminal device may be accelerated, so that a time delay of the terminal device residing in the SNPN may be reduced. Or the terminal equipment can also initiate the continuous signing process of the SNPN corresponding to the failed (or about to fail) subscriber data, so that the waste of storage resources caused by the failed (or about to fail) subscriber data can be reduced, and the problem that the terminal equipment is refused to access the SNPN according to the failed (or about to fail) subscriber data can be avoided.

In one possible implementation manner, the first subscription data is associated with first mobility management information of the terminal device, and the method may further include: the terminal device deletes the first mobile management information to release the storage resource storing the first mobile management information, and the utilization rate of the storage resource is improved.

In one possible implementation manner, the terminal device completes renewal with the first SNPN to obtain second subscriber data, where the second subscriber data includes second time information, and the second time information is used to indicate an effective duration of the second subscriber data, and a remaining effective duration of the second subscriber data is greater than a time threshold.

In one possible implementation, the method may further include: the terminal equipment provides a first display interface, wherein the first display interface comprises prompt information that the residual effective duration of the first subscriber data is smaller than or equal to a time threshold value so as to inform a user that the first subscriber data is invalid or will be invalid, and user experience can be improved.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device may delete the first subscription data or initiate a subscription procedure with the first SNPN by: the terminal equipment receives a first instruction from a user, wherein the first instruction is used for indicating whether the terminal equipment renews with the first SNPN; and the terminal equipment deletes the first subscription user data or initiates a contract continuing process with the first SNPN according to the first instruction. In this way, the terminal device may determine to delete the first subscription data or renew with the first SNPN in response to the user's instruction, which may improve user experience.

In one possible implementation manner, according to the first instruction, the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data or initiates the subscription procedure with the first SNPN may be: the first instruction indicates that the terminal equipment is not renewed with the first SNPN, and the terminal equipment deletes the first subscription user data; or the first instruction indicates the terminal equipment to renew with the first SNPN, and the terminal equipment initiates a renewing flow with the first SNPN.

In one possible implementation, the method may further include: the terminal equipment provides a second display interface, wherein the second display interface comprises prompt information for completing the deletion of the first subscription data after the terminal equipment deletes the first subscription data, or comprises prompt information for completing the renewal of the terminal equipment and the first SNPN after the terminal equipment completes the renewal of the terminal equipment and the first SNPN, so that a user can determine that the deletion of the first subscription data is completed or the renewal of the terminal equipment and the first SNPN is completed.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device may determine the first subscriber data of the first independent non-public network SNPN by:

the terminal equipment receives a first message from the first equipment, wherein the first message comprises indication information for indicating that the residual effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold; and the terminal equipment determines the first subscription data according to the first message. Optionally, the first message is a registration rejection response message or a deregistration request message.

Or the terminal device determines the first subscription data from the subscription data list, wherein the subscription data list comprises one or more SNPN subscription data, and the one or more SNPN comprises the first SNPN. For example, the subscriber data list includes subscriber data of one SNPN, and the terminal device determines that the subscriber data of one SNPN is the first subscriber data according to the remaining effective duration and the time threshold of the subscriber data of one SNPN. For another example, the subscriber data list includes subscriber data of a plurality of SNPNs, and the terminal device determines the first subscriber data according to a remaining effective duration and a time threshold of the subscriber data of each of the plurality of SNPNs.

By the mode, the terminal equipment can lose efficacy or sign user data about to lose efficacy, and the implementation mode is flexible.

In one possible implementation, the subscription data of the N SNPNs in the subscription data list supports access to a first non-subscribed SNPN, where N is an integer greater than 1, and the method may further include: the terminal equipment receives a second instruction from the user, wherein the second instruction is used for indicating to access the SNPN of the first non-subscription; and the terminal equipment selects one SNPN subscription user data from the N SNPN subscription user data according to the remaining effective duration of the N SNPN subscription user data for accessing the first non-subscribed SNPN. For example, the terminal device may select, from the subscription data of the N SNPNs, the subscription data having the largest remaining effective duration for accessing the first non-subscribed SNPN. By the above manner, when the subscriber data with a plurality of SNPN supports access to the same non-subscribed SNPN, the terminal device can select the subscriber data for accessing the non-subscribed SNPN according to the remaining effective duration of the subscriber data with the plurality of SNPN, so that the terminal device can be prevented from accessing the non-subscribed SNPN by using the invalid or about to be invalid subscriber data.

In one possible implementation, the subscription data of the N SNPNs in the subscription data list supports access to a first non-subscribed SNPN, where N is an integer greater than 1, and the method may further include: the terminal equipment receives a second instruction from the user, wherein the second instruction is used for indicating to access the SNPN of the first non-subscription; the terminal equipment selects one SNPN subscription user data from the N SNPN subscription user data according to the priority of the N SNPN subscription user data, and the SNPN subscription user data is used for accessing the first non-subscription SNPN. Alternatively, the terminal device may receive information of priorities of subscription data of N SNPNs from the user. In this way, when the subscription data of multiple SNPNs support access to the same non-subscribed SNPN, the terminal device may determine the subscription data for accessing the non-subscribed SNPN according to the priority of the subscription data of the multiple SNPNs, for example, access the non-subscribed SNPN by using the subscription data with the highest priority.

In one possible implementation, the subscriber data of at least one SNPN in the subscriber data list supports access to a first non-subscribed SNPN, and the method may further include: the terminal equipment receives a second instruction from the user, wherein the second instruction is used for indicating to access the SNPN of the first non-subscription; the terminal equipment receives a third instruction from the user, wherein the third instruction is used for indicating that the first non-signed SNPN is accessed through the signed user data of the second SNPN in the at least one SNPN; and the terminal equipment accesses the first non-signed SNPN according to the signed user data of the second SNPN. Optionally, before receiving the third instruction from the user, the terminal device may provide a third display interface, where the third display interface includes information of at least one SNPN. In this way, the terminal device can interact with the user and determine the subscriber data for accessing the non-subscribed SNPN in response to the user's instruction.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method that may be performed by a first device or by a component of the first device. In the method, a first device determines that the remaining effective duration of first subscription data is less than or equal to a time threshold, wherein the first subscription data is subscription data used when a terminal device accesses a first independent non-public network SNPN; the first subscription user data comprises first time information, wherein the first time information is used for indicating the effective duration of the first subscription user data; the first device sends a first message to the terminal device, wherein the first message comprises indication information for indicating that the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold, so that the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data or initiates a contract continuing process with the first SNPN.

In one possible implementation, the first device may be a unified data management device, or an authentication server function device, or an authentication, authorization, and accounting server.

In one possible implementation, the first message is a registration reject response message, or a de-registration request message.

In a third aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which may be performed by a terminal device or by a component of the terminal device. In the method, a terminal device receives a second instruction from a user, wherein the second instruction is used for indicating to access a first independent non-public network SNPN; the terminal equipment determines that the signing user data using the second SNPN is used for accessing the first non-signing SNPN from the signing user data of N SNPN in the signing user data list, wherein the signing user data of the N SNPN support accessing the first non-signing SNPN, and N is an integer larger than 1; and the terminal equipment accesses the first non-signed SNPN according to the signed user data of the second SNPN.

In one possible implementation manner, the terminal device may determine, from among the subscription data of N SNPNs in the subscription data list, the subscription data using the second SNPN for accessing the first non-subscribed SNPN by:

and the terminal equipment determines that the signing user data using the second SNPN is used for accessing the first non-signing SNPN according to the remaining effective duration of the signing user data of the N SNPN. Optionally, the remaining effective time period of the subscription data of the second SNPN is longer than the remaining effective time period of the subscription data of the SNPN other than the second SNPN.

Or the terminal equipment determines that the subscription data using the second SNPN is used for accessing the first non-subscribed SNPN according to the priorities of the subscription data of the N SNPN. For example, the second SNPN has the highest priority of the subscriber data. Alternatively, the terminal device may receive information of priorities of the subscription data of the N SNPNs from the user.

Or the terminal equipment receives a third instruction from the user, wherein the third instruction indicates that the first non-subscribed SNPN is accessed by using the subscription user data of the second SNPN in the N SNPN; and the terminal equipment determines that the signing user data using the second SNPN is used for accessing the first non-signing SNPN according to the third instruction. Optionally, before receiving the third instruction from the user, the terminal device may provide a fourth display interface, where the fourth display interface includes information of the N SNPNs.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device. The communication device is configured to perform the method as described in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect; or for performing the method as described in the third aspect and any possible implementation manner of the third aspect. The communication device is, for example, a terminal device or a functional module in a terminal device, such as a baseband device or a chip system, etc. In a possible implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another possible implementation, the communication device includes a processing module (sometimes also referred to as a processing unit) and a transceiver module (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver unit). The transceiver unit can realize a transmission function and a reception function, and can be referred to as a transmission module (sometimes also referred to as a transmission unit) when the transceiver module realizes the transmission function, and can be referred to as a reception module (sometimes also referred to as a reception unit) when the transceiver module realizes the reception function. The transmitting module and the receiving module may be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver module, and which can implement a transmitting function and a receiving function; alternatively, the transmitting module and the receiving module may be different functional modules, and the transceiver module is a generic term for these functional modules.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device. The communication device is configured to perform the method described in the second aspect and any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. The communication device is, for example, a first apparatus, or a functional module in the first apparatus, such as a baseband device or a system on chip, etc. In a possible implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another possible implementation, the communication device includes a processing module (sometimes also referred to as a processing unit) and a transceiver module (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver unit). The transceiver unit can realize a transmission function and a reception function, and can be referred to as a transmission module (sometimes also referred to as a transmission unit) when the transceiver module realizes the transmission function, and can be referred to as a reception module (sometimes also referred to as a reception unit) when the transceiver module realizes the reception function. The transmitting module and the receiving module may be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver module, and which can implement a transmitting function and a receiving function; alternatively, the transmitting module and the receiving module may be different functional modules, and the transceiver module is a generic term for these functional modules.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device. The communication device may include one or more processors. Optionally, the communication device may further comprise a memory. Wherein the memory is for storing one or more computer programs or instructions. The one or more processors are configured to execute the one or more computer programs or instructions stored by the memory, to cause the communications device to perform the method as described in any one of the foregoing first aspect and possible implementation manner of the first aspect, or to perform the method as described in any one of the foregoing third aspect and possible implementation manner of the third aspect.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device. The communication device may include one or more processors. Optionally, the communication device may further comprise a memory. Wherein the memory is for storing one or more computer programs or instructions. The one or more processors are configured to execute the one or more computer programs or instructions stored by the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method described in the second aspect and any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, including the communication device provided in the fourth aspect, and/or the communication device provided in the fifth aspect; or comprises the communication device provided in the sixth aspect and/or the communication device provided in the seventh aspect.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a computer readable storage medium, where the computer readable storage medium is configured to store a computer program or instructions, which when executed, cause the method described in any one of the foregoing first aspect and any one of the foregoing possible implementation manners to be implemented, or cause the method described in any one of the foregoing second aspect and any one of the foregoing possible implementation manners to be implemented, or cause the method described in any one of the foregoing third aspect and any one of the foregoing possible implementation manners to be implemented.

In a tenth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method described in any one of the above-mentioned first aspect and the possible implementation manner of the first aspect, or cause the method described in any one of the above-mentioned second aspect and the possible implementation manner of the second aspect, or cause the method described in any one of the above-mentioned third aspect and the possible implementation manner of the third aspect, to be implemented.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application further provides a chip, where the chip is coupled to a memory, and is configured to read and execute program instructions in the memory, so that an apparatus where the chip is located implements the method described in any one of the foregoing first aspect and the possible implementation manner of the first aspect, or the apparatus where the chip is located is implemented the method described in any one of the foregoing second aspect and the possible implementation manner of the second aspect, or the apparatus where the chip is located is implemented the method described in any one of the foregoing third aspect and the possible implementation manner of the third aspect.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G communication system architecture;

FIG. 2 is a more detailed schematic diagram of the architecture of the 5G communication system;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of SNPN;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a subscriber data table according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a first display interface according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a second display interface according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 9 is another schematic diagram of a second display interface provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a fourth display interface according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 14 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more apparent, some terms related to the embodiments of the present application will be described first.

1) A terminal device, which may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a user agent, a user equipment, or the like. The terminal device is a device with a wireless transceiving function, and may be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device, a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wireless apparatus (e.g., a communication module or a chip system, etc.) built in the above device. The terminal device is used for connecting people, objects, machines and the like, and can be widely used in various scenes, including but not limited to the following scenes: cellular communication, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (vehicle to everything, V2X), machine-to-machine/machine-to-machine-type communications, M2M/MTC), internet of things (internet of things, ioT), virtual Reality (VR), augmented reality (augmented reality, AR), industrial control (industrial control), unmanned driving (self driving), remote medical (remote media), smart grid (smart grid), smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city (smart city), drone, robot, and other end devices.

In the embodiment of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal device may be the terminal device, or may be a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, for example, a chip system, and the device may be installed in the terminal device. In the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal device is taken as an example of the terminal device, and the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application is described.

2) In the embodiments of the present application, the term "plurality" refers to two or more, and in view of this, the term "plurality" may also be understood as "at least two" in the embodiments of the present application. "at least one" may be understood as one or more, for example as one, two or more. For example, including at least one means including one, two or more, and not limiting what is included, e.g., including at least one of A, B and C, then A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, may be included. "and/or", describes an association relationship of an association object, and indicates that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may indicate: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. The character "/", unless otherwise specified, generally indicates that the associated object is an "or" relationship. The terms "system" and "network" in embodiments of the present application may be used interchangeably. The terms "according to" and "based on" in the embodiments of the application may be used interchangeably.

Unless stated to the contrary, the embodiments of the present application refer to ordinal terms such as "first," "second," etc., for distinguishing between multiple objects and not for defining a sequence, timing, priority, or importance of the multiple objects. For example, the first time information and the second time information according to the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish between two pieces of time information, and are not limited to the priority, importance, and the like of the two pieces of time information.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the term "exemplary" is used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the term "exemplary" is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion.

Having introduced some terms in relation to embodiments of the present application, a communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applicable is described next.

It should be noted that, the network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly describing the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application, and those skilled in the art can know that, with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of the new service scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application is equally applicable to similar technical problems.

The technical solution of the embodiments of the present application may be applied to various communication systems, such as a fifth generation (5th generation,5G) mobile communication system or a New Radio (NR) system, or to a future communication system or other similar communication system, etc.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a 5G communication system architecture as defined by the third generation partnership project (3th generation partnership project,3GPP) standard. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system may include a next generation UE (nextgeneration UE), a next generation (radio) access network (R) AN, a next generation core network (core), and a data network (data network). Next gen (or NG) is a next generation (i.e., 5G) mobile communication system architecture abbreviated as UE, AN, core and data network. The UE, the AN and the Core are main components forming the architecture, and can be logically divided into a user plane and a control plane, wherein the control plane is responsible for the management of a mobile network, and the user plane is responsible for the transmission of service data. In fig. 1, the NG2 reference point is located between the AN control plane and the Core control plane, the NG3 reference point is located between the AN user plane and the Core user plane, and the NG6 reference point is located between the Core user plane and the data network.

The UE is an entrance for the interaction between the mobile user and the network, can provide basic computing capacity and storage capacity, displays a service window for the user, and accepts user operation input. The NextGen UE will use the new air interface technology to establish a signal connection, data connection, with the AN to transmit control signals and traffic data to the mobile network.

The AN is similar to a base station in a traditional network, is deployed at a position close to the UE, provides a network access function for authorized users in a specific area, and can determine transmission tunnels with different qualities according to the level of the users, the service requirements and the like to transmit user data. The AN can manage its own resources, make reasonable use of, provide access services for the UE as needed, and is responsible for forwarding control signals and user data between the UE and the core network.

The Core may include a plurality of network elements responsible for maintaining subscription data of the mobile network, managing the network elements of the mobile network, providing session management, mobility management, policy management, security authentication, etc. functions for the UE. Providing network access authentication for the UE when the UE is attached; when the UE has a service request, network resources are allocated to the UE; updating network resources for the UE when the UE moves; providing a fast recovery mechanism for the UE when the UE is idle; when the UE is detached, releasing network resources for the UE; when the UE has service data, a data routing function is provided for the UE, such as forwarding uplink data to a data network; or receiving downlink data of the UE from the data network, forwarding the downlink data to the AN, and sending the downlink data to the UE.

A Data Network (DN) is a network that provides business services for users. The data network may comprise a plurality of application servers for providing services for respective applications. The client of the application is typically installed in the UE, and the server of the application (i.e. the application server) is located within the data network. The data network may be a private network, such as a local area network, or may be an external network not under the control of an operator, such as the internet (internet), or may be a proprietary network co-deployed by an operator, such as a network providing IP multimedia network subsystem (IP multimedia core network subsystem, IMS) services.

Referring to fig. 2, the core network of the 5G network architecture is further refined based on fig. 1. Wherein the core network user plane comprises a user plane function (user plane function, UPF); the core network control plane includes authentication server functions (authentication server function, AUSF), access and mobility management functions (access and mobility management function, AMF), session management functions (session management function, SMF), network slice selection functions (network slice selection function, NSSF), network opening functions (network exposure function, NEF), network function warehousing functions (NF repository function, NRF), unified data management functions (unified data management, UDM), policy control functions (policy control function, PCF), and application functions (application function, AF), among others. The control plane of the core network adopts a service architecture, and the interaction between the network elements of the control plane adopts a service calling mode to replace a point-to-point communication mode in the traditional architecture. In the service architecture, one control plane network element can open services to other control plane network elements for calling by the other control plane network elements; in point-to-point communication, a specific set of messages exists in a communication interface between control plane network elements, and the messages can only be used by the control plane network elements at two ends of the interface during communication.

By way of example, the following briefly describes network elements that may be involved in various embodiments of the present application, and fig. 1 also relates to other network elements, which are not described too much.

UPF is a gateway that communicates with a data network. The UPF includes functions related to the user plane such as packet routing and transmission, packet detection, traffic reporting, quality of service (quality of service, qoS) handling, lawful interception, uplink packet detection, downlink packet storage, etc.

AUSF, a control plane function provided by an operator, is generally used for primary authentication, i.e., network authentication between a terminal device (subscriber) and a communication system. After the AUSF receives the authentication request initiated by the subscriber, the subscriber may be authenticated and/or authorized through authentication information and/or authorization information stored in the UDM, or authentication and/or authorization information of the subscriber may be generated through the UDM. The AUSF may feed authentication information and/or authorization information back to the subscriber.

AMF is in charge of terminal equipment access control and mobility management, and comprises the functions of mobility state management, user temporary identity identification distribution, user authentication, user authorization and the like.

SMF, responsible for managing protocol data units (protocol data unit, PDU) of the terminal device. A PDU session is a channel for transmitting PDUs through which the terminal device needs to transmit data to each other with the data network. PDU sessions may be responsible for setup, maintenance, deletion, etc. by the session SMF. SMF includes session management (e.g., session establishment, modification and release, including maintenance of tunnels between UPF and AN 140, etc.), selection and control of UPF, traffic and session continuity (service and session continuity, SSC) mode selection, roaming, etc., session related functions.

The UDM is a control plane function provided by an operator, and is responsible for storing information such as a user permanent identifier (subscriber permanent identifier, SUPI) of an signing user, a subscription identifier (generic public subscription identifier, GPSI) of public use of a subscriber, and a trust (credit) in an operator network. Wherein the SUPI is encrypted during transmission, the encrypted SUPI is referred to as a hidden subscriber subscription identifier (subscription concealed identifier, sui). This information stored by the UDM can be used for authentication and authorization of the terminal device to access the operator network. The subscriber of the operator network may be a subscriber using a service provided by the operator network, for example, a subscriber using a mobile phone core card of chinese telecommunication, or a subscriber using a mobile phone core card of chinese mobile. The credentials of the subscriber can be a long-term key stored in the mobile phone core card or a small file stored in information related to encryption of the mobile phone core card, and the like, and the credentials can be used for authentication and/or authorization.

The network functions may be network elements implemented on dedicated hardware, software instances running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions on a suitable platform, for example, the virtualized platform may be a cloud platform. And, the respective network functions may also be referred to as network elements, functional entities or devices, for example, the access and mobility management functions may also be referred to as access and mobility management function network elements, access and mobility management function entities or access and mobility management function devices, etc., and the session management functions may also be referred to as session management function network elements, session management function entities or session management function devices, etc., which are not listed here.

The core network shown in fig. 2 may also comprise other network functions, such as unified data store (unified data repository, UDR) etc. (not shown in fig. 2). In addition, the names of the network functions shown in fig. 2 are only described herein as an example, and are not limiting of the network functions included in the network architecture to which the method of the embodiment of the present application is applied. The names of devices implementing network functions in systems of different access technologies may be different, and embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

Nnssf, nnef, nnrf, npcf, nudm, naf, nausf, namf, nsmf, N1, N2, N3, N4, and N6 in fig. 1 are interface serial numbers. For example, the meaning of the above-mentioned interface serial number may be referred to the meaning defined in the 3GPP standard protocol, and the present application does not limit the meaning of the above-mentioned interface serial number. It should be noted that the interface names between the network functions in fig. 1 are also merely an example, and in a specific implementation, the interface names of the system architecture may also be other names, which is not limited in this application.

Based on the 5G communication system architecture shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2, technical features related to the embodiments of the present application are described below.

SNPN is a network operated by a non-public network operator, compliant with 3GPP standards, and can be implemented independent of PLMN support, such as a self-built network for a mall, hospital, campus, etc. The SNPN may be classified into a subscribed SNPN (subscribed SNPN) and a non-subscribed SNPN according to whether the terminal device is subscribed to the third aspect, for the corresponding terminal device. The subscribed SNPN refers to SNPN that the terminal equipment and the third party carry out subscription. The non-signed SNPN refers to the SNPN that the terminal equipment does not sign up with the third party. For convenience of description, hereinafter, a signed SNPN is simply referred to as a SNPN, and an unsigned SNPN is simply referred to as a non-subsampled SNPN, unless otherwise specified. The third party, which may be referred to as a third party operator, an operator, a certificate provider, a certificate holder (credentials holder), or the like, may provide the terminal device with a subscription service of the SNPN, or the like.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the SNPN architecture. As shown in fig. 3, the terminal device uses the private network subscription of the SNPN to access the SNPN base station, so as to perform 3GPP registration at the SNPN. In fig. 3, the SNPN 3GPP access (SNPN 3GPP access) indicates that the terminal device accesses the SNPN through the 3GPP technology on the air interface. The SNPN core network may be deployed with core network elements such as AMF, UPF, SMF, and the function of AMF, UPF, SMF is described above, and will not be described herein. Optionally, the SNPN core network may also deploy UDMs, which are indicated by dashed lines in fig. 3. For example, the terminal device registers with the SNPN via subscription data provided by a third party, which may be stored in the UDM. Optionally, the SNPN core network may also deploy AUSF, indicated by a dashed line in fig. 3. For example, the AUSF may have subscriber data of the SNPN subscribed to by the terminal device.

In fig. 3, a third party is taken as an example, and it should be understood that the number of third parties may be plural. A third party may provide the terminal device with subscription services for one or more SNPNs. A terminal device may also store subscriber data from one or more third party provided SNPNs. In this way, the terminal device can locally maintain the subscriber data of a plurality of SNPN. Optionally, the third party may deploy a UDM for managing or storing subscription data of the SNPN subscribed by the terminal device, which is not shown in fig. 3. Optionally, the third party may also deploy an authentication, authorization and accounting (authentication, authorization, accounting, AAA) server, which may be used to manage or store the subscription user data of the SNPN subscribed to by the terminal device, not shown in fig. 3.

The subscriber data related to the embodiment of the present application may include the following information: subscriber Identity (ID), certificate (certificate) and SNPN ID. The subscriber ID and the certificate can be used for authentication procedures and the like of registering the terminal equipment to the SNPN. The subscriber IDs and certificates for different SNPNs may be the same or different. For example, the subscriber IDs and certificates of two SNPNs maintained by the same third party may be the same. The SNPN ID may be used to uniquely identify the SNPN.

Optionally, the subscriber data may further include one or more of the following information: unified access control configuration, preconfigured UE routing policies (UE route selection policy, urs), default configured network slice assistance information (network slice selection assistance information, NSSAI), priority list of user-controlled SNPNs, priority list of certificate holder-controlled group IDs for network selection, etc.

The priority list of the user-controlled SNPN or the priority list of the certificate holder-controlled SNPN may include information of one or more non-subscore SNPNs supported or allowed to be accessed by the subscriber data (or the SNPN corresponding to the subscriber data), such as an identifier of the non-subscore SNPN, etc. That is, the subscriber data of one SNPN may support or allow access to one or more non-subsampled SNPNs, and the terminal device may access the one or more non-subsampled SNPNs that it supports access to according to the subscriber data of the SNPN.

In the embodiment of the present application, the subscription data of the SNPN may be associated with mobility management information. The subscription data of the SNPN may be associated with mobility management information, which may be understood that after the terminal device registers with the SNPN through the subscription data, the SNPN core network may configure mobility management information related to the SNPN for the terminal device. The mobility management information may include, for example, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: globally unique temporary identity (globally unique temporary identifier, GUTI), tracking area identity (tracking area identity, TAI), NSSAI, network slice simultaneous registration group (network slice simultaneous registration group, NSSRG) information, multimedia priority service (multimedia priority service, MPS) indication, mission critical service (mission critical service, MCS) indication, urs, etc.

It was mentioned before that the terminal device may store subscriber data for one or more SNPNs. Assuming that the terminal device stores the subscriber data of the one or more SNPNs in the form of a table, which may be referred to as a subscriber data table (list of subscriber data), the subscriber data table of the terminal device includes the subscriber data of the one or more SNPNs. Wherein, one subscriber data may be associated with mobility management information, for example, when the terminal device registers a SNPN using the subscriber data, the subscriber is associated with mobility management information; alternatively, one piece of subscription data may have no associated mobility management information, for example, if the terminal device has not been registered with the SNPN through the subscription data, the subscription data has no associated mobility management information. One or more non-subsampled SNPNs in one piece of subscriber data may also be used to support access, as shown in fig. 4. In fig. 4, the subscriber data table includes i pieces of SNPN subscriber data as an example. Wherein, the subscription data of SNPN_1 is associated with mobile management information 1, and the subscription data of SNPN_1 supports access to non-subsampled SNPN 1 and non-subsampled SNPN 2; the terminal device is not registered to the SNPN_2 by using the subscription data of the SNPN_2, so that the subscription data of the SNPN_2 has no associated mobile management information, and the subscription data of the SNPN_2 supports access to non-substricted SNPN 2; the subscription data of SNPN_i, which does not support access to non-subsampled SNPN, is associated with mobility management information i.

SNPN belongs to private network, and support is widely deployed. Then over time the number of SNPNs registered by the terminal device increases, so does the locally stored subscription data of the SNPN, increasing the storage cost of the terminal device and increasing the time delay for the terminal device to reside in the SNPN.

In view of this, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, where the method may manage the subscription data of the SNPN, and reduce the waste of storage resources caused by invalid subscription data.

In order to better describe the embodiments of the present application, the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings corresponding to the various embodiments of the present application, all optional steps are indicated by dashed lines. The methods provided by the various embodiments of the present application are applicable to the communication systems shown in fig. 1, 2, or 3.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. In this embodiment, the terminal device may delete the subscriber data whose validity period expires or is about to expire, thereby reducing the number of subscriber data and reducing the storage cost of the subscriber data. As shown in fig. 5, the method may include the following procedure.

S501: the terminal device determines first subscription data of the first SNPN.

Wherein the first subscriber data comprises first time information. The first time information may be used to indicate a validity period of the first subscriber data. The remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold.

In the embodiment of the present application, the subscriber data may include time information. The time information may be used to indicate the validity duration of the subscriber data. The effective duration of the subscriber data may be understood as that the terminal device may register with the SNPN using the subscriber data within the effective duration of the subscriber data. The time information may also be referred to as validity period, validity duration, etc. The time information may be determined by a third party providing the subscription service of the SNPN, or determined by a user, or negotiated by the third party providing the subscription service of the SNPN and the user in the process of signing the SNPN by the terminal device, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Illustratively, the time information may be a duration; or, the method comprises the effective starting time of the subscription user data and the effective ending time of the subscription user data; or, the effective ending time of the subscription data is included; alternatively, the time information may be implemented by a timer, and when the timer ends, the time information is the effective ending time of the subscription data, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this specific implementation of the time information.

If the remaining effective duration of the subscriber data is less than or equal to the time threshold, the terminal device cannot successfully register the SNPN using the subscriber data, such as authentication is refused or registration is refused. The time threshold may be 0 or a small duration, such as 30 seconds, 1 minute, etc. The time threshold may be set by a user, may be set by a third method, or may be determined by a user negotiating with the third party, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The remaining effective duration of the subscriber data is less than or equal to the time threshold, which can be understood as the subscriber data is about to fail or has failed; alternatively, it may be understood that the subscriber data has passed or expired; alternatively, it is also understood that the subscriber data is about to expire, etc. If the time information is a duration, the remaining effective duration of the subscriber data is the difference between the effective ending time of the subscriber data and the current time, and the effective ending time of the subscriber data can be determined according to the duration and the time when the terminal device completes signing the SNPN (or the time when the terminal device receives or completes receiving the subscriber). If the time information includes the effective ending time of the subscriber data, the remaining effective duration of the subscriber data is the difference between the effective ending time and the current time of the subscriber data. If the time information is implemented by a timer, the remaining validity period of the subscriber data is obtained by directly reading the timer.

Alternatively, the validity period of the subscriber data indicated by the time information may be indefinite. Alternatively, the subscriber data does not include time information, and it is understood that the effective duration of the subscriber data is indefinite.

In S501, the terminal device determines first subscriber data, and the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold, which means that the first subscriber data is about to fail or has failed. That is, in S501, the terminal device may determine subscriber data that will be or has failed from among the stored subscriber data of one or more SNPNs. For example, the terminal device may periodically or aperiodically detect subscriber data having a remaining effective duration less than or equal to a time threshold among the subscriber data of the one or more SNPNs. For example, the terminal device stores the subscriber data of one SNPN, and the terminal device may determine that the subscriber data of the one SNPN is the first subscriber data according to the remaining effective duration and the time threshold of the subscriber data of the one SNPN. For another example, the terminal device stores the subscription data of a plurality of SNPNs, and the terminal device may determine the first subscription data according to the remaining effective duration and the time threshold of the subscription data of each of the plurality of SNPNs. Alternatively, the terminal device may store the subscription data of the one or more SNPNs, such as a subscription data table, in a table form, so that the terminal device may determine the first subscription data from the subscription data table by querying the subscription data table.

S502: the terminal equipment provides a first display interface.

S502 is an optional step, indicated by a dashed line in fig. 5. The first display interface includes prompt information that the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold. For example, the first display interface displays "the subscription of the first SNPN has failed or is about to fail". Optionally, the first display interface may further include a prompt about whether to continue the first SNPN, as shown in fig. 6. In fig. 6, the terminal device is taken as a mobile phone, and the user selects the "reject" option. Optionally, the first display interface may further include a deadline selection option for the user to select a deadline for renewing the first SNPN, not shown in fig. 6. The terminal device and the first SNPN subscription may be understood as a third party subscription for providing the first SNPN subscription service.

S503: the terminal device receives a first instruction from a user.

S503 is an optional step, and is indicated by a dotted line in fig. 5. The user may ignore the first display interface, or may also operate the terminal device in response to the first display interface, triggering the terminal device to receive the first instruction from the user. The first instruction is used for indicating whether the terminal equipment renews with the first SNPN. For example, the user selects the "agree" option in fig. 6, triggering the terminal device to receive a first instruction for instructing the terminal device to renew with the first SNPN. For another example, the user selects the "reject" option in fig. 6, triggering the terminal device to receive a first instruction indicating that the terminal device is not renewing with the first SNPN. In this embodiment, the user ignores the first display interface, or the first instruction indicates that the terminal device and the first SNPN are not similar to each other. The first instruction in fig. 5 indicates that the terminal device is not associated with the first SNPN.

S504: the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data.

The terminal device may delete the first subscriber data or initiate a renewal process with the first SNPN when detecting that the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to the time threshold. For example, the preset of the first SNPN is set as an expired renewal, and the terminal device initiates a renewal process with the first SNPN. For another example, the terminal device may delete the first subscriber data or initiate a renewal process with the first SNPN according to the frequency or the number of times the terminal device accesses the first SNPN, for example, the terminal device may initiate a renewal process with the first SNPN if the frequency or the number of times the terminal device accesses the first SNPN is higher, otherwise, the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data. For another example, the terminal device may delete the first subscriber data or initiate a renewal process with the first SNPN according to the first instruction. In this embodiment, the terminal device deletes the first subscription data as an example. For example, the terminal device historically accesses the first SNPN less frequently or less frequently, and the terminal device deletes the first subscription data. For another example, if the terminal device does not receive the first instruction from the user after timeout, the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data. For another example, the first instruction indicates that the terminal device does not renew with the first SNPN, and the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data according to the first instruction.

Optionally, the terminal device may release locally stored registration information about the first SNPN to complete local deregistration of the first SNPN; or the terminal device sends a deregistration request (deregistration request) message to the first device, and the corresponding terminal device receives a deregistration acceptance (deregistration accept) response message from the first device to complete the deregistration of the first SNPN.

The first device according to the embodiment of the present application may be a UDM, an AUSF, or an AAA server, which stores or manages subscription data of an SNPN. The UDM may be deployed within an SNPN core, or may be deployed at a third party, and embodiments of the present application are not limited. In this embodiment of the present application, the means for implementing the function of the first device may be the first device, or may be a means capable of supporting the first device to implement the function, for example, a chip system, and the means may be installed in the first device. In the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application, taking the device for implementing the function of the first device as an example of the first device, the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application is described.

Optionally, if the first subscriber data is associated with mobility management information, for example, the first subscriber data is associated with first mobility management information of the terminal device, the terminal device may delete the first mobility management information, release a storage resource for storing the first mobility management information, and improve a utilization ratio of the storage resource.

S505: and the terminal equipment provides a second display interface.

S505 is an optional step, indicated by a dotted line in fig. 5. The second display interface comprises prompt information of the completion of the deletion of the first subscriber data or prompt information of the completion of the renewal of the terminal equipment and the first SNPN. In this embodiment, the second display interface includes prompt information for the completion of the deletion of the first subscriber data. For example, after the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data, the terminal device may provide a second display interface including a prompt message that the deletion of the first subscriber data is completed, as shown in fig. 7.

Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. In this embodiment, the terminal device may be a SNPN renewal corresponding to the subscriber data whose validity period expires or is about to expire. As shown in fig. 8, the method may include the following procedure.

S801: the terminal device determines first subscription data of the first SNPN.

Wherein the first subscriber data comprises first time information. The first time information may be used to indicate a validity period of the first subscriber data. The remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold. For the specific implementation process of S801, please refer to the specific implementation process of S501, which is not described herein.

S802: the terminal equipment provides a first display interface.

S802 is an optional step, and is indicated by a dotted line in fig. 8. The first display interface includes a prompt message that the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to the time threshold, as shown in fig. 6.

S803: the terminal device receives a first instruction from a user.

S803 is an optional step, indicated by a dashed line in fig. 8. In this embodiment, the terminal device operates the terminal device in response to the first display interface, and triggers the terminal device to receive a first instruction from the user. The first instruction is used for indicating whether the terminal equipment renews with the first SNPN. For example, the user selects the "agree" option in fig. 6, triggering the terminal device to receive a first instruction for instructing the terminal device to renew with the first SNPN. For another example, the user selects the "reject" option in fig. 6, triggering the terminal device to receive a first instruction indicating that the terminal device is not renewing with the first SNPN. In this embodiment, the first instruction indicates that the terminal device and the first SNPN are approximate. In fig. 8, a first command indicates that the terminal device and the first SNPN are approximate.

S804: the terminal equipment initiates a renewing flow with the first SNPN.

The terminal equipment detects that the remaining effective duration of the first subscription user data is smaller than or equal to a time threshold, and initiates a renewal process with the first SNPN according to preset, for example, the first SNPN is preset as an expired renewal; or, the renewal process with the first SNPN can be initiated according to the frequency or the frequency of the terminal equipment history accessing the first SNPN, for example, the frequency or the frequency of the terminal equipment history accessing the first SNPN is lower or less; or, a renewal process with the first SNPN can be initiated according to the first instruction, for example, the first instruction indicates the terminal device to renew with the first SNPN.

The terminal equipment initiates a renewal process with the first SNPN, which can be understood as that the terminal equipment initiates a signing process with a third party providing the first SNPN signing service. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific implementation process of the signing process. After the terminal equipment completes the renewal with the first SNPN, the second subscription user data can be obtained. The second subscriber data includes second time information, which may indicate a valid duration of the second subscriber data. The remaining active time of the second subscription data is greater than the time threshold.

Optionally, the terminal device may release locally stored registration information about the first SNPN to complete local deregistration of the first SNPN; or the terminal equipment sends a deregistration request message to the first equipment, and the corresponding terminal equipment receives a deregistration acceptance message from the first equipment to finish the deregistration of the first SNPN.

S805: and the terminal equipment provides a second display interface.

S805 is an optional step, indicated by a dotted line in fig. 8. The second display interface comprises prompt information of the completion of the deletion of the first subscriber data or prompt information of the completion of the renewal of the terminal equipment and the first SNPN. In this embodiment, the second display interface includes prompt information that the terminal device completes the renewal with the first SNPN. For example, after the terminal device completes the renewal of the first SNPN, the terminal device may provide a second display interface including a prompt for the completion of the renewal of the terminal device and the first SNPN, as shown in fig. 9.

In the above S501 and S801, the terminal device may determine the first subscriber data according to the remaining effective duration and the time threshold of the stored subscriber data. In another possible implementation manner, the first device may determine that the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to the time threshold, and send a first message to the terminal device, where the first message includes indication information for indicating that the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to the time threshold; correspondingly, the terminal equipment receives the first message and determines the first subscription data according to the first message.

Alternatively, the first message may be a registration rejection (registration reject) response message, or a deregistration request message, or may be a message other than the registration rejection response message and the deregistration request message, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, taking the first message as an example of the registration rejection response message. As shown in fig. 10, the method may include the following.

S1001: the terminal device determines to camp on the first SNPN.

For example, the terminal device enters the coverage of a first SNPN to which the terminal device chooses to camp. For another example, the terminal device determines to camp on the first SNPN in response to an instruction for the user to camp on the first SNPN. The embodiment of the present application is not limited to the specific implementation of S1001.

S1002: the terminal device sends a registration request (registration request) message to the first device, and the first device receives the registration request message from the terminal device, accordingly.

The registration request message includes first subscriber data. The first subscriber data includes first time information, and the description of the first time information is referred to the description related to S501 and is not repeated here.

S1003: the first device determines that the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold.

S1004: the first device sends a registration rejection response message to the terminal device, and the terminal device receives the registration rejection response message from the first device.

The rejection reason (cause) is that the remaining validity duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold, or that the first subscriber data has passed the validity period, or that the first subscriber data has failed, or that the validity period of the first subscriber data expires, or that the validity period of the first subscriber data is about to expire, or the like.

S1005: and the terminal equipment determines that the remaining effective duration of the first subscription user data is less than or equal to a time threshold according to the registration refusal response message.

For example, the terminal device may perform integrity protection detection on the registration reject response message to determine the authenticity of the source of the registration reject response message. After the integrity protection of the registration rejection response message passes, determining that the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold according to the rejection reason carried by the registration rejection response message.

S1006: the terminal equipment provides a first display interface. S1006 is an optional step. The first display interface includes prompt information for indicating that a remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold.

Next, there are two processing methods, the contents of S1007 to S1009 are executed in processing method 1, and the contents of S1010 to S1012 are executed in processing method 2. A specific implementation of this processing mode 1 may correspond to the description with reference to S503 to S505 in fig. 5. A specific implementation of this processing mode 2 may correspond to the description with reference to S803 to S805 in fig. 8.

S1007: the terminal device receives a first instruction from a user. The first instruction may be for indicating that the terminal device is not renewing with the first SNPN.

S1008: the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data.

S1009: and the terminal equipment provides a second display interface. After the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data, the second display interface includes prompt information for the completion of the deletion of the first subscriber data.

S1010: the terminal device receives a first instruction from a user. The first instruction may be for instructing the terminal device to renew with the first SNPN.

S1011: the terminal equipment initiates a contract-continuing flow with the first SNPN.

S1012: and the terminal equipment provides a second display interface. After the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data, the second display interface includes prompt information that the terminal device completes the renewal with the first SNPN.

Wherein S1006, S1007, S1009, S1010 and S1012 are optional steps, and are indicated by dotted lines in fig. 10.

One implementation of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in fig. 10 by taking the first message as an example of the registration rejection response message. A further implementation of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described below by taking the first message as an example of the deregistration request message.

Fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, taking the first message as an example of a deregistration request message.

The specific implementation of S1106 to S1112 in fig. 11 is correspondingly the same as the specific implementation of S1006 to S1012 in fig. 10, except as follows:

s1101: the terminal device registers to the first SNPN according to the first subscription data. The first time information in the first subscriber data is used for indicating the effective duration of the first subscriber data.

S1102: the first device determines that the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold. In this embodiment, after the terminal device registers to the first SNPN, the first device may periodically or aperiodically detect the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data of the first SNPN. When the first device detects that the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to the time threshold, the first device executes the content of S1103.

S1103: the first device sends a de-registration request message to the terminal device, and the terminal device receives the de-registration request message correspondingly.

The deregistration request message carries a deregistration reason, where the deregistration reason (cause) is that the remaining validity duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold, or that the first subscriber data has passed the validity period, or that the first subscriber data has failed, or that the validity period of the first subscriber data expires, or that the validity period of the first subscriber data is about to expire, etc.

S1104: the terminal device sends a deregistration acceptance response message to the first device, and correspondingly, the first device receives the deregistration acceptance response message.

For example, the terminal device may perform integrity protection detection on the registration acceptance response message to determine the authenticity of the source of the registration acceptance response message. After the integrity protection of the registration acceptance response message passes, determining that the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold according to the deregistration reason carried by the registration acceptance response message.

S1104 is an optional step, and is indicated by a dotted line in fig. 11. The deregistration acceptance response message may be used to indicate that the terminal device successfully received the deregistration request message.

S1105: and the terminal equipment determines that the remaining effective duration of the first subscription user data is less than or equal to a time threshold according to the deregistration request message.

In the description of the related technical features, it is mentioned that the subscription data of the SNPN supports access to the non-subsampled SNPN, and the subscription data of multiple SNPNs may support access to the same non-subsampled SNPN, that is, the access entries of one non-subsampled SNPN may be multiple, so that the terminal device selects which of the multiple access entries accesses the non-subsampled SNPN is a problem to be solved.

For example, the terminal device may receive a second instruction from the user, the second instruction being for indicating to access the first non-subsampled SNPN; the terminal equipment responds to the second instruction, and determines that the signing user data using the second SNPN is used for accessing the first non-signing SNPN from the signing user data of N SNPN in a signing user data list, wherein the signing user data of the N SNPN support accessing the first non-signing SNPN, and N is an integer larger than 1; and the terminal equipment accesses the first non-signed SNPN according to the signed user data of the second SNPN.

For example, the terminal device may determine, according to the remaining durations of the subscription data of the N SNPNs, that the subscription data using the second SNPN is used to access the first non-subscribed SNPN, where the remaining valid duration of the subscription data of the second SNPN is greater than the time threshold and greater than the remaining valid durations of the subscription data of the SNPNs other than the second SNPN.

For another example, the terminal device determines, according to the priorities of the subscription data of the N SNPNs, that the subscription data using the second SNPN is used to access the first non-subscribed SNPN, e.g. the subscription data of the second SNPN has the highest priority.

For another example, the terminal device receives a third instruction from the user, the third instruction indicating to access the first non-subscribed SNPN using the subscription data of the second SNPN of the N SNPNs; correspondingly, the terminal equipment determines that the subscription data using the second SNPN is used for accessing the first non-subscribed SNPN according to the third instruction.

The following describes a specific implementation procedure of the terminal device accessing the non-subsampled SNPN according to the subscription data of the SNPN in conjunction with fig. 12 to 14.

Fig. 12 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, where a terminal device determines an access entry for accessing a non-subscore SNPN according to a priority of subscription data of the SNPN. As shown in fig. 12, the method may include the following.

S1201: the terminal device receives a second instruction from the user. The second instruction is to indicate access to the first non-subsampled SNPN. For example, the user may select to access the first non-subsampled SNPN by operating the terminal device, thereby triggering the terminal device to receive a second instruction from the user for indicating to access the first non-subsampled SNPN.

S1202: the terminal equipment determines the subscription data of N SNPN, and the subscription data of the N SNPN supports access to the first non-subsampled SNPN. The terminal device may determine, from among the plurality of locally stored subscriber data, subscriber data that supports access to the first non-subscore SNPN. In this embodiment, the first non-subsampled SNPN is taken as an example of the subscription data support of N SNPNs, where N is an integer greater than 1.

Optionally, the remaining effective duration of the subscription data of the N SNPNs is greater than the time threshold, so that the problem that the terminal device is disconnected from the first non-subsampled SNPN due to the fact that the remaining effective duration of the subscription data is less than or equal to the time threshold after the terminal device is connected to the first non-subsampled SNPN can be avoided.

S1203: and the terminal equipment provides a fourth display interface.

S1203 is an optional step, represented by a dotted line in fig. 12. The fourth display interface includes information of the N SNPNs, such as an identification of the N SNPNs. The fourth display interface may be used to display information supporting access to the SNPN of the first non-subsampled SNPN, as shown in FIG. 13. In fig. 13, the first non-subsampled SNPN is taken as an example of the support of access by the subscriber data of SNPN 1, SNPN 2 and SNPN 3. Optionally, the fourth display interface may further display the subscription data of the N SNPNs. Optionally, the fourth display interface may further display mobility management information associated with the subscription data of the N SNPNs.

S1204: the terminal device receives priorities of the subscription data of the N SNPNs from the user.

S1204 is an optional step, represented by a dotted line in fig. 12. The user may configure the priorities of the subscription data of the N SNPNs in response to the fourth display interface, or may also pre-configure the priorities of the subscription data of the N SNPNs before S1203, which is not limited in the embodiment of the application. For example, the user may configure the priorities of the subscription data of the N SNPNs according to the remaining effective durations of the subscription data of the N SNPNs, and/or associated mobility management information, etc. For example, the more the remaining effective duration of the subscriber data, the higher the priority of the subscriber data, and the less the remaining effective duration of the subscriber data, the lower the priority of the subscriber data.

S1205: and the terminal equipment determines that the subscription data using the second SNPN is used for accessing the first non-subsampled SNPN according to the priorities of the subscription data of the N SNPN.

The priorities of the subscription user data of the N SNPNs may be from the user, or may be determined by the terminal device according to the remaining effective duration of the subscription user data of the N SNPNs and/or associated mobility management information, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application. Optionally, the second SNPN has a higher priority of the subscription data than the subscription data of the SNPN other than the second SNPN.

S1206: and the terminal equipment accesses the first non-subsampled SNPN according to the subscription data of the second SNPN.

In S1206, the terminal device may succeed or fail to access the first non-subscore SNPN according to the subscription data of the second SNPN. The terminal device may perform S1205 and S1206 a plurality of times. For example, the terminal device may access the first non-subsampled SNPN according to the priorities of the subscription data of the N SNPNs in order from higher priority to lower priority until the terminal device registers to the first non-subsampled SNPN or the terminal device fails to access the first non-subsampled SNPN through the subscription data of the N SNPNs.

Taking the example that the subscription data of the N SNPNs are subscription data 1, subscription data 2, and subscription data 3, respectively, the priority of the subscription data 1 is higher than the priority of the subscription data 2, and the priority of the subscription data 2 is higher than the priority of the subscription data 3. The terminal device accesses the first non-subscore SNPN through the subscriber data 1. If the terminal equipment accesses the first non-subsampled SNPN successfully through the subscription data 1, the terminal equipment registers to the first non-subsampled SNPN according to the subscription data 1. Alternatively, if the subscription data 1 is associated with mobility management information, the terminal device may register with the first non-subscore SNPN through the mobility management information associated with the subscription data 1 and the subscription data 1.

If the terminal equipment fails to access the first non-subsampled SNPN through the subscription data 1, the terminal equipment accesses the first non-subsampled SNPN through the subscription data 2. If the terminal equipment accesses the first non-subsampled SNPN successfully through the subscription data 2, the terminal equipment registers to the first non-subsampled SNPN according to the subscription data 2. Alternatively, if the subscription data 2 is associated with mobility management information, the terminal device may register with the first non-subscore SNPN through the mobility management information associated with the subscription data 2 and the subscription data 2.

If the terminal device fails to access the first non-subsampled SNPN through the subscriber data 2, the terminal device accesses the first non-subsampled SNPN through the subscriber data 3. If the terminal device accesses the first non-subsampled SNPN successfully through the subscriber data 3, the terminal device registers to the first non-subsampled SNPN according to the subscriber data 3. Alternatively, if the subscription data 3 is associated with mobility management information, the terminal device may register with the first non-subscore SNPN through the mobility management information associated with the subscription data 3 and the subscription data 3. If the terminal device fails to access the first non-subsampled SNPN through the subscriber data 3, the terminal device stops accessing the first non-subsampled SNPN. Optionally, the terminal device fails to access the first non-subsampled SNPN through the subscriber data 3, and the terminal device may provide a display interface including a prompt message of the first non-subsampled SNPN access failure.

Fig. 14 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, where a terminal device determines an access entry for accessing a non-subscore SNPN according to a user's instruction. As shown in fig. 14, the method may include the following.

S1401: the terminal device receives a second instruction from the user. The second instruction is to indicate access to the first non-subsampled SNPN. For example, the user may select to access the first non-subsampled SNPN by operating the terminal device, thereby triggering the terminal device to receive a second instruction from the user for indicating to access the first non-subsampled SNPN.

S1402: the terminal equipment determines that the subscription data of M SNPN in the subscription data list supports access to the first non-subsampled SNPN. The terminal device may determine, from among the plurality of locally stored subscriber data, subscriber data that supports access to the first non-subscore SNPN. In this embodiment, the first non-subscore SNPN is supported by subscription data of M SNPNs, where M is an integer greater than 0.

Optionally, the remaining effective duration of the subscription data of the M SNPNs is greater than the time threshold, so that the problem that the terminal device is disconnected from the first non-subsampled SNPN due to the fact that the remaining effective duration of the subscription data is less than or equal to the time threshold after the terminal device is connected to the first non-subsampled SNPN can be avoided.

S1403: and the terminal equipment provides a third display interface.

The third display interface includes information of the M SNPNs, such as an identification of the M SNPNs. The third display interface may be used to display information supporting SNPN access to the first non-subsampled SNPN. Optionally, the third display interface may further display subscription data of the M SNPNs. Optionally, the third display interface may further display mobility management information associated with the subscription data of the M SNPNs. The specific implementation manner of the third display interface may refer to the fourth display interface in fig. 13, which is not described herein.

S1404: the terminal device receives a third instruction from the user.

The third instruction is to instruct access to the first non-subsampled SNPN via the subscriber data of the second SNPN of the M SNPN. For example, the user may operate the terminal device to select the subscription data or the SNPN for accessing the first non-subscore SNPN in response to the third display interface, thereby triggering the terminal device to receive a third instruction from the user.

S1405: and the terminal equipment determines that the subscriber data using the second SNPN accesses the first non-subsampled SNPN according to the third instruction.

S1406: and the terminal equipment accesses the first non-subsampled SNPN according to the subscription data of the second SNPN.

If the terminal equipment accesses the first non-subscore SNPN successfully through the subscription data of the second SNPN, the terminal equipment can register to the first non-subscore SNPN according to the subscription data of the second SNPN. Optionally, if the subscription data of the second SNPN is associated with mobility management information, the terminal device may register to the first non-subscore SNPN according to the subscription data of the second SNPN and the mobility management information associated with the subscription data of the second SNPN. If the terminal device fails to access the first non-subsampled SNPN through the subscriber data of the second SNPN, the terminal device may provide a display interface including information that the terminal device fails to access the first non-subsampled SNPN through the subscriber data of the second SNPN. Further, the terminal device may execute the content of S1403, so that the user selects the subscription data of the SNPN except the second SNPN from the M SNPNs to access the first non-subscore SNPN.

In the embodiments provided in the present application, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are described from the angles of the terminal device and the first device, respectively. In order to implement the functions in the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device or the first device may include a hardware structure and/or a software module, and implement the functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module.

Communication devices for implementing the above method in the embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Therefore, the above contents can be used in the following embodiments, and repeated contents are not repeated.

Fig. 15 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus 1500. The communications apparatus 1500 can correspond to implementing the functions or steps implemented by the first device or the second device in the above-described method embodiments. The communication device may include a processing module 1501 and a transceiver module 1502. Optionally, the communication device 1500 may further comprise a storage unit (not shown in fig. 15) that may be used for storing instructions (code or program) and/or data. Processing module 1501 and transceiver module 1502 may be coupled to the storage unit, e.g. processing module 1501 may read instructions (code or programs) and/or data in the storage unit to implement the corresponding methods. The units can be independently arranged or partially or fully integrated. For example, the transceiver module 1502 may include a transmitting unit and a receiving unit.

As an example, the communication apparatus 1500 may implement the functions or steps implemented by the terminal device in the above-described respective method embodiments.

A processing module 1501 for determining first subscriber data of a first independent non-public network SNPN; the first subscription user data comprises first time information, wherein the first time information is used for indicating the effective duration of the first subscription user data, and the remaining effective duration of the first subscription user data is smaller than or equal to a time threshold; and deleting the first subscriber data or initiating an offer procedure with the first SNPN.

In one possible implementation, when the first subscriber data is associated with the first mobility management information of the communication device 1500, the processing module 1501 is further configured to delete the first mobility management information.

In one possible implementation, the communication apparatus 1500 completes the renewal with the first SNPN to obtain the second subscription data, where the second subscription data includes second time information, and the second time information is used to indicate the validity duration of the second subscription data, and the remaining validity duration of the second subscription data is greater than the time threshold.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus 1500 may further include a display module 1503, indicated by a dashed line in fig. 15, where the display module 1503 is configured to provide a first display interface, and the first display interface includes a prompt information that the remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to the time threshold, so as to notify the user that the first subscriber data is invalid or will be invalid, which can improve user experience.

In one possible implementation, when deleting the first subscriber data or initiating the subscription procedure with the first SNPN, the transceiver module 1502 is configured to receive a first instruction from the user, where the first instruction is configured to instruct the communication device 1500 whether to renew with the first SNPN; and a processing module 1501, configured to delete the first subscriber data or initiate a subscription procedure with the first SNPN according to the first instruction.

In one possible implementation, when deleting the first subscriber data or initiating the subscription procedure with the first SNPN according to the first instruction, the first instruction instructs the communication device 1500 not to renew with the first SNPN, and the processing module 1501 is configured to delete the first subscriber data; alternatively, the first instruction instructs the communication device 1500 to renew with the first SNPN, and the processing module 1501 is configured to initiate a renewing procedure with the first SNPN.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus 1500 may further include a display module 1503, where the display module 1503 is configured to provide a second display interface, where the second display interface includes a prompt for the completion of the deletion of the first subscriber data after the deletion of the first subscriber data by the processing module 1501, or includes a prompt for the completion of the renewal of the communication apparatus 1500 with the first SNPN after the completion of the renewal of the processing module 1501 with the first SNPN.

In one possible implementation, when determining the first subscription data of the first independent non-public network SNPN:

a transceiver module 1502 configured to receive a first message from a first device, where the first message includes indication information for indicating that a remaining effective duration of first subscription data is less than or equal to a time threshold; a processing module 1501 is configured to determine first subscription data according to the first message. Optionally, the first message is a registration rejection response message or a deregistration request message.

Alternatively, the processing module 1501 is configured to determine the first subscription data from a subscription data list, where the subscription data list includes subscription data of one or more SNPNs, and the one or more SNPNs include the first SNPN. For example, the subscriber data list includes subscriber data of one SNPN, and the processing module 1501 is configured to determine that the subscriber data of one SNPN is the first subscriber data according to the remaining effective duration and the time threshold of the subscriber data of one SNPN. For another example, the subscriber data list includes subscriber data of a plurality of SNPNs, and the processing module 1501 is configured to determine the first subscriber data according to a remaining effective duration and a time threshold of the subscriber data of each of the plurality of SNPNs.

In one possible implementation, the subscriber data of the N SNPNs in the subscriber data list supports access to a first non-subscribed SNPN, where N is an integer greater than 1, and the transceiver module 1502 is further configured to receive a second instruction from the user, where the second instruction is configured to instruct access to the first non-subscribed SNPN; the processing module 1501 is further configured to select, from among the N SNPN subscriber data, one SNPN subscriber data for accessing the first non-subscribed SNPN according to remaining effective duration of the N SNPN subscriber data.

In one possible implementation, the subscriber data of the N SNPNs in the subscriber data list supports access to a first non-subscribed SNPN, where N is an integer greater than 1, and the transceiver module 1502 is further configured to receive a second instruction from the user, where the second instruction is used to indicate access to the first non-subscribed SNPN; the processing module 1501 is further configured to select, according to the priorities of the subscription data of the N SNPNs, the subscription data of one SNPN from the subscription data of the N SNPNs for accessing the first non-subscribed SNPN. Optionally, the transceiver module 1502 is further configured to receive information about priorities of subscription data of N SNPNs from a user.

In one possible implementation, the subscriber data of at least one SNPN in the subscriber data list supports access to a first non-subscribed SNPN, and the transceiver module 1502 is further configured to receive a second instruction from the user, where the second instruction is used to indicate access to the first non-subscribed SNPN; and receiving a third instruction from the user, the third instruction being for instructing access to the first non-subscribed SNPN via subscriber data of a second SNPN of the at least one SNPN; the processing module 1501 is further configured to access the first non-subscribed SNPN according to the subscription data of the second SNPN. Optionally, the communication device 1500 may further include a display module 1503, where the display module 1503 is configured to provide a third display interface before receiving the third instruction from the user, and the third display interface includes information of at least one SNPN.

As yet another example, the communications apparatus 1500 may implement the functions or steps implemented by the terminal device in the various method embodiments described above.

The transceiver module 1502 is configured to receive a second instruction from a user, where the second instruction is configured to instruct access to the first non-subscribed independent non-public network SNPN. A processing module 1501, configured to determine, from among the subscription data of N SNPNs in the subscription data list, that the subscription data using the second SNPN is used to access the first non-subscribed SNPN, where the subscription data of the N SNPNs supports access to the first non-subscribed SNPN, and N is an integer greater than 1; and accessing the first non-subscribed SNPN according to the subscription data of the second SNPN.

In one possible implementation, when determining from among the subscription data of N SNPNs in the subscription data list that the subscription data using the second SNPN is used to access the first non-subscribed SNPN:

a processing module 1501, configured to determine that the subscriber data using the second SNPN is used to access the first non-subscribed SNPN according to the remaining effective duration of the subscriber data of the N SNPNs. Optionally, the remaining effective time period of the subscription data of the second SNPN is longer than the remaining effective time period of the subscription data of the SNPN other than the second SNPN.

Or, the processing module 1501 is configured to determine that the subscription data using the second SNPN is used to access the first non-subscribed SNPN according to the priorities of the subscription data of the N SNPNs. For example, the second SNPN has the highest priority of the subscriber data. Optionally, the transceiver module 1502 is configured to receive information about priorities of subscription data of the N SNPNs from the user.

Alternatively, the transceiver module 1502 is configured to receive a third instruction from the user, where the third instruction indicates to access the first non-subscribed SNPN using the subscription data of the second SNPN of the N snps; a processing module 1501, configured to determine, according to the third instruction, that the subscription data using the second SNPN is used to access the first non-subscribed SNPN. Optionally, the communication device 1500 may further include a display module 1503. The display module 1503 is configured to provide a fourth display interface before receiving the third instruction from the user, where the fourth display interface includes information of the N SNPNs.

As yet another example, the communications apparatus 1500 may implement the functions or steps implemented by the first device in the various method embodiments described above.

A processing module 1501, configured to determine that a remaining effective duration of first subscription data is less than or equal to a time threshold, where the first subscription data is subscription data used when the terminal device accesses the first independent non-public network SNPN; the first subscriber data includes first time information, and the first time information is used for indicating the effective duration of the first subscriber data. The transceiver module 1502 is configured to send a first message to a terminal device, where the first message includes indication information for indicating that a remaining effective duration of the first subscriber data is less than or equal to a time threshold, so that the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data or initiates a subscription procedure with the first SNPN.

In one possible implementation, the communications apparatus 1500 may be a unified data management device, or an authentication server function device, or an authentication, authorization, and accounting server.

A more detailed description of the processing module 1501 and the transceiver module 1502 may be directly obtained by referring to the related description in the method embodiment shown in any one of fig. 5 to 14, which is not repeated herein.

As shown in fig. 16, a communication apparatus 1600 provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown, where the communication apparatus 1600 may be a terminal device, capable of implementing the function of the terminal device in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, or the communication apparatus 1600 may be a first device, capable of implementing the function of the first device in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application; alternatively, the communication apparatus 1600 may also be an apparatus capable of supporting a terminal device to implement a corresponding function in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, or an apparatus capable of supporting a first device to implement a corresponding function in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1600 may be a system-on-chip. In the embodiment of the application, the chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices.

The communication apparatus 1600 includes at least one processor 1620 configured to implement or support the communication apparatus 1600 to implement the functionality of a terminal device or a first device in the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application. Reference is made specifically to the detailed description in the method examples, and details are not described here.

Optionally, the communications device 1600 may also include at least one memory 1630 for storing program instructions and/or data. Memory 1630 is coupled to processor 1620. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which may be in electrical, mechanical, or other forms for information interaction between the devices, units, or modules. Processor 1620 may operate in conjunction with memory 1630. Processor 1620 may execute program instructions and/or data stored in memory 1630 to cause communication device 1600 to implement a corresponding method. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor. The memory 1630 may be a stand-alone memory, such as an off-chip memory, coupled to the processor 1620 by a communication bus (shown in bold line 1640 in fig. 16). The memory 1630 may also be integrated with the processor 1620.

Optionally, the communication apparatus 1600 may further comprise a communication interface 1610 for communicating with other devices over a transmission medium, such that an apparatus used in the communication apparatus 1600 may communicate with other devices. Illustratively, when the communication apparatus is a terminal device, the other device is a first device or the like. Processor 1620 may transmit and receive data using communication interface 1610. Communication interface 1610 may be specifically a transceiver.

In a hardware implementation, the transceiver module 1502 may be a transceiver, which is integrated in the communication device 1600 to form the communication interface 1610.

The specific connection medium between the communication interface 1610, the processor 1620 and the memory 1630 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 1630, the processor 1620 and the communication interface 1610 are connected through the communication bus 1640 in fig. 16, and the connection manner between other components is only schematically illustrated, but not limited to. The communication bus 1640 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in fig. 16, but not only one communication bus or one type of communication bus.

In the embodiments of the present application, the processor 1620 may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, where the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in a hardware processor for execution, or in a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor for execution.

In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 1630 may be a nonvolatile memory, such as a hard disk (HDD) or a Solid State Drive (SSD), and may also be a volatile memory (volatile memory), for example, a random-access memory (RAM). The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to such. The memory in the embodiments of the present application may also be circuitry or any other device capable of implementing a memory function for storing program instructions and/or data.

The embodiment of the application also provides a communication system, and in particular, the communication system comprises a terminal device and/or a first device.

There is also provided in an embodiment of the present application a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the above embodiments.

There is also provided in an embodiment of the present application a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the above embodiments.

The embodiment of the application provides a chip system, which comprises a processor and can also comprise a memory, wherein the memory is used for realizing the functions of terminal equipment or first equipment in the method. The chip system may be formed of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

It should be understood that, in various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the foregoing processes do not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of the processes should be determined by the functions and internal logic thereof, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

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

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

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown 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 application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (random access memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

The foregoing is merely specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the embodiments of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art may easily think about changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the embodiments of the present application, and the changes or substitutions are intended to be covered by the scope of the embodiments of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of communication, the method comprising:

the terminal equipment determines first subscription user data of a first independent non-public network SNPN; the first subscription user data comprises first time information, the first time information is used for indicating the effective duration of the first subscription user data, and the remaining effective duration of the first subscription user data is smaller than or equal to a time threshold;

and the terminal equipment deletes the first subscription data or initiates a contract continuing process with the first SNPN.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first subscriber data is associated with first mobility management information of the terminal device, the method further comprising:

and deleting the first mobile management information by the terminal equipment.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the terminal device completes the renewal with the first SNPN to obtain second subscription data, the second subscription data including second time information, the second time information being used to indicate a valid duration of the second subscription data, and a remaining valid duration of the second subscription data being greater than the time threshold.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

the terminal equipment provides a first display interface, wherein the first display interface comprises prompt information that the residual effective duration of the first subscriber data is smaller than or equal to the time threshold.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data or initiates a subscription procedure with the first SNPN, comprising:

the terminal equipment receives a first instruction from a user, wherein the first instruction is used for indicating whether the terminal equipment renews with the first SNPN;

and the terminal equipment deletes the first subscription user data or initiates a contract continuing process with the first SNPN according to the first instruction.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the terminal device deletes the first subscriber data or initiates a subscription procedure with the first SNPN according to the first instruction, comprising:

the first instruction indicates that the terminal equipment is not renewed with the first SNPN, and the terminal equipment deletes the first subscription user data; or,

The first instruction indicates the terminal equipment to renew with the first SNPN, and the terminal equipment initiates a renewing flow with the first SNPN.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

the terminal equipment provides a second display interface, wherein after the terminal equipment deletes the first subscription user data, the second display interface comprises prompt information for completing the deletion of the first subscription user data, or after the terminal equipment completes the renewal of the terminal equipment with the first SNPN, the second display interface comprises prompt information for completing the renewal of the terminal equipment with the first SNPN.

8. The method according to any of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the terminal device determines first subscriber data of a first independent non-public network, SNPN, comprising:

the terminal equipment receives a first message from first equipment, wherein the first message comprises indication information for indicating that the residual effective duration of the first subscription user data is less than or equal to the time threshold;

and the terminal equipment determines the first subscription user data according to the first message.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first message is a registration reject response message or a deregistration request message.

10. The method according to any of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the terminal device determines first subscriber data of a first independent non-public network, SNPN, comprising:

the terminal equipment determines the first subscription data from a subscription data list, wherein the subscription data list comprises one or more SNPN subscription data, and the one or more SNPN comprises the first SNPN.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the determining the first subscriber data from the subscriber data list by the terminal device comprises:

the subscriber data list comprises the subscriber data of one SNPN, and the terminal equipment determines that the subscriber data of the one SNPN is the first subscriber data according to the residual effective duration and the time threshold of the subscriber data of the one SNPN; or,

the subscriber data list comprises subscriber data of a plurality of SNPN, and the terminal equipment determines the first subscriber data according to the remaining effective duration of the subscriber data of each SNPN and the time threshold.

12. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein the subscriber data of N SNPNs in the subscriber data list supports access to a first non-subscribed SNPN, N being an integer greater than 1, the method further comprising:

the terminal equipment receives a second instruction from a user, wherein the second instruction is used for indicating to access the first non-signed SNPN;

and the terminal equipment selects one SNPN subscription user data from the N SNPN subscription user data according to the remaining effective duration of the N SNPN subscription user data for accessing the first non-subscribed SNPN.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein selecting one of the N SNPNs for use in accessing the first non-subscribed SNPN comprises:

and selecting the subscription user data with the largest residual effective duration from the subscription user data of the N SNPN for accessing the first non-subscription SNPN.

14. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein the subscriber data of N SNPNs in the subscriber data list supports access to a first non-subscribed SNPN, N being an integer greater than 1, the method further comprising:

and the terminal equipment selects one SNPN subscription user data from the N SNPN subscription user data according to the priority of the N SNPN subscription user data, and the SNPN subscription user data is used for accessing the first non-subscription SNPN.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

the terminal device receives the information of the priorities of the subscription user data of the N SNPN from the user.

16. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein the subscriber data of at least one SNPN in the subscriber data list supports access to a first non-subscribed SNPN, the method further comprising:

the terminal equipment receives a third instruction from the user, wherein the third instruction is used for indicating that the first non-subscribed SNPN is accessed through subscription user data of a second SNPN in the at least one SNPN;

and the terminal equipment accesses the first non-signed SNPN according to the signed user data of the second SNPN.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises:

before receiving a third instruction from the user, the terminal device provides a third display interface, wherein the third display interface comprises information of the at least one SNPN.

18. A method of communication, the method comprising:

the method comprises the steps that first equipment determines that the remaining effective duration of first subscription user data is smaller than or equal to a time threshold, wherein the first subscription user data is subscription data used when terminal equipment is accessed to a first independent non-public network SNPN; the first subscription user data comprises first time information, wherein the first time information is used for indicating the effective duration of the first subscription user data;

the first device sends a first message to the terminal device, where the first message includes indication information for indicating that the remaining effective duration of the first subscription data is less than or equal to the time threshold, so that the terminal device deletes the first subscription data or initiates a subscription procedure with the first SNPN.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first device is a unified data management device, an authentication server function device, or a verification, authorization, and accounting server.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, wherein the first message is a registration reject response message or a de-registration request message.

21. A communication device comprising means for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 17 or means for performing the method of any one of claims 18 to 20.

22. A communication device comprising at least one processor and memory; wherein the memory is for storing one or more computer programs or instructions, the at least one processor is for executing the one or more computer programs or instructions stored by the memory to cause the communications apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1-17 or to perform the method of any of claims 18-20.

23. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that a computer program or instructions for implementing the method of any one of claims 1 to 17 or for implementing the method of any one of claims 18 to 20 is stored.

24. A computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product comprises a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 17 or to perform the method of any one of claims 18 to 20.