CN120456352A

CN120456352A - Communication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN120456352A
Application number: CN202410171483.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李浩然; 徐艺珊; 许胜锋; 孙海洋
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2024-02-06
Filing date: 2024-02-06
Publication date: 2025-08-08
Also published as: WO2025167308A1

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a multi-connection device, the multi-connection device including multiple subscription data, the multi-connection device using first subscription data to execute the method, the first subscription data being one of the multiple subscription data, the method comprising: sending a first session establishment request, the first session establishment request including first indication information and a session identifier of a multi-connection session, the first indication information being used to indicate establishment of the multi-connection session; receiving a first session establishment acceptance message, the first session establishment acceptance message including session association information and a first IP address, the session association information being used to associate session transmission paths for the multiple subscription data, the first IP address including an IP address allocated by an SMF to the first session, the first session being a subsession of the multi-connection session established using the first subscription data. The technical solution of the present application can associate sessions of a multi-connection device.

Description

Communication method and communication device

Technical Field

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

Background

The existing standards define the characteristics of incoming traffic steering, switching, splitting (ATSSS), and User Equipment (UE) can access the core network together for service through a third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) connection and a non-3 GPP connection. Wherein when the UE is not within coverage of the home public land mobile network (home public land mobile network, HPLMN), the visited public land mobile network (visitedpublic land mobile network, VPLMN) can be accessed through the 3GPP while the HPLMN is accessed through the non-3 GPP. After the UE accesses the network through two different access types, the UE may establish a multi-access protocol data unit (MA PDU) session acquisition service.

In the R19 standard discussion, the concept of a dual connectivity device is introduced, and one dual connectivity device may be a terminal device containing two subscription data, or one dual connectivity device may include two independent User Equipments (UEs), and the subscription data of the two UEs may maintain corresponding association relationships in the network. For example, the device may be a UE with two subscriber identity modules (subscriber identity module, SIM) cards and may implement dual card dual pass, or may be two entirely separate UEs packaged in the same device or connected together by some other means.

In the prior art, when the UE establishes a session, the session management function (session management function, SMF) network element can naturally know that the UE is the same because of two different access types of the same UE, and the two can be associated through MA PDU session, and the same IP is used, so that the IP is ensured to be unchanged during session switching. When the session is established by the dual-connectivity equipment, the sessions of the two UEs have independent IPs, for example, the session is switched from the session of UE1 to the session of UE2 during session switching, which is equivalent to reestablishing the session due to the change of the IPs, resulting in short interruption of the session and affecting the user experience.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can correlate sessions established by double-connection equipment through different subscription data.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, applied to a multi-connection device, the multi-connection device comprising a plurality of subscription data, the multi-connection device performing the method using first subscription data, the first subscription data being one of the plurality of subscription data, the method comprising sending a first session establishment request comprising first indication information for indicating establishment of the multi-connection session and a session identification of the multi-connection session, receiving a first session establishment acceptance message comprising session association information and a first network protocol (internet protocol, IP) address, the session association information being used for associating session transmission paths of the plurality of subscription data, the first IP address comprising a session management function (session management function, SMF) network element being an IP address allocated for a first session, the first session being a sub-session of the multi-connection session established using the first subscription data.

In the technical scheme provided by the application, the sub-sessions established by the multi-connection equipment through different subscription data can be associated together through the session association information, and each sub-session is allocated with different IP addresses to jointly complete the transmission of the session.

The multiple connection devices include a plurality of subscription data having an association relationship therebetween.

In some possible implementations, the multi-connection device may be a dual-connection device (dual STEER DEVICE). The multi-connection device comprises first subscription data and second subscription data, wherein UE1 communicates through the first subscription data, and UE2 communicates through the second subscription data. Optionally, the multi-connection device may further include third subscription data, fourth subscription data, and the like, where UE3 communicates through the third subscription data, and UE4 communicates through the fourth subscription data. The present application does not limit the number of subscription data included in the multi-connection device.

In the present application, when the multi-connection device communicates through the first subscription data, the multi-connection device may be referred to as UE1. When the multi-connection device communicates through the second subscription data, the multi-connection device may be referred to as ue2.

The subscription data may be, for example, a subscriber permanent identifier (SUPI) PERMANENT IDENTIFIER or a universal subscriber identity card (universal subscriber identity module, USIM). In some possible application scenarios, the subscription data may also be directly called as user equipment or terminal equipment, and the present application does not limit the name.

In some possible implementations, the session identifier of the multi-connection session may be an Identifier (ID) assigned by the UE1 for the multi-connection session, and the SMF may associate the assigned ID with the ID of the UE 1. Optionally, in order to avoid a collision between the IDs of the sessions established by UE1 and UE2, the session identifier of the multi-connection session may further include the ID of UE 1. The ID of the UE1 may be a globally unique temporary UE identity (5G-globally unique temporary identifier, 5G-GUTI) in the 5G system, a temporary mobile subscription identity (5G-temporary mobile subscription identifier, 5G-S-TMSI) in the 5G system or SUPI, and the specific format of the session identity of the dual connectivity session should not be construed as limiting the application.

Optionally, the session identifier of the dual connectivity session may also be included in the first indication information.

The first indication information is used for indicating to establish a multi-connection session, wherein the multi-connection session is the session established by the multi-connection device. The multi-connection session includes a session established using at least one of the plurality of subscription data, and the session established using the subscription data is referred to as a sub-session of the multi-connection session.

The first session is a sub-session of a multi-connection session established by the multi-connection device using the first subscription data, and the multi-connection device may also establish other sub-sessions of the multi-connection session using other subscription data, the sub-sessions together constituting the multi-connection session.

In some possible implementations, the session association information may also include the first IP address, i.e. the first session establishment acceptance message includes the session association information including the first IP address.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the session association information includes a session public IP address and/or a connection ID, where the session public IP address is a public IP address for establishing a multipath transmission connection using the plurality of subscription data, and the connection ID is used to identify the multipath transmission connection.

The multipath transmission connection may be, for example, a connection established by a multipath transmission control protocol (multipathtransmission control protocol, MPTCP), a multipath rapid user datagram protocol internet connection (multipath quick user datagram protocolinternet connections, MPQUIC) function.

When the multipath transmission connection is an MPTCP connection, the session association information may be a session public IP address, and when the multipath transmission connection is a MPQUIC connection, the session association information may be a session public IP address and/or a connection ID.

After the session establishment of the multi-connection device is completed, the multi-connection device can perform data transmission with the application server through the session association information and the allocated IP address, wherein the first session can use the first IP address to perform data transmission.

In the technical scheme provided by the application, sub-sessions established by the multi-connection equipment through different subscription data can be associated together through session association information, so that the transmission of the session is completed together.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, applied to a multi-connection device, the multi-connection device including a plurality of subscription data, the multi-connection device performing the method using second subscription data, the second subscription data being one of the plurality of subscription data, the method including sending a second session establishment request including second indication information and a session identification of a multi-connection session, the second indication information being used to indicate establishment of the multi-connection session, receiving a second session establishment acceptance message, the second session establishment acceptance message including a second IP address, the second IP address including an IP address allocated by an SMF for a second session, the second session being a sub-session of the multi-connection session established using the second subscription data.

In some possible implementations, the multi-connection device may be a dual-connection device. The multi-connection device comprises first subscription data and second subscription data, wherein UE1 communicates through the first subscription data, and UE2 communicates through the second subscription data. Optionally, the multi-connection device may further include third subscription data, fourth subscription data, and the like, where UE3 communicates through the third subscription data, and UE4 communicates through the fourth subscription data. The present application does not limit the number of subscription data included in the multi-connection device.

The subscription data may be SUPI or USIM, for example. In some possible application scenarios, the subscription data may also be directly called as user equipment or terminal equipment, and the present application does not limit the name.

UE1 may send session association information and a session identification of the multi-connection session to UE2. In some possible implementations, since there is an association relationship between multiple subscription data of multiple connection devices, UE2 may also directly obtain session association information of UE1 and session identification of multiple connection sessions.

In some possible implementations, the session identifier of the multi-connection session may be an ID allocated by UE1 for the multi-connection session, and the SMF may associate the allocated ID with the ID of UE 1. Optionally, in order to avoid a collision between the IDs of the sessions established by UE1 and UE2, the session identifier of the multi-connection session may further include the ID of UE 1. The ID of UE1 may be 5G-GUTI, 5G-S-TMSI or SUPI, and the specific format of the session identity of the dual connectivity session should not be construed as limiting the application.

Optionally, the session identifier of the dual connectivity session may also be included in the second indication information. The second indication information may be the same as the first indication information.

The second indication information is used for indicating the establishment of a multi-connection session, wherein the multi-connection session is the session established by the multi-connection device. The multi-connection session includes a session established using at least one of the plurality of subscription data, and the session established using the subscription data is referred to as a sub-session of the multi-connection session.

The second session is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established by the multi-connection device using the second subscription data, and the multi-connection device may also establish other sub-sessions of the multi-connection session using other subscription data, where the sub-sessions together form the multi-connection session.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the session association information includes a session public IP address and/or a connection ID, where the session public IP address is a public IP address for establishing a multipath transmission connection using the plurality of subscription data, and the connection ID is used to identify the multipath transmission connection.

The multipath transmission connection may be, for example, a connection established by MPTCP, MPQUIC functions.

After the session establishment of the multi-connection device is completed, the multi-connection device can perform data transmission with the application server through the session association information and the allocated IP address, wherein the second session can use the second IP address to perform data transmission.

In a third aspect, a communication method is provided and applied to an SMF, where the method includes receiving a first session establishment request sent by a multi-connection device using first subscription data, where the first session establishment request includes first indication information and a session identifier of a multi-connection session, where the first indication information is used to indicate establishment of the multi-connection session, the multi-connection device includes a plurality of subscription data, where the plurality of subscription data includes the first subscription data, sending a first session establishment accept message, where the first session establishment accept message includes session association information and a first IP address, where the session association information is used to associate session transmission paths of the plurality of subscription data, and where the first IP address includes an IP address allocated by the SMF for a first session, and where the first session is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established using the first subscription data.

In the technical scheme provided by the application, the sub-sessions established by the multi-connection equipment through different subscription data can be associated together through session association information, and each sub-session is allocated with different IP addresses by the SMF to jointly complete the transmission of the session.

After the SMF receives the first session establishment request, it determines that the session type established by the UE1 is a multi-connection session, and checks whether there is session association information and/or a first IP address of the multi-connection session in the context according to the session identifier, if not, it indicates that the session is a new multi-connection session, and the SMF allocates the session association information and the first IP address to the first session.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the session association information includes a session public IP address and/or a connection ID, where the session public IP address is a public IP address for establishing a multipath transmission connection using the plurality of subscription data, and the connection ID is used to identify the multipath transmission connection.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, before the sending the first session establishment acceptance message, the method further includes sending a third session establishment request to a UPF, where the third session establishment request is used to establish a session with the UPF, the third session establishment request includes the session association information and the first IP address, or the third session establishment request includes the session identification and the first IP address, and the UPF is used to aggregate sub-sessions of the multi-connection session.

In some possible implementations, the third session establishment request includes the first IP address, and further includes session association information and/or a session identification. The UPF may return response information to the SMF indicating that N4 session creation between the SMF and the UPF is complete. The response information includes CN resources for the access network to send uplink data to the UPF.

In the technical scheme provided by the application, the SMF can select the same UPF to establish the session for a plurality of associated UE, and the UPF gathers the sub-session to communicate with the application server to complete the transmission of the session.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes receiving a second session establishment request sent by the multi-connection device using second subscription data, where the second session establishment request includes second indication information and the session identifier, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the multi-connection session is established, and the plurality of subscription data includes the second subscription data, sending a second session establishment acceptance message, where the second session establishment acceptance message includes a second IP address, where the second IP address includes an IP address allocated by the SMF for a second session, and where the second session is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established using the second subscription data.

When the SMF determines that the session type established by the UE2 is a dual connectivity session, it checks whether session association information and/or a first IP address exists in a context corresponding to the session identifier, and if so, it indicates that a session sub-path needs to be added for an existing dual connectivity session, and the SMF allocates a second IP address to a second session.

The second session is a sub-session of a multi-connection session established by the multi-connection device using the second subscription data, and the first session and the second session may together constitute the multi-connection session.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, before the sending of the second session establishment acceptance message, the method further includes sending a fourth session establishment request to the UPF, the fourth session establishment request being for establishing a session with the UPF, the fourth session establishment request including the session association information and the second IP address, or the fourth session establishment request including the session identification and the second IP address.

The SMF receives the session identifier sent by the UE2, determines the UPF connected with the UE1 according to the context information corresponding to the identifier, and sends a fourth session establishment request to the UPF.

In some possible implementations, the fourth session establishment request includes the second IP address, and further includes session association information and/or a session identification. The UPF may aggregate the first session and the second session together by session association information and/or session identification.

The UPF may return response information to the SMF indicating that N4 session creation between the SMF and the UPF is complete. The response information includes CN resource information, which is used for the access network to send uplink data to the UPF.

In the technical scheme provided by the application, the sub-sessions established by the multi-connection equipment through different subscription data can be converged together through the UPF, and the UPF is communicated with the application server after converging the sub-sessions, so that the transmission of the session is completed.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes sending a session registration message, where the session registration message is used to register context information of the multi-connection session with a unified data management (unified DATA MANAGEMENT, UDM) network element, where the context information includes a type of the multi-connection session and the session identifier.

The SMF registers context information of the multi-connection session with the UDM, including the type of the multi-connection session and the session identification, and may also include the ID of the UE.

The UDM is configured with association information of a plurality of subscription data of the multi-connection device, according to the association information, the UDM can determine other subscription data associated with a certain subscription data, determine a corresponding access and mobility management function (ACCESS AND mobility management function, AMF) network element according to the context of the other subscription data, update session information to the AMF network element, and when a subsequent multi-connection device establishes a multi-connection session through other subscription data, the AMF can select the same SMF to establish the multi-connection session.

In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, applied to a multi-connection device, the multi-connection device including a plurality of subscription data, the multi-connection device executing the method using first subscription data, the first subscription data being one of the plurality of subscription data, the method including sending a first session establishment request including first indication information indicating that an agent is allocated to the multi-connection device, the agent being for establishing a multi-path connection of the multi-connection device, receiving a first session establishment acceptance message including information of the agent, the first session establishment acceptance message being for indicating that a first session establishment is completed, the first session being established for the multi-connection device using the first subscription data, sending a connection establishment request to the agent according to the information of the agent, receiving a connection establishment acceptance message sent by the agent, the connection establishment acceptance message including session association information for associating the plurality of subscription data transmission paths.

In the technical scheme provided by the application, a conventional session establishment flow is carried out aiming at a session establishment request sent by the UE, but an agent is selected for the UE and used for converging the sessions of a plurality of UEs and establishing multipath transmission connection on the session.

The first session is a PDU session established by the multi-connection device using the first subscription data. The multi-connection device may also establish other PDU sessions using other subscription data, which are pooled together by the proxy and share one multi-path transmission connection.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the session association information includes a session public IP address and/or a connection ID, where the session public IP address is a public IP address for establishing a multipath transmission connection using the plurality of subscription data, and the connection ID is used to identify the multipath transmission connection.

It should be understood that the information of the agent may be the IP address of the agent, and may also include the ID of the agent, the type of agent, etc.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first session establishment request further includes a session identification of the first session.

In some possible implementations, the session identifier of the multi-connection session may be an ID allocated by UE1 for the multi-connection session, and the SMF may associate the allocated ID with the ID of UE 1. Optionally, in order to avoid a collision between the IDs of the sessions established by UE1 and UE2, the session identifier of the multi-connection session may further include the ID of UE 1. The ID of UE1 may be 5G-GUTI, 5G-S-TMSI or SUPI, and the specific format of the session identification should not be construed as limiting the application. The SMF receives the first session establishment request, checks whether the session identifier has a corresponding context or information about whether an agent exists in the context, if not, indicates a brand new session, selects an agent which can be used as an anchor point, and can be connected with the UPF of the anchor point.

In the technical solution provided in the present application, the first session establishment request sent by the UE1 to the SMF may further include a session identifier of the first session. Other UEs subsequently associated with UE1 may send the session identifier of the first session to the SMF, which may determine that the session is the same according to the context corresponding to the session identifier, so that the SMF may assign the other UEs the same agent and UPFs that may be connected to the agent.

In a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided, applied to a multi-connection device, where the multi-connection device includes a plurality of subscription data, the multi-connection device uses second subscription data to perform the method, the second subscription data is one of the plurality of subscription data, the method includes sending a second session establishment request, the second session establishment request includes second indication information and information of an agent, the second indication information is used for indicating that the multi-connection device is allocated with the agent, the agent is used for establishing multi-path connection of the multi-connection device, receiving a second session establishment acceptance message, the second session establishment acceptance message is used for indicating that second session establishment is completed, the second session is established for the multi-connection device using the second subscription data, and sending a connection joining request to the agent according to the information of the agent, the connection joining request includes session association information, the connection joining request is used for requesting joining of a connection corresponding to the session association information, and the session association information is used for associating session transmission paths of the plurality of subscription data.

Alternatively, the information of the agent may be included in the second indication information, and the second indication information may be identical to the first indication information.

UE1 may send session association information and proxy information to UE2. In some possible implementations, since there is an association relationship between multiple subscription data of multiple connected devices, UE2 may also directly obtain session association information and proxy information of UE 1.

And the UE2 sends a connection joining request to the proxy, and after joining the connection corresponding to the session association information, the first session and the second session share one multipath transmission connection.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the session association information includes a session public IP address and/or a connection ID, where the session public IP address is a public IP address for establishing a multipath transmission connection using the plurality of subscription data, and the connection ID is used to identify the multipath transmission connection.

The connection joining request sent by UE2 includes session association information, and the proxy can know to which connection UE2 is to be associated, and subsequent UE2 and UE1 can send data with the same public IP address.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the fifth aspect, the method further includes receiving response information from the agent, where the response information is used to indicate that the connection corresponding to the session association information is added successfully.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the fifth aspect, the second session establishment request further includes a session identifier of a first session, where the first session is a session established by the multi-connection device using first subscription data, and the first subscription data is one of the plurality of subscription data other than the second subscription data.

In some possible implementations, the session identifier of the multi-connection session may be an ID allocated by UE1 for the multi-connection session, and the SMF may associate the allocated ID with the ID of UE 1. Optionally, in order to avoid a collision between the IDs of the sessions established by UE1 and UE2, the session identifier of the multi-connection session may further include the ID of UE 1. The ID of UE1 may be 5G-GUTI, 5G-S-TMSI or SUPI, and the specific format of the session identification should not be construed as limiting the application.

UE1 may send the session identification of the first session to UE2. In some possible implementations, since there is an association between multiple subscription data of multiple connected devices, UE2 may also directly obtain the session identifier of the first session of UE 1.

In some possible implementations, if UE2 can obtain the session identifier of the first session of UE1, the second indication information and the session identifier may be sent to the SMF, that is, the second session establishment request may include the second indication information and the session identifier, and the SMF may allocate the same agent as UE1 and the UPF that may be connected to the agent to UE2 according to the context corresponding to the session identifier.

In the technical scheme provided by the application, the second session establishment request sent by the UE2 to the SMF may further include a session identifier of the first session, and the SMF may allocate the same agent as the UE1 and a UPF that may be connected to the agent to the UE2 according to a context corresponding to the session identifier.

In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided and applied to an SMF, where the method includes receiving a first session establishment request sent by a multi-connection device using first subscription data, where the first session establishment request includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that an agent is allocated to the multi-connection device, where the agent is used to establish a multi-path connection of the multi-connection device, where the multi-connection device includes a plurality of subscription data, where the plurality of subscription data includes the first subscription data, sending a first session establishment acceptance message, where the first session establishment acceptance message includes information of the agent, where the first session establishment acceptance message is used to indicate that a first session establishment is complete, and where the first session is a session established by the multi-connection device using the first subscription data.

In the technical scheme provided by the application, SMF carries out a conventional session establishment flow aiming at a session establishment request sent by UE, but selects an agent for the UE for converging the sessions of a plurality of UEs and establishes multipath transmission connection on the session.

After receiving the first session establishment request, the SMF selects a proxy that can be the session anchor, and the UPF that can connect the anchor to UE1.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first session establishment request further includes a session identifier of the first session.

The SMF receives the first session establishment request, may check whether the session identifier has a corresponding context or whether there is information about an agent in the context, and if not, indicates a new session, selects an agent that may be used as a session anchor, and may connect to the UPF of the anchor.

In the technical solution provided in the present application, the first session establishment request sent by the UE1 to the SMF may further include a session identifier of the first session. Other UEs subsequently associated with UE1 may send the session identification of the first session to the SMF, which may allocate the same proxy and UPF that may be connected to the proxy to the other UEs according to the context corresponding to the session identification.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the sixth aspect, the method further includes receiving a second session establishment request sent by the multi-connection device using second subscription data, where the second session establishment request includes second indication information and information of the proxy, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the proxy is allocated to the multi-connection device, the second subscription data is one of the plurality of subscription data other than the first subscription data, and sending a second session establishment acceptance message, where the second session establishment acceptance message is used to indicate that second session establishment is completed, and the second session is a session established by the multi-connection device using the second subscription data.

The SMF may select a UPF, which may be connected to the agent, to the UE2 according to the agent's information.

UE1 may send session association information and proxy information to UE2. In some possible implementations, since there is an association relationship between multiple subscription data of multiple connection devices, UE2 may also directly obtain session association information of UE1 and session identification of multiple connection sessions.

In the technical scheme provided by the application, the SMF processes the session establishment requests sent by a plurality of UE according to the independent PDU session, but selects the same agent for the plurality of UE for converging the sessions of the plurality of UE.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the method further includes sending an agent request message, where the agent request message is used to request a first network element to allocate the agent for the multi-connection device, where the first network element is used to manage a session of the multi-connection device, and receiving an agent allocation message, where the agent allocation message includes information of the agent.

In some possible implementations, the selection may be made by other network elements than SMF when selecting a proxy that may act as a session anchor. The network element is a first network element, and the first network element can integrally manage the session, so that multiple UEs can be guaranteed to select the same agent. Illustratively, the network element is a dual connectivity SMF (DualSteer SMF, DS-SMF), and when the SMF receives a request to allocate an agent, it sends an agent request message to the DS-SMF, and then selects a UPF that can connect to the agent based on the obtained agent information.

In the technical scheme provided by the application, the SMF can select the same agent for a plurality of UE through other network elements for converging the session establishment requests sent by the plurality of UE.

A seventh aspect provides a communications apparatus comprising means or units for performing the method of the first aspect or any of the possible implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect or means for performing the method of the second aspect or any of the possible implementations of the fourth aspect or means for performing the method of the fifth aspect or any of the possible implementations of the fifth aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and operable to execute instructions in the memory to implement the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect or to implement the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the fourth aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the fifth aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication apparatus further comprises a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface and controls the communication interface to communicate with other devices.

In one implementation, the communication apparatus is a multi-connection device. When the communication apparatus is a multi-connection device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the communication apparatus is a chip configured in a multi-connection device. When the communication means is a chip configured in a multi-connection device, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

Optionally, the transceiver may also be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

A ninth aspect provides a communications apparatus comprising means or units for performing the method of the third aspect or any of the possible implementations of the third aspect or means or units for performing the method of the sixth aspect or any of the possible implementations of the sixth aspect.

In a tenth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and operable to execute instructions in the memory to implement the method of the third aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect or to implement the method of the sixth aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the sixth aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication apparatus further comprises a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface and controls the communication interface to communicate with other devices.

In one implementation, the communication device is an SMF network element. When the communication device is an SMF network element, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip configured in an SMF network element. When the communication device is a chip configured in an SMF network element, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

In an eleventh aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a multi-connection device and an SMF network element, the multi-connection device performing the method according to any of the first to second aspects and any of the possible implementations of the first to second aspects, the SMF network element performing the method according to any of the possible implementations of the third aspect and any of the third aspect.

A twelfth aspect provides a communication system comprising a multi-connection device performing the method according to any one of the fourth to fifth aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the fourth to fifth aspects and an SMF network element performing the method according to any one of the sixth and any one of the possible implementations of the sixth aspect.

In a thirteenth aspect, a processor is provided that includes an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive signals through the input circuit and to issue signals through the output circuit, such that the processor performs the methods of the first to sixth aspects and any of the possible implementations of the first to sixth aspects.

In a specific implementation process, the processor may be a chip, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, various logic circuits, and the like. The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input by, for example and without limitation, a receiver, the output signal may be output by, for example and without limitation, a transmitter and transmitted by a transmitter, and the input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit, which functions as the input circuit and the output circuit, respectively, at different times. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific implementation modes of the processor and various circuits.

In a fourteenth aspect, a processing apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to read instructions stored in the memory and is configured to receive a signal via the receiver and to transmit a signal via the transmitter to perform the method of the first to sixth aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the first to sixth aspects.

Optionally, the processor is one or more, and the memory is one or more.

Alternatively, the memory may be integrated with the processor or the memory may be separate from the processor.

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

It should be appreciated that the related data interaction process, for example, transmitting the indication information, may be a process of outputting the indication information from the processor, and the receiving the capability information may be a process of receiving the input capability information by the processor. Specifically, the data output by the processing may be output to the transmitter, and the input data received by the processor may be from the receiver. Wherein the transmitter and receiver may be collectively referred to as a transceiver.

The processing means in the fourteenth aspect may be a chip, and the processor may be implemented by hardware or software, and when implemented by hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like, and when implemented by software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, and the memory may be integrated in the processor, may be located outside the processor, or may exist independently, by reading software codes stored in the memory.

A fifteenth aspect provides a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions for implementing the first to sixth aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the first to sixth aspects.

In a sixteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product for, when run on a computer, causing the computer to perform the methods of the first to sixth aspects, and any one of the possible implementations of the first to sixth aspects.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a dual connectivity device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of ATSSS.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of ATSSS.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a multi-access session.

Fig. 5 is an exemplary flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is an exemplary flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario in which two UEs select the same UPF to establish a session according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario in which two UEs select different UPFs to establish a session according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is an exemplary flowchart of UE1 related operations in a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 10 is an exemplary flowchart of UE2 related operations in a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is an exemplary flowchart of UE1 related operations in another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 12 is an exemplary flowchart of UE2 related operations in another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 13 is an exemplary flowchart of UE1 related operations in another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 14 is an exemplary flowchart of UE2 related operations in another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 15 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 16 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are some, but not all, embodiments of the application. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present application without making any inventive effort, shall fall within the scope of the present application.

In embodiments of the application, words such as "exemplary," "for example," and the like are used to indicate by way of example, illustration, or description. 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 term use of an example is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion.

The service scenario described in the embodiment of the present application is to more clearly illustrate the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and as a person of ordinary skill in the art can know that, with the appearance of a new service scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is equally applicable to similar technical problems.

In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describing an association relationship of associated objects means that there may be three relationships, for example, A and/or B, and that it may mean that there is A alone, both A and B together, and B alone, where A, B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the context-dependent object is an "or" relationship. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (a, b, or c) of a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c may be represented, wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, such as a fourth generation (4th generation,4G), a fifth generation (5th generation,5G) or a new wireless (NR) system, a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, an LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) system, an LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD) system, a wireless local area network (wireless local area network, WLAN) system, a satellite communication system, a future communication system, such as a sixth generation (6th generation,6G) mobile communication system, or a fusion system of various systems, and the like. The technical solution provided by the present application may also be applied to device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine (machine to machine, M2M) communication, machine type communication (MACHINE TYPE communication, MTC), and internet of things (internet of things, ioT) communication systems or other communication systems.

The above-mentioned communication system to which the present application is applied is merely illustrative, and the communication system to which the present application is applied is not limited thereto, and is generally described herein, and will not be described in detail. In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the present application, concepts or related technologies related to the present application will be briefly described below.

1. A terminal device may be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment. The terminal device may be a device providing voice/data connectivity to a user, e.g., a handheld device with wireless connectivity, an in-vehicle device, etc. Currently, examples of some terminals may be mobile phone (mobile phone), tablet (pad), computer with wireless transceiver function (e.g. notebook, palm, etc.), mobile internet device (mobile INTERNET DEVICE, MID), virtual Reality (VR) device, augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) device, wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), wireless terminal in unmanned (SELF DRIVING), wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), wireless terminal in smart grid (SMART GRID), wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation safety), wireless terminal in smart city (SMART CITY), wireless terminal in smart home (smart home) device, cellular phone, cordless phone, session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol, SIP) phone, wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, personal digital assistant (personal DIGITAL ASSISTANT, PDA), handheld device with wireless communication function, computing device or other processing device connected to wireless modem, wireless terminal in mobile phone network (PLMN) or future evolution (public land mobile network) of mobile terminals in mobile phone network (PLMN).

The terminal device may also be a terminal device in an internet of things (Internet of things, ioT) system. IoT is an important component of future information technology development, and its main technical feature is to connect an item with a network through a communication technology, so as to implement man-machine interconnection and an intelligent network for object interconnection. IoT technology may enable massive connectivity, deep coverage, and terminal power saving through, for example, narrowband (NB) technology.

In addition, the terminal device may further include sensors such as an intelligent printer, a train detector, and a gas station, and the main functions include collecting data (part of the terminal device), receiving control information and downlink data of the network device, and transmitting electromagnetic waves to transmit uplink data to the network device.

It should be understood that the terminal device may be any device that can access the network. And the terminal equipment and the access network equipment can communicate with each other by adopting a certain air interface technology.

2. AN Access Network (AN) the access network may provide access functions for authorized users of a particular area. The terminal device may access the core network using access networks of different access technologies, for example, using non-3 GPP technology and 3GPP technology. By way of example and not limitation, access technologies may include, for example, NR, evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System, UMTS) terrestrial radio Access network (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network, E-UTRAN), multefire, 3GPP access technologies, non-3 GPP access technologies, 4G cellular access technologies, 5G cellular access technologies, trusted or untrusted Wireless Fidelity (WIRELESS FIDELITY, wiFi) access technologies, fixed network or wireline access technologies, and the like. The present invention is not limited thereto.

Access networks employing non-3GPP technologies may include, but are not limited to, wiFi networks, WLANs, multewire networks, wired networks (e.g., a Wireless and Wireline Convergence (WWC) network), or home base station networks. Correspondingly, access network devices employing Non-3GPP technologies can include, for example, access Points (APs), trusted WLAN interworking functions (trusted WLAN interworking function, TWIF) network elements, trusted Non-3GPP gateway functions (trusted Non-3GPP gateway function,TNGF), wired access gateway functions (WIRELINE ACCESS GATEWAY functions, W-AGF), access gateway functions (ACCESS GATEWAY functions, AGF), broadband network gateways (broadband network gateway, BNG), fixed-mobile interworking function, FMIF), non-3GPP interworking functions (Non-3GPP interworking function,N3IWF), and so forth.

An access network employing 3GPP technology may include, but is not limited to, an LTE network, an NR network, a 5G network, or a subsequently evolved mobile communications network. Correspondingly, access network devices employing 3GPP technology may include, for example, radio access network (radio access network, RAN) devices, g-NodeB, e-NodeB, home-NodeB.

An access network implementing access network functions based on wireless communication technology may be referred to as a RAN. The radio access network can be responsible for radio resource management, quality of service (quality of service, qoS) management, data compression, encryption, etc. functions on the air interface side. The wireless access network provides access service for the terminal equipment, and further completes the forwarding of control signals and user data between the terminal and the core network.

The radio access network devices may include, for example, but are not limited to, macro base stations, micro base stations (also known as small stations), radio network controllers (radio network controller, RNC), node bs (Node bs, NB), base station controllers (base station controller, BSC), base transceiver stations (base transceiver station, BTS), home base stations (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node bs, HNBs), base Band Units (BBUs), APs in WiFi systems, wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, transmission points (transmission point, TP), or transmission reception points (transmission and reception point, TRP), etc., as well as a gNB or transmission point (TRP or TP) in 5G (e.g., NR) systems, an antenna panel or a group (including multiple antenna panels) of base stations in 5G systems, or as well as network nodes that constitute gNB or transmission points, such as baseband units (BBUs), or Distributed Units (DUs), or base stations in next generation communication 6G systems, etc. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific technology and the specific equipment form adopted by the wireless access network equipment.

The access network may serve the cell. The terminal device may communicate with the cell via transmission resources (e.g., frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources) allocated by the access network device.

3. User plane function (user plane function, UPF) network element the UPF network element is responsible for forwarding and receiving user data in the terminal device. The UPF network element may receive user data from a Data Network (DN) and transmit the user data to a terminal device through an access network device. The UPF network element may also receive user data from the terminal device via the access network device and forward the user data to the data network. The transmission resources and scheduling functions in the UPF network element that serve the terminal device are managed and controlled by the SMF network element. The UPF network functions comprise functions related to user planes such as data packet routing and transmission, data packet detection, traffic reporting, quality of service (quality of service, qoS) processing, lawful interception, uplink data packet detection, downlink data packet storage and the like. In future communication systems, the user plane function element may still be a UPF element, or may have other names, which is not limited by the present application.

4. An access and mobility management function (ACCESS AND mobility management function, AMF) network element is a control plane network function provided by the operator network and is responsible for access control and mobility management of the terminal device accessing the operator network, e.g. including mobility state management, allocation of user temporary identity, authentication and authorization of users etc. In future communication systems, the access management network element may still be an AMF network element, or may have other names, which is not limited by the present application.

5. Session management function (session management function, SMF) network element-control plane network function provided by operator network, responsible for managing protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session (including session establishment, modification and release) of terminal equipment, for selection and reselection of user plane function network element, IP address allocation of terminal equipment, qoS control, etc. Wherein the PDU session is a channel for transmitting PDUs, and the terminal device transmits PDUs with each other through the PDU session and DN. The PDU session is responsible for establishment, maintenance, deletion, etc. by the SMF network function. The SMF network functions include session management (e.g., session establishment, modification, and release, including tunnel maintenance between user plane functions UPF and (R) AN), selection and control of UPF network functions, traffic and session continuity (SERVICE AND session continuity, SSC) mode selection, roaming, and like session related functions. In future communication systems, the session management function element may still be an SMF element, or may have other names, which is not limited by the present application.

6. A unified data management function (unified DATA MANAGEMENT, UDM), which is a control plane function provided by the operator and is responsible for storing information such as a subscriber permanent identifier (SUPI) of a signing user in the operator network, a subscription identifier (generic public subscription identifier, GPSI) of public use of the signing user, a trust (credit), and the like. Wherein the SUPI is encrypted during transmission, the encrypted SUPI is referred to as a hidden subscriber subscription identifier (subscription concealed identifier, SUCI). This information, which is kept by the UDM network function, 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 an operator SIM card. The credentials of the subscriber may be a long-term key stored in the mobile phone core card or a small file stored according to information related to encryption of the mobile phone core card, for authentication and/or authorization. The permanent identifier, the credentials, the security context, the authentication data, and the token equivalent verification/authentication and authorization related information. In future communication systems, the unified data management function network element may still be a UDM network element, or may have other names, which is not limited by the present application.

7. A Data Network (DN) a network for providing data services to subscribers. Such as the Internet (Internet), a third party's service network, an IP multimedia service (IP multimedia-MEDIA SERVICE, IMS) network, etc.

8. Session handoff TRAFFIC SWITCHING session handoff refers to the process of switching one session from one path to another in multipath transmission, based on changes in network conditions or policies. When network conditions change, such as a path is congested or unstable, session handoff may switch data traffic from the affected path to other available paths. This allows to maintain the continuity and stability of the session while optimizing the performance and reliability of the data transmission.

9. Session splitting (TRAFFIC STEERING) session splitting refers to the process of distributing data traffic into different paths or sub-flows according to a particular policy. Unlike session handoff, session offloading is a process that offloads data traffic onto multiple paths at session setup or continuously. Through session splitting, load balancing, bandwidth utilization optimization and effective utilization of network resources can be realized. The specific splitting strategy can be adjusted based on factors such as path characteristics, network load, delay and the like so as to realize the optimal data transmission performance.

In the standard discussion of R19, the concept of dual STEER DEVICE is introduced, and one dual-connection device may be a terminal device containing two subscription data, or one dual-connection device may include two independent UEs, where the subscription data of the two UEs may store a corresponding association relationship in the network, and the subscription data of the two UEs belong to the same operator.

The dual connection apparatus 100 includes first subscription data and second subscription data, and when the dual connection apparatus 100 communicates through the first subscription data, the dual connection apparatus 100 may be referred to as UE1. When the dual connectivity device 100 communicates through the second subscription data, the dual connectivity device 100 may be referred to as UE2.

The subscription data (first subscription data and second subscription data) may be, for example, a subscriber permanent identifier (SUPI) PERMANENT IDENTIFIER or a universal subscriber identity card (universal subscriber identity module, USIM). In some possible application scenarios, the subscription data may also be directly called as user equipment or terminal equipment, and the present application does not limit the name.

Dual connectivity device 100 includes UE1 and UE2. The specific form of the dual connectivity device 100 is not limited in any way so far, and for example, the device may be a UE with two subscriber identity modules (subscriber identity module, SIM) cards, and may implement dual-card dual-connectivity, i.e. two SIM cards may transmit and receive data simultaneously, e.g. play a game on one card while playing a voice call on the other card. The dual connectivity device 100 may also be two entirely independent UEs, packaged in the same device, or connected together by some other means.

Fig. 2 and 3 are schematic diagrams of the architecture of ATSSS.

The UE and UPF have a multipath transmission control protocol (multipathtransmission control protocol, MPTCP) function, a multipath rapid user datagram protocol internet connection (multipath quick user datagram protocolinternet connections, MPQUIC) function, a ATSSS-low layer (ATSSS-low-layer, ATSSS-LL) function, and a performance measurement function (performance measurement function, PMF).

The network elements of fig. 2 and fig. 3 may communicate through interfaces shown in the figures, and part of the interfaces may be implemented by using a service interface. The UE and the AMF network element may interact through an N1 interface, and the interaction Message may be referred to as an N1 Message (N1 Message), for example. The RAN and the AMF network element may interact through an N2 interface, where the N2 interface may be used for sending non-access stratum (NAS) messages, etc. Interaction between RAN and UPF may be performed through an N3 interface, and the N3 interface may be used to transfer data of the user plane, etc. The SMF network element and the UPF may interact through an N4 interface, where the N4 interface may be used to transmit information such as tunnel identification information, data buffer indication information, and downlink data notification messages of the N3 connection. Interaction between the UPF and DN can be performed through an N6 interface, and the N6 interface can be used for transmitting data of a user plane and the like. The PCF and the SMF network element may interact through an N7 interface, where the N7 interface may be used to issue protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session (session) granularity, traffic data flow granularity control policies, and so on. The N9 interface is an interface between UPF and UPF, such as an interface between home-user plane function, H-UPF connected to DN and visitor-plane function (visited-user plane function, V-UPF) connected to RAN, for transferring user plane data between UPF. The SMF network element and the AMF network element may interact through an N11 interface, where the N11 interface may be used to transfer PDU session tunnel information between the RAN and the UPF, transfer control messages sent to the UE, transfer radio resource control information sent to the RAN, and so on. The N16 interface is an interface between SMF and SMF, such as an interface between a visitor session management function (visited-session management function, V-SMF) and a home session management function (home-session management function, H-SMF). The relationship between the other interfaces and the network elements is shown in fig. 2 and 3, and is not described in detail here for brevity.

The existing standards define the characteristics of incoming traffic steering, switching, splitting (ATSSS), and User Equipment (UE) can access the core network together for service through a third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) connection and a non-3GPP connection. Wherein when the UE is not within coverage of the home public land mobile network (home public land mobile network, HPLMN), the visited public land mobile network (visited public land mobile network, VPLMN) can be accessed through the 3GPP while the HPLMN is accessed through the non-3 GPP. After the UE accesses the network through two different access types, the UE may establish a multi-access protocol data unit (MA PDU) session acquisition service.

As shown in fig. 2, when the UE accesses the same public land mobile network (public land mobile network, PLMN), since the AMFs selected by the 3GPP and the non-3 GPP are the same, the UE can simultaneously establish MAPDU sessions on the 3GPP side and the non-3 GPP side by transmitting a session establishment request once.

As shown in fig. 3, when the UE accesses through two different networks at the same time, the UE needs to initiate session establishment procedures on both sides respectively when it establishes an MA PDU session, and uses the same PDU session ID, indicating the same session.

The anchor point of the MA PDU session is at the UPF, and specific rules are issued by the network side to determine how the traffic of the session is split. When the UE accesses two different PLMNs, the anchor point of the session is at the UPF of the HPLMN, so the session of the VPLMN is of a hierarchical routing (HIERARCHICAL ROUTING, HR) architecture.

A multi-access PDU (MA PDU) session allows a UE to simultaneously establish and maintain sessions through multiple access networks. Through the multi-access session, the user equipment can dynamically select and switch access networks according to different network conditions and requirements so as to obtain optimal network connection and performance.

In ATSSS, when the UE establishes a MA PDU session using the MPTCP function, the MPTCP function of the UE may communicate with the MPTCP proxy function in the UPF through a user plane accessed by 3GPP or non-3 GPP. The MPTCP function may be enabled when the UE provides "MPTCP capability" during PDU session establishment. If the UE supports MPTCP functionality and the network agrees to enable MPTCP functionality for the MA PDU session, the network will assign one IP address/prefix for the MA PDU session to the UE, and two additional IP addresses/prefixes, referred to as "MPTCP specific link multipath" addresses/prefixes, associate 3GPP and non-3 GPP accesses, respectively. For example, the network may assign an IP address/prefix for the UE to associate with 3GPP may be ip@2 and an IP address/prefix for the UE to associate with non-3 GPP may be ip@1. The network may send MPTCP proxy information to the UE, including IP address, port number, and MPTCP proxy type.

Similarly, when the UE establishes a MA PDU session using MPQUIC functions, the MPQUIC functions of the UE may communicate with MPQUIC proxy functions in the UPF over the user plane of the 3GPP or non-3 GPP access. The MPQUIC function may be enabled when the UE provides "MPQUIC capabilities" during PDU session establishment. If the UE supports MPQUIC functions and the network agrees to enable MPQUIC functions for MA PDU sessions, the network will assign one IP address/prefix for the MA PDU session to the UE, and two additional IP addresses/prefixes, called "MPQUIC link-specific multipath" addresses/prefixes, respectively associated with 3GPP and non-3 GPP accesses. For example, the network may assign an IP address/prefix for the UE to associate with 3GPP may be ip@5 and an IP address/prefix for the UE to associate with non-3 GPP may be ip@4. The network may send MPQUIC proxy information to the UE including IP address, port number, and MPQUIC proxy type.

The existing MA PDU session is to allocate IP addresses corresponding to different paths for different accesses of a single UE and the MA PDU session IP address, so as to enable the establishment of MPTCP/MPQUIC connection with MPTCP/MPQUIC proxy UPF. When the UE requests to establish a session, the network allocates three IP addresses to the UE, one of which is the IP address of the MA PDU session, and the other two addresses are sub-stream IP addresses of the 3GPP connection and the non-3 GPP connection, respectively, the two connections in the prior art belonging to the same UE. When the dual-connection device establishes the dual-connection session based on MPTCP/MPQUIC, the sessions of both UEs have independent IPs, and when the session is switched, for example, the session switched from the session of UE1 to the session of UE2 corresponds to the reestablishment session, which results in a short interruption of the session and affects the user experience.

The communication method is applied to a multi-connection device including a plurality of subscription data, which may include first subscription data, second subscription data, third subscription data. The multiple connection devices include a plurality of subscription data having an association relationship therebetween. When the multi-connection device communicates through the first subscription data, the multi-connection device may be referred to as UE1. When the multi-connection device communicates through the second subscription data, the multi-connection device may be referred to as ue2.

510, Ue1 sends a first session establishment request to the SMF.

The first session establishment request includes first indication information for indicating establishment of the multi-connection session and a session identification of the multi-connection session. Optionally, the session identifier of the dual connectivity session may also be included in the first indication information.

In some possible implementations, the session identifier of the multi-connection session may be an ID allocated by UE1 for the multi-connection session, and the SMF may associate the allocated ID with the ID of UE 1. Optionally, in order to avoid a collision between the IDs of the sessions established by UE1 and UE2, the session identifier of the multi-connection session may further include the ID of UE 1. The ID of the UE1 may be a globally unique temporary UE identity (5G-globally unique temporary identifier, 5G-GUTI) in the 5G system, a temporary mobile subscription identity (5G-temporary mobile subscription identifier, 5G-S-TMSI) in the 5G system or SUPI, and the specific format of the session identity of the dual connectivity session should not be construed as limiting the application.

The ue1 receives 520 a first session establishment accept message sent by the SMF.

The first session establishment acceptance message includes session association information and a first IP address. The session association information is used for associating session transmission paths of a plurality of subscription data, the first IP address comprises an IP address allocated by the SMF for a first session, and the first session is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established by using the first subscription data.

The session association information includes a session public IP address and/or a connection ID. Wherein the session public IP address is a public IP address for establishing a multi-path transmission connection using a plurality of subscription data, and the connection ID is used to identify the multi-path transmission connection.

The multipath transmission connection may be, for example, a connection established by MPTCP, MPQUIC functions. When the multipath transmission connection is an MPTCP connection, the session association information may be a session public IP address, and when the multipath transmission connection is a MPQUIC connection, the session association information may be a session public IP address and/or a connection ID.

530, UE1 sends the session identification and session association information to UE 2.

540, Ue2 sends a second session establishment request to the SMF.

The second session establishment request includes second indication information indicating establishment of the multi-connection session and a session identification of the multi-connection session in step 510.

550, Ue2 receives a second session establishment accept message sent by the SMF.

The second session establishment acceptance message includes a second IP address including an IP address assigned by the SMF for the second session as a sub-session of the multi-connection session established using the second subscription data.

In case the multi-connection device is a dual-connection device, the first session and the second session together constitute the multi-connection session.

It should be understood that, in the above embodiment, the session association between UE1 and UE2 is only an example, if there are more sessions established by multiple connection devices through other subscription data, for example, sessions established by UE3, UE4, etc., and session association between UE1 and UE2 may also be performed by a method similar to that performed by UE2, and the description is not repeated, and the number of associated sessions should not be construed as limiting the present application.

At 610, ue1 sends a first session establishment request to SMF 1.

The first session establishment request includes first indication information indicating that an agent for establishing a multi-path connection of the multi-connection device is allocated to the multi-connection device.

620, Ue1 receives the first session establishment accept message sent by SMF 1.

After receiving the first session establishment request, SMF1 selects a proxy that can be the session anchor, and UPF that can connect the anchor to UE1.

The first session establishment acceptance message includes information of the proxy. The first session establishment acceptance message is used to indicate that the first session establishment is completed, the first session being a session established for the multi-connected device using the first subscription data.

The ue1 sends a connection establishment request to the proxy 630.

UE1 may send an MPTCP/MPQUIC connection setup request to the proxy according to the IP address of the proxy. In one possible implementation, UE1 may send an mp_capability message to the proxy, triggering establishment of the MPTCP connection.

640, Ue1 receives a connection establishment acceptance message sent by the proxy.

The connection establishment acceptance message includes session association information for associating session transmission paths of the plurality of subscription data.

650, UE1 sends session association information and proxy information to UE 2.

660, Ue2 sends a second session establishment request to SMF 2.

The second session establishment request includes second indication information for indicating that an agent for establishing a multi-path connection of the multi-connection device is allocated to the multi-connection device, and information of the agent.

670, Ue2 receives a second session establishment accept message sent by SMF 2.

SMF2 may select a UPF to UE2 that may be connected to the agent based on the agent's information.

The second session establishment acceptance message is used for indicating that the second session establishment is completed, and the second session is established by the multi-connection device by using second subscription data.

680, Ue2 sends a connection join request to the proxy.

The UE2 sends a connection joining request to the proxy according to the proxy information, where the connection joining request includes session association information, and the connection joining request is used to request joining a connection corresponding to the session association information.

It should be understood that SMF1 and SMF2 in the embodiments of the present application may be the same or different, and the present application is not limited thereto.

For example, if the multi-connection device is a dual-connection device, the first session and the second session share a multi-path transmission connection, which may be a connection established through MPTCP, mptqic functions.

In the following embodiments, a multi-connection device is taken as an example of a dual-connection device, and a communication method provided by the present application is described in detail.

Illustratively, UE1 and UE2 may be global subscriber identity cards (universal subscriber identity module, USIM). If UE1 and UE2 select the same UPF, the UPF may be used as an MPTCP/MPQUIC proxy, i.e. as an anchor point for the session, to aggregate the PDU session of USIM1 and the PDU session of USIM 2. The UE1 may obtain session association information and a first IP address when establishing a session, where the session association information may be a public IP address or a connection ID of the entire session, and the first IP address is an IP address of a sub-session established by the UE 1. UE2 may add a path when establishing a session, and only obtain an IP address at this time, as an IP address of a sub-session established by UE2, UE2 may multiplex session association information of UE1, for example, multiplex a public IP address of the entire session.

If UE1 and UE2 select different UPFs, e.g., UE1 selects UPF1 and UE2 selects UPF2, the SMF may additionally select an MPTCP/MPQUIC proxy that may be the session anchor, where the proxy selected by both UEs is the same.

Fig. 9 is an exemplary flowchart of UE1 related operations in a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. In this application scenario, UE1 and UE2 may select the same UPF to establish the session.

801, Ue1 sends a session establishment request to AMF 1.

The session establishment request includes first indication information and a dual connectivity session (DualSteer Session) ID. The first indication information is used to indicate to the network that a session of the dual connection (DualSteer) needs to be established. The dual connection session ID allocated by the UE1 for the session may be included in the first indication information.

The dual connectivity session ID may uniquely identify the session in UE1 and UE 2. Illustratively, the multi-connection session ID may be an ID that UE1 assigns to the multi-connection session, and the SMF may associate the assigned ID with the ID of UE 1. Alternatively, the dual connectivity session ID may be formed by the ID of UE 1+the ID allocated by UE1, where the ID allocated by UE1 may be guaranteed to be unique among UE1 and UE2, and the ID of UE1 may be unique within the network, so that the ID may be guaranteed to be unique. The present application does not limit the specific format of the dual-connection session ID, which may be a globally unique temporary UE identity (5G-globally unique temporary identifier, 5G-GUTI) in the 5G system, a temporary mobile subscription identity (5G-temporary mobile subscription identifier, 5G-S-TMSI) in the 5G system, or SUPI, and the specific format of the UE1 should not be construed as limiting the present application.

802, Amf1 sends a session context creation request to SMF.

The session context creation request may include the first indication information and the dual connection session ID. The dual connection session ID may also be included in the first indication information.

803, The smf receives the session context creation request sent by AMF 1. The SMF sends a first response message to AMF1, the first response message being used to determine to create a session context.

When the SMF determines that the session type established by the UE1 is a dual connectivity session, it checks whether session association information and/or a first IP address of the dual connectivity session exist in the context, and if not, it indicates that the session type is a new dual connectivity session, and the SMF allocates the session association information and the first IP address to the UE 1. The session association information includes a session public IP address, which is a public IP address for establishing the multipath transmission connection, and/or a connection ID for identifying the multipath transmission connection. The first IP address is an IP address allocated by the SMF for a first session, which is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established by the UE1, and may be denoted by ip@1.

The multipath transmission connection may be, for example, a connection established by MPTCP, mptqic functions. When the multipath transmission connection is an MPTCP connection, the session association information may be a session public IP address, and when the multipath transmission connection is a MPQUIC connection, the session association information may be a session public IP address and/or a connection ID.

804, The smf sends an N4 session creation request to the UPF for requesting creation of an N4 session.

The session creation request may include ip@1 and a dual-connection session ID, or the session creation request may include ip@1 and session association information, or the session creation request may include ip@1, a dual-connection session ID, and session association information.

805, The upf sends a second response message to the SMF, the second response message indicating that the N4 session creation is complete.

The second response message includes CN resources, indicated by CN tunnel info1, for RAN1 to send upstream data to the UPF.

806, The smf sends a forwarding request to AMF1, the forwarding request being used to instruct AMF1 to forward the N1 and N2 messages.

The forwarding request message may include session association information, ip@1 and CN tunnel info1.

807, The amf1 sends an N2 message to the RAN1, which N2 message may include session association information, ip@1 and CN tunnel info1.

808, Ran1 allocates AN resource for UE1, which resource is denoted by AN tunnel info1, and forwards AN N1 session establishment accept message to UE1, where the message contains session association information and ip@1.

809, Ran1 sends AN N2 session setup response message to AMF1, which session setup response message comprises AN tunnel info1.

810, Amf1 sends AN N2 session setup response message to SMF, the session setup response message comprising AN tunnel info1.

811, The smf updates session information to the UPF and sends AN tunnel info1 to the UPF.

812, The upf sends a third response message to the SMF, the third response message indicating that the session information update is complete.

813, The smf registers the session context with the UDM.

After receiving the third response message sent by the UPF, the SMF indicates that the dual connectivity session is established, and registers the session context with the UDM, where the session type is a dual connectivity session, and the corresponding dual connectivity session ID and ID of the UE 1.

At 814, after the SMF registers the session context with the UDM, the UDM can determine that the type of the session is a dual connectivity session. The UDM may determine the information of the associated UE2 from the ID of UE 1.

The UDM is configured with association information of UE1 and UE2, and UE context information of UE1 and UE 2. When the session type of SMF registration is a dual-connection session, the UDM determines corresponding UE2 information according to the association relation stored in the UE1 subscription data, and determines corresponding AMF2 according to the context information of the UE 2.

815, The udm sends update session information to the AMF2, the update session information comprising a dual connectivity session ID and an ID of the corresponding SMF.

Fig. 10 is an exemplary flowchart of UE2 related operations in a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 10 corresponds to fig. 9, in which UE1 and UE2 select the same UPF to establish a session.

821, UE1 sends 801 the dual connectivity session ID in step and 808 the received session association information to UE 2.

UE1 may send session association information and dual connectivity session ID to UE2. In some possible implementations, since there is an association relationship between two subscription data of the dual connectivity device, UE2 may also directly acquire session association information and dual connectivity session ID of UE 1.

822, Ue2 sends a session establishment request to AMF 2.

The session establishment request includes second indication information for indicating to the network that a session for dual connection needs to be established, and the dual connection session ID obtained in step 821.

Alternatively, the dual connection session ID may be included in the second indication information, and the second indication information may be identical to the first indication information.

823, According to the message pushed by the UDM in step 815, the amf2 has acquired the context information corresponding to the dual-connection session ID established by the UE1, and can determine the SMF corresponding to the dual-connection session, so that the same SMF can be selected to establish the dual-connection session.

824, Amf2 sends a session context update request to the SMF.

The session context update request may include the second indication information and the dual connectivity session ID. The dual connection session ID may also be included in the second indication information.

825, The smf receives the session context update request sent by AMF 2. When the SMF determines that the session type established by the UE2 is a dual connectivity session, it checks whether the dual connectivity session ID has session association information and/or a first IP address, and if so, it indicates that a session sub-path needs to be added for an existing dual connectivity session, and the SMF allocates a second IP address to the UE 2. The second IP address is an IP address allocated by the SMF for a second session, which is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established by the UE2, and may be represented by ip@2.

The SMF sends a fourth response message to AMF2, the fourth response message being used to determine the update session context.

826, The smf sends an N4 session creation request to the UPF requesting creation of an N4 session.

The session creation request may include ip@2 and a dual-connection session ID, or the session creation request may include ip@2 and session association information, or the session creation request may include ip@2, session association information, and a dual-connection session ID.

827, The upf sends a fifth response message to the SMF, the second response message indicating that the N4 session creation is complete.

The fifth response message includes CN resources, indicated by CN tunnel info2, for RAN2 to send upstream data to the UPF.

828, The smf sends a forwarding request to AMF2, the forwarding request instructing AMF2 to forward N1 and N2 messages.

The forwarding request message contains ip@2 and CN tunnel info2.

829, Amf2 sends an N2 message to RAN2, the N2 message comprising ip@2 and CN tunnel info2.

830, Ran2 allocates AN resource for UE2, which resource is denoted by AN tunnel info2, and forwards AN N1 session establishment accept message to UE2, which message contains ip@2.

831, Ran2 sends AN N2 session setup response message to AMF2, which includes AN tunnel info2.

832, The amf2 sends AN N2 session setup response message to the SMF, the session setup response message comprising AN tunnel info2.

833, The smf updates session information to the UPF and sends AN tunnel info2 to the UPF.

834, The upf sends a sixth response message to the SMF, the sixth response message indicating that the session information update is complete.

At this time, the session establishment of the dual-connection device is completed, and the dual-connection device can perform data transmission with the application server through session association information, wherein the UE1 can use ip@1 as one session sub-path to perform data transmission, and the UE2 can use ip@2 as another session sub-path to perform data transmission.

In the embodiment of the application, when the same SMF and UPF are selected for UE1 and UE2, the logic of the SMF for distributing the IP is optimized, firstly, the SMF knows that a new type of session needs to be established through indication information, then the new session is identified through double connection session IDs, the SMF searches the corresponding UE context by using the information, and determines that a plurality of IPs are distributed, thereby establishing two session sub-paths for the UE1 and the UE2 for the same MPTCP/MPQUIC connection and completing the information transmission of the same session.

It should be understood that RAN1 and RAN2 in fig. 9 and 10 may be the same or different, and AMF1 and AMF2 may be the same or different, which the present application is not limited to.

It should be understood that, in the above embodiment, the session association between the two devices UE1 and UE2 is only an example, and if there are other devices, for example, UE3 and UE4, the session association between the two devices UE1 and UE2 may also be performed by the method shown in fig. 10, the description is not repeated, and the number of devices associated with the session is not to be understood as a limitation of the present application.

Fig. 11 is an exemplary flowchart of UE1 related operations in another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. In this application scenario, UE1 and UE2 may select different SMFs and UPFs to establish the session.

901, Ue1 sends a session establishment request to AMF 1.

The session establishment request includes first indication information indicating to the network that an agent needs to be allocated.

AMF1 sends a session context creation request to SMF1 902.

The session context creation request may include first indication information in step 901 for indicating to the network that an agent needs to be allocated.

903, The smf1 sends a first response message to the AMF1, the first response message being used to determine to create a session context.

904, After the smf1 receives the session context creation request, if the request does not carry information about the proxy, selecting a proxy that can be used as a session anchor point, and connecting UPF1 of the anchor point to the UE1.

In other possible implementations, when selecting an agent that can be a session anchor, the selection may be made by a network element other than SMF1, which may manage the session as a whole, ensuring that both UEs select the same agent. Illustratively, this network element is a dual connectivity SMF (DualSteer SMF, DS-SMF), and SMF1 sends a proxy request message to the DS-SMF requesting that the DS-SMF allocate a proxy to the UE 1. In one possible implementation scenario, the DS-SMF is configured with a proxy selection list, where the proxy selection list stores the slice/data network names (data network name, DNN) and proxy correspondence, and the DS-SMF1 selects a proxy for the UE1 according to the proxy selection list, then sends the proxy information to the SMF1, and after the SMF1 receives the proxy information, selects a UPF1 for the UE1 that can be connected to the proxy according to the proxy information.

905, The smf1 sends an N4 session creation request to UPF1 for requesting creation of an N4 session.

906, The upf1 sends a second response message to the SMF1, the second response message indicating that the N4 session creation is complete.

The second response message includes CN resources, indicated by CN tunnel info1, for RAN1 to send uplink data to UPF 1.

907, Smf1 sends a forwarding request to AMF1, the forwarding request instructing AMF1 to forward N1 and N2 messages.

If an agent is selected in step 904, the forwarding request message may include information of the agent and CN tunnel info1.

908, Amf1 sends an N2 message to RAN1, the N2 message including information of the proxy and CN tunnel info1.

909, Ran1 allocates AN resource for UE1, which resource is denoted by AN channel info1, and forwards AN N1 session establishment accept message to UE1, which message contains the proxy information.

At 910, ran1 sends AN N2 session setup response message to AMF1, which includes AN tunnel info1.

911, Amf1 sends AN N2 session setup response message to SMF1, which includes AN tunnel info1.

912, SMF1 updates session information to UPF1 and sends AN tunnel info1 to UPF 1.

913, Upf1 sends a third response message to SMF1, the third response message indicating that the session information update is complete.

914, When the session establishment is completed, UE1 sends an MPTCP/MPQUIC connection establishment request to the proxy according to the proxy information. In one possible implementation, UE1 may send an mp_capability message to the proxy, triggering establishment of the MPTCP connection.

915, After completion of the establishment of the connection, the proxy may return a fourth response message to UE1, wherein the fourth response message contains session association information.

The session association information includes a session public IP address, which is a public IP address for establishing the multipath transmission connection, and/or a connection ID for identifying the multipath transmission connection.

Fig. 12 is an exemplary flowchart of UE2 related operations in another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 12 corresponds to fig. 11, in which the UE1 and the UE2 may select different SMFs and UPFs to establish a session.

921, UE1 sends proxy information and session association information to UE 2.

UE1 may send the proxy information and session association information to UE2. In some possible implementations, since there is an association relationship between two subscription data of the dual connectivity device, UE2 may also directly obtain the proxy information and session association information of UE 1.

922, Ue2 sends a session establishment request to AMF 2.

The session establishment request includes second indication information indicating to the network that an agent needs to be allocated and the information of the agent received in step 921. Information of the agent may also be included in the second indication information.

923, Amf2 sends a session context creation request to SMF 2.

The session context creation request may include second indication information and information of the agent. Information of the agent may also be included in the second indication information.

924, Smf2 receives a session context creation request sent by AMF 2. SMF2 sends a fifth response message to AMF2, the fifth response message being used to determine to create the session context.

At 925, the smf2 receives the session context creation request and selects a UPF2 that can be connected to the agent according to the agent's information.

In other possible implementations, when selecting an agent that can be a session anchor, the selection may be made by a network element other than SMF2, which may manage the session as a whole, ensuring that both UEs select the same agent. In this scenario, UE2 may not send proxy information to SMF2, nor does UE2 need to obtain proxy information from UE1, but SMF2 should return selected proxy information to UE2. Illustratively, this network element is a dual connectivity SMF (DualSteer SMF, DS-SMF), and SMF2 sends a proxy request message to the DS-SMF requesting that the DS-SMF allocate a proxy to the UE2. In one possible implementation scenario, the DS-SMF is configured with a proxy selection list that maintains a slice/data network name (data network name, DNN) to proxy correspondence, and since the slice/DNN used by UE1 and UE2 is the same, the proxy selected is also the same. The DS-SMF sends the agent information to the SMF2, the SMF2 receives the agent information sent by the DS-SMF, and a UPF2 which can be connected to the agent is selected for the UE2 according to the obtained agent information.

926, The smf2 sends an N4 session creation request to the UPF2 for requesting creation of an N4 session.

927, Upf2 sends a sixth response message to SMF2, the sixth response message indicating that N4 session creation is complete.

The sixth response message includes CN resources, indicated by CN tunnel info2, for RAN2 to send uplink data to UPF 2.

928, The smf2 sends a forwarding request to the AMF2, the forwarding request being used to instruct the AMF2 to forward the N1 and N2 messages.

The forwarding request message may include CN tunnel info2.

929, Amf2 sends an N2 message to RAN2, the N2 message comprising CN tunnel info2.

930, Ran2 allocates AN resource for UE2, which resource is denoted by AN channel info2, and forwards AN N1 session establishment accept message to UE2, which N1 session establishment accept message is used to indicate that the session establishment of UE2 is completed.

931, Ran2 sends AN N2 session setup response message to AMF2, which includes AN tunnel info2.

932, Amf2 sends AN N2 session setup response message to SMF2, the session setup response message comprising AN tunnel info2.

933, The smf2 updates session information to the UPF2 and sends AN tunnel info2 to the UPF 2.

934, The upf2 sends a seventh response message to the SMF2, the seventh response message indicating that the session information update is complete.

935, At which time session establishment is completed, UE2 sends an MPTCP/MPQUIC connection join request to the proxy according to the proxy's information, the connection join request including session association information. In one possible implementation, the UE2 may send an mp_join message to the proxy, triggering addition of a connection sub-path, and requesting session association information carried in the message, for identifying the corresponding connection.

Illustratively, the connection ID is carried when the UE2 and the proxy establish a connection, and the proxy can only know to which connection the UE2 is to be associated, and can then send data using the same public IP address.

Upon completion of the connection establishment 936, the proxy may return an eighth response message to UE2 indicating that the connection establishment is complete.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, the step 904 of establishing a session for UE1 and the step 925 of establishing a session for UE2 are distinguished by the information of the agent that the UE actively reports. In some possible implementations, the same agent selection list may also be configured for both SMFs, where the correspondence between slice/data network names (data network name, DNN) and agents is maintained, and since the slice/DNN used by UE1 and UE2 is the same, the agents selected by the SMFs should also be the same. When using this scheme, the process of establishing a session by UE1 may be repeated when UE2 establishes a session, i.e. UE1 does not need to send proxy information to UE2 in step 921, and UE2 does not need to report proxy information in steps 922 and 923.

The embodiment of the application aims at the condition that the UE1 and the UE2 select different SMF and UPF, the SMF does not sense the whole session, the session which is required to be established by the UE is processed according to the independent PDU session, but an agent which is used as an anchor point is selected for the UE, the session of the two UEs is converged, each sub-path is the PDU session of the UE, and the MPTCP/MPQUIC connection is established on the session.

It should be understood that RAN1 and RAN2 in fig. 11 and 12 may be the same or different, AMF1 and AMF2 may be the same or different, SMF1 and SMF2 may be the same or different, and UPF1 and UPF2 may be the same or different, which is not a limitation of the present application.

It should be understood that, in the above embodiment, the session association between the two devices UE1 and UE2 is only an example, and if there are other devices, for example, UE3 and UE4, the session association between the two devices UE1 and UE2 may also be performed by the method shown in fig. 12, the description is not repeated, and the number of devices associated with the session is not to be construed as limiting the present application.

Fig. 13 is an exemplary flowchart of UE1 related operations in another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. In the application scene, the UE1 and the UE2 can select the same SMF and different UPFs to establish the session, and the UE1 and the UE2 can select the same SMF to better manage the session of the UE.

1001, Ue1 sends a session establishment request to AMF 1.

The session establishment request includes first indication information and a session ID. The first indication information is used to indicate to the network that an agent needs to be allocated, and the session ID is used to identify the first session established by the UE 1.

The session ID may uniquely identify the first session in UE1 and UE 2. Illustratively, the session ID may be an ID that UE1 assigns for the session, and the SMF may associate the assigned ID with the ID of UE 1. Alternatively, the session ID may be formed by the ID of UE 1+the ID allocated by UE1, where the ID allocated by UE1 may be guaranteed to be unique among UE1 and UE2, and the ID of UE1 may be unique within the network, so that the ID may be guaranteed to be unique. The specific format of the session ID is not limited in the present application, and the ID of the UE1 may be a globally unique temporary UE identity (5G-globally unique temporary identifier, 5G-GUTI) in the 5G system, a temporary mobile subscription identity (5G-temporary mobile subscription identifier, 5G-S-TMSI) in the 5G system, or SUPI, and the specific format of the session ID should not be construed as limiting the present application.

At 1002, AMF1 sends a session context creation request to SMF.

The session context creation request may include the first indication information and the session ID. The session ID may also be included in the first indication information.

1003, The smf sends a first response message to AMF1, the first response message being used to determine to create a session context.

1004, After receiving the session context creation request, the smf checks whether the session ID has a corresponding context or whether the context has proxy information, if not, it indicates a new session, selects a proxy capable of being used as a session anchor point for the UE1, and connects to the UPF1 of the anchor point.

In other possible implementations, when selecting an agent that can be a session anchor, the selection may be made by other network elements than SMF, which may manage the session as a whole, ensuring that both UEs select the same agent. Illustratively, this network element is a DS-SMF, which sends an agent request message to the DS-SMF requesting that the DS-SMF assign an agent to the UE 1. In one possible implementation scenario, the DS-SMF is configured with a proxy selection list, where the proxy selection list stores the slice/DNN-proxy correspondence, and the DS-SMF selects a proxy for the UE1 according to the proxy selection list, and then sends the proxy information to the SMF, and after receiving the proxy information, the SMF selects a UPF1 for the UE1 that can be connected to the proxy according to the proxy information.

1005, The smf sends an N4 session creation request to UPF1 for requesting creation of an N4 session.

1006, Upf1 sends a second response message to the SMF, the second response message indicating that N4 session creation is complete.

1007, The smf sends a forwarding request to AMF1, which instructs AMF1 to forward N1 and N2 messages.

If an agent is selected in step 1004, the forwarding request message may include information of the agent and CN tunnel info1.

At 1008, AMF1 sends an N2 message to RAN1, the N2 message including the proxy information and CN tunnel info1.

1009, Ran1 allocates AN resource for UE1, which is denoted by AN tunnel info1, and forwards AN N1 session establishment accept message to UE1, which contains the proxy information.

At 1010, RAN1 sends AN N2 session setup response message to AMF1, the session setup response message comprising AN tunnel info1.

1011, The amf1 sends AN N2 session setup response message to the SMF, the session setup response message comprising AN tunnel info1.

1012, The SMF updates session information to UPF1 and sends AN tunnel info1 to UPF 1.

1013, The upf1 sends a third response message to the SMF, where the third response message indicates that the session information update is completed.

1014, When the session establishment is completed, UE1 sends an MPTCP/MPQUIC connection establishment request to the proxy according to the proxy information. In one possible implementation, UE1 may send an mp_capability message to the proxy, triggering establishment of the MPTCP connection.

1015, After completing the establishment of the connection, the proxy may return a fourth response message to the UE1, wherein the fourth response message may contain session association information.

Fig. 14 is an exemplary flowchart of UE2 related operations in another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 14 corresponds to fig. 13, in this application scenario, UE1 and UE2 may select the same SMF and different UPFs to establish a session, and UE1 and UE2 may select the same SMF, so that the session of the UE may be better managed.

1021, UE1 sends UE2 a session ID of step 1001, and session association information of step 1015.

UE1 may send the session ID and the session association information to UE2. In some possible implementations, since there is an association relationship between two subscription data of the dual connectivity device, UE2 may also directly acquire the session ID and session association information of UE 1.

1022, Ue2 sends a session establishment request to AMF 2.

The session establishment request includes second indication information and a session ID. The second indication information is used to indicate to the network that an agent needs to be allocated.

Alternatively, the session ID may be included in the second indication information.

1023, Amf2 sends a session context creation request to SMF.

The session context creation request may include the second indication information and the session ID. The session ID may also be included in the second indication information.

1024, The smf receives a session context creation request sent by AMF 2. The SMF sends a fifth response message to AMF2, the fifth response message being used to determine to create the session context.

1025, After receiving the session context creation request, the smf may check whether the session ID has a corresponding context or whether there is proxy information in the context, and if so, obtain proxy information from the context, and select a UPF2 for the UE2 that can be connected to the proxy according to the proxy information.

In other possible implementations, UE1 may also send the agent information to UE2 at the same time, UE2 sends the agent information to SMF, and SMF directly selects a UPF2 that can connect to the agent according to the agent information, without checking the context corresponding to the session ID.

In other possible implementations, when selecting an agent that can be a session anchor, the selection may be made by other network elements than SMF, which may manage the session as a whole, ensuring that both UEs select the same agent. Illustratively, this network element is a DS-SMF, which sends an agent request message to the DS-SMF requesting that the DS-SMF assign an agent to the UE 2. In one possible implementation scenario, the DS-SMF is configured with a proxy selection list that maintains a slice/DNN to proxy correspondence, and since the slice/DNN used by UE1 and UE2 is the same, the proxy selected is also the same. The DS-SMF transmits the agent information to the SMF, and the SMF receives the agent information transmitted by the DS-SMF and selects a UPF2 which can be connected to the agent for the UE2 according to the obtained agent information.

1026, The smf sends an N4 session creation request to UPF2 requesting creation of the N4 session.

1027, The upf2 sends a sixth response message to the SMF, the sixth response message indicating that the N4 session creation is complete.

1028, The smf sends a forwarding request to AMF2, the forwarding request instructing AMF2 to forward the N1 and N2 messages.

The forwarding request message may include CN tunnel info2.

If UE1 does not send the proxy information to UE2 in step 1021, the forwarding request message may include the proxy information.

1029, Amf2 sends an N2 message to RAN2, the N2 message comprising CN tunnel info2.

If UE1 does not send the proxy information to UE2 in step 1021, the N2 message may include the proxy information.

1030, Ran2 allocates AN resource for UE2, which resource is denoted by AN channel info2, and forwards AN N1 session establishment accept message to UE2, which N1 session establishment accept message is used to indicate that the session establishment of UE2 is completed.

1031, Ran2 sends AN N2 session setup response message to AMF2, which session setup response message comprises AN tunnel info2.

1032, Amf2 sends AN N2 session setup response message to the SMF, the session setup response message comprising AN tunnel info2.

1033, The SMF updates session information to UPF2 and sends AN tunnel info2 to UPF 2.

1034, The upf2 sends a seventh response message to the SMF, the seventh response message indicating that the session information update is complete.

1035, At which time session establishment is completed, UE2 sends an MPTCP/MPQUIC connection join request to the proxy according to the proxy's information, the connection join request including session association information. In one possible implementation, the UE2 may send an mp_join message to the proxy, triggering addition of a connection sub-path, and requesting session association information carried in the message, for identifying the corresponding connection.

Illustratively, the connection ID may be carried when the UE2 and the proxy establish a connection, and the proxy may know to which connection the UE2 is to be associated, and may subsequently send data using the same public IP address.

1036, After completing the establishment of the connection, the proxy may return an eighth response message to the UE2, the eighth response message indicating that the connection establishment is completed.

In the case that the embodiment of the application selects the same SMF and different UPFs for UE1 and UE2, the SMF is unified on both UEs as a control node, but the UPFs need not be the same when selected. The SMF does not perceive the association between the two sessions of UE1 and UE2, and still performs according to the manner of individually establishing the session, but simply by additionally selecting an agent serving as an anchor point for the UE, for aggregating the sessions of the two UEs, wherein each connection sub-path is a PDU session of the UE, and an MPTCP/MPQUIC connection is established over the session.

It should be understood that RAN1 and RAN2 in fig. 13 and 14 may be the same or different, and AMF1 and AMF2 may be the same or different, and UPF1 and UPF2 may be the same or different, which is not limited in this respect by the present application.

It should be understood that, in the above embodiment, the session association between the two devices UE1 and UE2 is only an example, and if there are other devices, for example, UE3 and UE4, the session association between the two devices UE1 and UE2 may also be performed by the method shown in fig. 14, the description is not repeated, and the number of devices associated with the session is not to be construed as limiting the present application.

It should be understood that the network architecture applied to the embodiments of the present application is merely illustrative, and the network architecture to which the embodiments of the present application are applied is not limited to this, and any network architecture capable of implementing the functions of the respective network elements described above is applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

It should also be understood that AMF, SMF, UPF, etc. shown in fig. 5-14 may be understood as network elements for implementing different functions, e.g. may be combined into network slices as desired. The network elements may be independent devices, may be integrated in the same device to implement different functions, or may be network elements in hardware devices, or may be software functions running on dedicated hardware, or may be virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform), where the specific form of the network elements is not limited by the present application.

In practical deployment, network elements with different functions can be combined. For example, the access and mobility management network elements may be co-located with session management network elements, which may be co-located with user plane network elements. When two network elements are combined, the interaction between the two network elements provided by the embodiment of the application becomes the internal operation of the combined network element or can be omitted.

It should also be understood that the above designations are merely intended to facilitate distinguishing between different functions and should not be construed as limiting the application in any way. The application does not exclude the possibility of using other designations in 5G networks as well as in other networks in the future. For example, in a 6G network, some or all of the individual network elements may follow the terminology in 5G, possibly by other names, etc.

It should also be understood that the names of interfaces between the network elements in the figures are only an example, and the names of interfaces in the specific implementation may be other names, which are not specifically limited by the present application. Furthermore, the names of the transmitted messages (or signaling) between the various network elements described above are also merely an example, and do not constitute any limitation on the function of the message itself.

The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 5 to 14. The following describes in detail the communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application with reference to fig. 15 and 16. It should be understood that the descriptions of the apparatus embodiments and the descriptions of the method embodiments correspond to each other, and thus, descriptions of details not described may be referred to the above method embodiments, which are not repeated herein for brevity.

Fig. 15 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 15, the communication apparatus 1100 may include a transmitting unit 1110 and a receiving unit 1120.

It is to be appreciated that the communication apparatus 1100 may correspond to a multi-connection device, a dual-connection device, UE1, or UE2 in accordance with an embodiment of the present application. As an exemplary description, the communications apparatus 1100 can implement the actions, steps, or methods related to the multi-connection device, dual-connection device, UE1, or UE2 in fig. 5-14 in the foregoing method embodiments.

The application provides a communication device, which comprises a sending unit and a receiving unit, wherein the sending unit is used for sending a first session establishment request, the first session establishment request comprises first indication information and a session identifier of a multi-connection session, the first indication information is used for indicating to establish the multi-connection session, the receiving unit is used for receiving a first session establishment acceptance message, the first session establishment acceptance message comprises session association information and a first IP address, the session association information is used for associating session transmission paths of a plurality of subscription data contained in multi-connection equipment, the first IP address comprises an IP address allocated by SMF for the first session, the first session is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established by using first subscription data, and the first subscription data is one of the plurality of subscription data.

Optionally, in some implementations, the session association information includes a session public IP address and/or a connection ID, where the session public IP address is a public IP address for establishing a multipath transmission connection using the plurality of subscription data, and the connection ID is used to identify the multipath transmission connection.

The application also provides a communication device, which comprises a sending unit and a receiving unit, wherein the sending unit is used for sending a second session establishment request, the second session establishment request comprises second indication information and a session identifier of a multi-connection session, the second indication information is used for indicating to establish the multi-connection session, the receiving unit is used for receiving a second session establishment acceptance message, the second session establishment acceptance message comprises a second IP address, the second IP address comprises an IP address distributed by SMF for the second session, and the second session is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established by using second subscription data.

The application also provides a communication device, which comprises a receiving unit, a sending unit and a receiving unit, wherein the receiving unit is used for receiving a first session establishment request sent by multi-connection equipment by using first subscription data, the first session establishment request comprises first indication information and a session identifier of a multi-connection session, the first indication information is used for indicating to establish the multi-connection session, the multi-connection equipment comprises a plurality of subscription data, the plurality of subscription data comprises the first subscription data, the sending unit is used for sending a first session establishment acceptance message, the first session establishment acceptance message comprises session association information and a first IP address, the session association information is used for associating session transmission paths of the plurality of subscription data, and the first IP address comprises an IP address distributed by SMF for the first session, and the first session is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established by using the first subscription data.

Optionally, in some implementations, the sending unit is further configured to send a third session establishment request to a UPF, where the third session establishment request is used to establish a session with the UPF, the third session establishment request includes the session association information and the first IP address, or the third session establishment request includes the session identifier and the first IP address, and the UPF is used to aggregate sub-sessions of the multi-connection session.

Optionally, in some implementations, the receiving unit is further configured to receive a second session establishment request sent by the multi-connection device using second subscription data, where the second session establishment request includes second indication information and the session identifier, the second indication information is used to indicate that the multi-connection session is established, the plurality of subscription data includes the second subscription data, and the sending unit is further configured to send a second session establishment acceptance message, where the second session establishment acceptance message includes a second IP address, where the second IP address includes an IP address allocated by the SMF for a second session, and the second session is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established using the second subscription data.

Optionally, in some implementations, the sending unit is further configured to send a fourth session establishment request to the UPF, where the fourth session establishment request is used to establish a session with the UPF, and the fourth session establishment request includes the session association information and the second IP address, or the fourth session establishment request includes the session identifier and the second IP address.

Optionally, in some implementations, the sending unit is further configured to send a session registration message, where the session registration message is used to register context information of the multi-connection session in a unified data management UDM network element, and the context information includes a type of the multi-connection session and the session identifier.

The application also provides a communication device, which comprises a sending unit, a receiving unit and a sending unit, wherein the sending unit is used for sending a first session establishment request, the first session establishment request comprises first indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating to distribute agents for multi-connection equipment, the agents are used for establishing multi-path connection of the multi-connection equipment, the receiving unit is used for receiving first session establishment acceptance information, the first session establishment acceptance information comprises information of the agents, the first session establishment acceptance information is used for indicating that the first session establishment is completed, the first session is established for the multi-connection equipment by using first subscription data, the sending unit is further used for sending connection establishment requests to the agents according to the information of the agents, and the receiving unit is further used for receiving the connection establishment acceptance information sent by the agents, the connection establishment acceptance information comprises session association information, and the session association information is used for associating session transmission paths of the plurality of subscription data.

Optionally, in some implementations, the first session establishment request further includes a session identification of the first session.

The application also provides a communication device, which comprises a sending unit, a receiving unit and a sending unit, wherein the sending unit is used for sending a second session establishment request, the second session establishment request comprises second indication information and proxy information, the second indication information is used for indicating that the proxy is allocated to the multi-connection equipment, the proxy is used for establishing multi-path connection of the multi-connection equipment, the receiving unit is used for receiving a second session establishment acceptance message, the second session establishment acceptance message is used for indicating that the second session establishment is completed, the second session is established for the multi-connection equipment by using second subscription data, the sending unit is also used for sending a connection joining request to the proxy according to the proxy information, the connection joining request comprises session association information, and the connection joining request is used for requesting joining the connection corresponding to the session association information, and the session association information is used for associating session transmission paths of a plurality of subscription data.

Optionally, in some implementations, the receiving unit is further configured to receive response information from the proxy, where the response information is used to indicate that the connection corresponding to the session association information is successful.

Optionally, in some implementations, the second session establishment request further includes a session identifier of a first session, where the first session is a session established by the multi-connection device using first subscription data, and the first subscription data is one of the plurality of subscription data other than the second subscription data.

The application also provides a communication device, which comprises a receiving unit, a sending unit and a sending unit, wherein the receiving unit is used for receiving a first session establishment request sent by multi-connection equipment by using first subscription data, the first session establishment request comprises first indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating that an agent is allocated to the multi-connection equipment, the agent is used for establishing multi-path connection of the multi-connection equipment, the multi-connection equipment comprises a plurality of subscription data, the plurality of subscription data comprises the first subscription data, the sending unit is used for sending a first session establishment acceptance message, the first session establishment acceptance message comprises information of the agent, the first session establishment acceptance message is used for indicating that the first session establishment is completed, and the first session is established by using the first subscription data for the multi-connection equipment.

Optionally, in some implementations, the receiving unit is further configured to receive a second session establishment request sent by the multi-connection device using second subscription data, where the second session establishment request includes second indication information and information of the proxy, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the proxy is allocated to the multi-connection device, and the second subscription data is one of the plurality of subscription data other than the first subscription data, and the sending unit is further configured to send a second session establishment acceptance message, where the second session establishment acceptance message is used to indicate that second session establishment is completed, and the second session is a session established by the multi-connection device using the second subscription data.

Optionally, in some implementations, the sending unit is further configured to send an agent request message, where the agent request message is used to request a first network element to allocate the agent for the multi-connection device, and the first network element is used to manage a session of the multi-connection device, and the receiving unit is further configured to receive an agent allocation message, where the agent allocation message includes information of the agent.

It should be understood that when the communication apparatus 1100 is a chip, the chip includes a transmitting unit 1110 and a receiving unit 1120. Among them, the transmitting unit 1110 and the receiving unit 1120 may be input-output circuits or communication interfaces. The transmitting unit 1110 and the receiving unit 1120 are used to implement a transceiving operation of signals of the communication apparatus 1100.

Optionally, the communication device 1100 may further include a storage unit 1130, where the storage unit 1130 is configured to store instructions.

Fig. 16 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown, the communication device 1200 includes at least one processor 1210 and may also include a transceiver 1220. Optionally, the communication device 1200 further comprises a memory 1230 for storing instructions. The processor 1210 is coupled to the memory 1230 for executing instructions stored in the memory 1230 to control the transceiver 1220 to transmit signals and/or receive signals.

It should be appreciated that the processor 1210 and the memory 1230 may be combined into one processing device, and the processor 1210 is configured to execute program codes stored in the memory 1230 to implement the functions described above. In particular, the memory 1230 may also be integrated into the processor 1210 or independent of the processor 1210.

It should also be appreciated that transceiver 1220 may include a receiver (or receiver) and a transmitter (or transmitter). Transceiver 1220 may further include antennas, the number of which may be one or more. Transceiver 1220 may be a communication interface or interface circuitry.

When the communication device 1200 is a chip, the chip may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The receiving and transmitting unit can be an input and output circuit or a communication interface, and the processing unit can be a processor or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit integrated on the chip. The embodiment of the application also provides a processing device which comprises a processor and an interface. The processor may be used to perform the methods of the method embodiments described above.

It should be understood that the processing means may be a chip. For example, the processing device may be a field programmable gate array (field programmable GATE ARRAY, FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Chip (ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a central processing unit (central processor unit, CPU), a network processor (network processor, NP), a digital signal processing circuit (DIGITAL SIGNAL processor, DSP), a microcontroller (micro controller unit, MCU), a programmable controller (programmable logic device, PLD) or other integrated chip.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or by instructions in the form of software. 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. The software modules may be located in a random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. as well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and, in combination with its hardware, performs the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, a detailed description is not provided herein.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer readable storage medium, on which a computer program or instructions for implementing a method executed by the multi-connection device, the dual-connection device, the UE1 or the UE2 in the above method embodiment is stored.

For example, the computer program, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method performed by the multi-connection device, the dual-connection device, UE1 or UE2 in the above-described method embodiments.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer readable storage medium, on which a computer program or instructions for implementing the method performed by the SMF in the above method embodiment is stored.

For example, the computer program, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method performed by the SMF in the method embodiments described above.

The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product containing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement the method performed by the multi-connection device, the dual-connection device, the UE1 or the UE2 in the above method embodiments.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement the method performed by the SMF in the method embodiments described above.

The embodiment of the application also provides a communication system, which comprises a multi-connection device and a session gateway element, wherein the multi-connection device is used for executing the steps of the method executed by the multi-connection device, the dual-connection device, the UE1 or the UE2 in the embodiment of the method, and the SMF is used for executing the steps of the method executed by the SMF in the embodiment of the method.

It will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity, explanation and beneficial effects of the relevant content in any of the above-mentioned communication devices may refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and are not repeated here.

The embodiment of the present application is not particularly limited to the specific structure of the execution body of the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, as long as communication can be performed by the method provided according to the embodiment of the present application by running a program in which codes of the method provided by the embodiment of the present application are recorded. For example, the execution body of the method provided by the embodiment of the application can be a multi-connection device or a session-related network element, or a functional module capable of calling a program and executing the program in the multi-connection device or the session-related network element.

Various aspects or features of the application may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein may encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media.

Among other things, computer readable storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer or data storage devices such as servers, data centers, etc. that contain one or more integration of the available media. Usable media (or computer readable media) may include, for example, but are not limited to, magnetic media or magnetic storage devices (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks (e.g., removable disks), magnetic tape, optical media (e.g., compact discs, CDs), digital versatile discs (DIGITAL VERSATILEDISC, DVDs), etc.), smart cards and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), cards, sticks, or key drives, etc.), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid state disks (solid state disks, SSDs), etc., U-discs, read-only memory (ROMs), random access memory (random access memory, RAMs), etc., where program code may be stored.

Various storage media described herein can represent one or more devices and/or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" can include, without being limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and/or carrying instruction(s) and/or data.

It should be understood that the memory referred to in embodiments of the present application may be volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (erasable PROM), an electrically erasable programmable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (random access memory, RAM). For example, RAM may be used as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, RAM may include various forms of static random access memory (STATIC RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DYNAMIC RAM, DRAM), synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (doubledata RATE SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ENHANCED SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SYNCHLINK DRAM, SLDRAM), and direct memory bus random access memory (direct rambus RAM, DR RAM).

It should be noted that when the processor is a general purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components, the memory (storage module) may be integrated into the processor.

It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

In the several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the above-described division of units is merely a logical function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not performed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be through some interface, device or unit indirect coupling or communication connection, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described above as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and components shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed over a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to realize the scheme provided by the application.

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

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof.

When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in accordance with embodiments of the present application are produced in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. For example, the computer may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line), or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). With respect to computer readable storage media, reference may be made to the description above.

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

It should also be understood that, in the present application, "when.+ -.)," if "and" if "all mean that the network element will make the corresponding treatment under some objective condition, and are not limited in time, nor do they require that the network element must have a judgment in its implementation act, nor are they meant to have other limitations.

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

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

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized by being applied to a multi-connection device, the multi-connection device including multiple subscription data, the multi-connection device using a first subscription data to perform the method, the first subscription data being one of the multiple subscription data, the method comprising:

Sending a first session establishment request, where the first session establishment request includes first indication information and a session identifier of a multi-connection session, where the first indication information is used to instruct establishment of the multi-connection session;

Receive a first session establishment acceptance message, the first session establishment acceptance message includes session association information and a first network protocol IP address, the session association information is used to associate the session transmission path of the multiple contracted data, the first IP address includes the IP address allocated by the session management network element SMF to the first session, and the first session is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established using the first contracted data.

2. The method according to claim 1 is characterized in that the session association information includes a session public IP address and/or a connection identification ID, the session public IP address is a public IP address for establishing a multi-path transmission connection using the multiple contract data, and the connection ID is used to identify the multi-path transmission connection.

3. A communication method, characterized by being applied to a multi-connection device, the multi-connection device including multiple subscription data, the multi-connection device using a second subscription data to perform the method, the second subscription data being one of the multiple subscription data, the method comprising:

Sending a second session establishment request, where the second session establishment request includes second indication information and a session identifier of the multi-connection session, where the second indication information is used to instruct establishment of the multi-connection session;

Receive a second session establishment acceptance message, where the second session establishment acceptance message includes a second IP address, where the second IP address includes an IP address allocated by the session management network element SMF to the second session, and the second session is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established using the second subscription data.

4. The method according to claim 3 is characterized in that the session association information includes a session public IP address and/or a connection identification ID, the session public IP address is a public IP address for establishing a multi-path transmission connection using the multiple contract data, and the connection ID is used to identify the multi-path transmission connection.

5. A communication method, characterized in that it is applied to a session management network element (SMF), the method comprising:

receiving a first session establishment request sent by a multi-connection device using first subscription data, where the first session establishment request includes first indication information and a session identifier of the multi-connection session, where the first indication information is used to indicate establishment of the multi-connection session, the multi-connection device includes multiple subscription data, and the multiple subscription data includes the first subscription data;

A first session establishment acceptance message is sent, wherein the first session establishment acceptance message includes session association information and a first IP address, wherein the session association information is used to associate the session transmission paths of the multiple contracted data, and the first IP address includes the IP address assigned by the SMF to the first session, and the first session is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established using the first contracted data.

6. The method according to claim 5 is characterized in that the session association information includes a session public IP address and/or a connection identification ID, the session public IP address is a public IP address for establishing a multi-path transmission connection using the multiple contract data, and the connection ID is used to identify the multi-path transmission connection.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that before sending the first session establishment accept message, the method further comprises:

A third session establishment request is sent to the user plane network element UPF, where the third session establishment request is used to establish a session with the UPF, and the third session establishment request includes the session association information and the first IP address, or the third session establishment request includes the session identifier and the first IP address, and the UPF is used to aggregate sub-sessions of the multi-connection session.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:

receiving a second session establishment request sent by the multi-connection device using second subscription data, where the second session establishment request includes second indication information and the session identifier, where the second indication information is used to instruct establishment of the multi-connection session, and the multiple subscription data include the second subscription data;

Send a second session establishment acceptance message, where the second session establishment acceptance message includes a second IP address, where the second IP address includes the IP address allocated by the SMF to the second session, and the second session is a sub-session of the multi-connection session established using the second subscription data.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that before sending the second session establishment accept message, the method further comprises:

Send a fourth session establishment request to the UPF, where the fourth session establishment request is used to establish a session with the UPF, the fourth session establishment request includes the session association information and the second IP address, or the fourth session establishment request includes the session identifier and the second IP address.

10. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 9, further comprising:

A session registration message is sent, where the session registration message is used to register the context information of the multi-connection session in a unified data management (UDM) network element, where the context information includes the type of the multi-connection session and the session identifier.

11. A communication method, characterized by being applied to a multi-connection device, the multi-connection device including multiple subscription data, the multi-connection device using a first subscription data to perform the method, the first subscription data being one of the multiple subscription data, the method comprising:

Sending a first session establishment request, where the first session establishment request includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that an agent is assigned to the multi-connection device, where the agent is used to establish a multi-path connection for the multi-connection device;

receiving a first session establishment accept message, where the first session establishment accept message includes information about the agent, and the first session establishment accept message is used to indicate that establishment of a first session is complete, where the first session is a session established by the multi-connection device using the first subscription data;

Sending a connection establishment request to the proxy according to the proxy information;

A connection establishment acceptance message sent by the proxy is received, where the connection establishment acceptance message includes session association information, where the session association information is used to associate session transmission paths of the multiple contract data.

12. The method according to claim 11 is characterized in that the session association information includes a session public IP address and/or a connection identification ID, the session public IP address is a public IP address for establishing a multi-path transmission connection using the multiple contract data, and the connection ID is used to identify the multi-path transmission connection.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the first session establishment request further includes a session identifier of the first session.

14. A communication method, characterized by being applied to a multi-connection device, the multi-connection device including multiple subscription data, the multi-connection device using a second subscription data to perform the method, the second subscription data being one of the multiple subscription data, the method comprising:

Sending a second session establishment request, where the second session establishment request includes second indication information and proxy information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that a proxy is assigned to the multi-connection device, and the proxy is used to establish a multi-path connection for the multi-connection device;

receiving a second session establishment accept message, where the second session establishment accept message is used to indicate that establishment of a second session is complete, where the second session is a session established by the multi-connection device using the second subscription data;

A connection joining request is sent to the agent according to the agent information, the connection joining request including session association information, the connection joining request is used to request to join the connection corresponding to the session association information, and the session association information is used to associate the session transmission path of the multiple contract data.

15. The method according to claim 14 is characterized in that the session association information includes a session public IP address and/or a connection identification ID, the session public IP address is a public IP address for establishing a multi-path transmission connection using the multiple contract data, and the connection ID is used to identify the multi-path transmission connection.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, further comprising:

Receive response information from the proxy, where the response information is used to indicate that joining the connection corresponding to the session association information is successful.

17. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 16 is characterized in that the second session establishment request also includes a session identifier of a first session, the first session is a session established by the multi-connection device using first contract data, and the first contract data is one of the multiple contract data other than the second contract data.

18. A communication method, characterized by being applied to a session management network element (SMF), the method comprising:

receiving a first session establishment request sent by a multi-connection device using first subscription data, the first session establishment request including first indication information, the first indication information being used to instruct allocation of an agent to the multi-connection device, the agent being used to establish a multi-path connection for the multi-connection device, the multi-connection device including multiple subscription data, the multiple subscription data including the first subscription data;

Send a first session establishment accept message, where the first session establishment accept message includes information about the agent, and the first session establishment accept message is used to indicate that establishment of a first session is complete, where the first session is a session established by the multi-connection device using the first subscription data.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the first session establishment request further includes a session identifier of the first session.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, further comprising:

receiving a second session establishment request sent by the multi-connection device using second subscription data, where the second session establishment request includes second indication information and information about the proxy, where the second indication information is used to indicate assignment of the proxy to the multi-connection device, and the second subscription data is one of the multiple subscription data other than the first subscription data;

Send a second session establishment accept message, where the second session establishment accept message is used to indicate that establishment of a second session is complete, where the second session is a session established by the multi-connection device using the second subscription data.

21. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 20, further comprising:

Sending a proxy request message, where the proxy request message is used to request a first network element to allocate the proxy to the multi-connection device, where the first network element is used to manage the session of the multi-connection device;

An agent allocation message is received, where the agent allocation message includes information of the agent.

22. A communication device, characterized in that it includes a module or unit for executing the method according to claim 1 or 2, or includes a module or unit for executing the method according to claim 3 or 4, or includes a module or unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 5 to 10, or includes a module or unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, or includes a module or unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, or includes a module or unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 18 to 21.

23. A communication device, characterized in that the device comprises a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed by the processor, the processor executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21.

24. A communication system, characterized by comprising a multi-connection device and a session management network element; wherein the multi-connection device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and the session management network element is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 5 to 10.

25. A communication system, characterized by comprising a multi-connection device and a session management network element; wherein the multi-connection device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, and the session management network element is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 18 to 21.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that a computer program or instruction is stored therein, wherein the computer program or instruction is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21.

27. A chip, comprising: a processor and an interface, configured to call from a memory and run a computer program stored in the memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21.