WO2022012361A1

WO2022012361A1 - Communication method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2022012361A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/104486
Authority: WO
Inventors: 许胜锋; 吴义壮; 杨艳梅; 李濛
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2020-07-17
Filing date: 2021-07-05
Publication date: 2022-01-20
Also published as: CN113950029A

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, which allows an RAN side to provide a UE with a communication configuration parameter for relay communication, so that the UE configures a PC5 link. The method comprises: a terminal device sends first information to an access network device (601), the first information comprising a first PC5 QoS parameter, the first PC5 QoS parameter being used for relay communication of the terminal device; the access network device sends a communication configuration parameter to the terminal device according to the first PC5 QoS parameter (602); and the terminal device configures a PC5 link according to the communication configuration parameter (603). Thus, the access network device can provide the terminal device with the communication configuration parameter for relay communication, so that the terminal device configures the PC5 link.

Description

A communication method and device

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application filed on July 17, 2020, with the application number of 202010694722.7 and the application title of "A Method and Device for Obtaining Quality of Service Parameters in Relay Communication", the entire contents of which are Incorporated into this application by reference; this application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with the application number 202010790603.1 and the application title "a communication method and device" filed with the Chinese Patent Office on August 7, 2020, the entire contents of which are Incorporated herein by reference.

technical field

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

Background technique

With the rapid development of mobile communications, the widespread use of new service types, such as video chat, VR/AR and other data services, has increased users' demand for bandwidth. Device-to-device (D2D) communication allows direct communication between user equipment (UE) and can share spectrum resources with cell users under the control of the cell network, effectively improving the utilization of spectrum resources . In D2D communication, UE communicates through a proximity-based service communication 5 ((proximity-based services, ProSe) communication 5, PC5) interface, which can be used for information transmission on the data plane and the control plane.

When the UE is out of network coverage or the communication signal with the radio access network (RAN) is not good, the remote UE (remote UE) can be assisted by the relay UE (relay UE). The communication with the relay UE and the communication between the relay UE and the network side server further realize the communication between the remote UE and the network side server. By establishing a communication method from a remote UE to a relay UE to the network, it is possible to expand and support the communication from the UE to the network outside the coverage of the network. The above-mentioned communication mode in which the Remote UE accesses the network through the Relay UE may also be referred to as indirect network communication or relay communication.

Currently, in relay communication, a PC5 link for relay communication needs to be established between the remote UE and the relay UE, and how to obtain communication configuration parameters and communication resources for the PC5 link needs to be further studied.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present application provides a communication method and device, so that the RAN side obtains PC5 QoS parameters for relay communication during relay communication, so that the RAN side can provide UE with communication configuration parameters for relay communication.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, the method may include: an access network device receives first information from a terminal device, the first information includes a first PC5 QoS parameter, and the first PC5 QoS parameter is used Relay communication with the terminal device; the access network device sends a communication configuration parameter to the terminal device according to the first PC5 QoS parameter.

Through the above method, the access network device can provide the terminal device with communication configuration parameters according to the first PC5 QoS parameters used for relay communication, so that the terminal device configures the PC5 link according to the communication configuration parameters.

In a possible design, the terminal equipment is a relay terminal equipment or a remote terminal equipment. In this way, both the remote terminal device and the relay terminal device can obtain the communication configuration parameters through the above method, and then configure the PC5 link.

In a possible design, before the access network device sends the communication configuration parameter to the terminal device according to the first PC5 QoS parameter, the access network device obtains the second PC5 QoS parameter, the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication of the terminal device; the access network device authorizes the first PC5 QoS parameter according to the second PC5 QoS parameter.

Through the above method, the first PC5 QoS parameter provided by the terminal device can be authorized, so that the access network device can send the communication configuration parameter to the terminal device according to the first PC5 QoS parameter.

In a possible design, the access network device acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, and the specific method may be: the access network device receives the second PC5 QoS parameter from the first device; or , the access network device receives the second PC5 QoS parameter and first indication information from the first device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

Through the above method, the access network device can accurately obtain the second PC5 QoS parameter, so that the first PC5 QoS parameter is subsequently authorized.

In a possible design, the terminal device is a relay terminal device, and the access network device obtains the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device. The specific method may be: the access network device obtains the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device. Receive a QoS configuration file and second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is determined according to the QoS configuration file; the access network device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file; Second PC5 QoS parameter.

Through the above method, the access network device can accurately obtain the second PC5 QoS parameter, so that the first PC5 QoS parameter of the relay terminal device is subsequently authorized.

In a possible design, the access network device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file, and a specific method may be as follows: the access network device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS mapping relationship and the QoS configuration file The QoS parameters in the second PC5 QoS parameters are determined, and the QoS mapping relationship is used to represent the mapping relationship between the QoS parameters and the PC5 QoS parameters. In this way, the access network device can accurately obtain the second PC5 QoS parameter, so that the first PC5 QoS parameter is subsequently authorized.

In a possible design, the first device is a policy control function.

In a possible design, the first device is a session management function, and the terminal device is a relay terminal device.

In a possible design, the first information further includes third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication; or, the first information further includes Fourth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication. This makes it clear that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

In a possible design, the first information further includes identification information of the PC5 link; before the access network device receives the first information from the terminal device, the access network device receives the first information from the terminal device The second information includes fifth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication. This makes it clear that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

In a possible design, the terminal device is a remote terminal device, and the access network device receives the first information from the terminal device, and the specific method may be: the access network device passes the relay terminal The device receives the first information from the terminal device. In this way, the remote terminal device can request the communication configuration parameter through the relay terminal device.

In a second aspect, the present application also provides a communication method, the method may include: a first device acquiring a second PC5 QoS parameter of a terminal device, and the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication of the terminal device; The first device sends the second PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device.

Through the above method, the first device sends the second PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device, so that the access network device can authorize the PC5 QoS parameter used by the terminal device for relay communication according to the second PC5 QoS parameter.

In a possible design, the terminal equipment is a relay terminal equipment or a remote terminal equipment. In this way, both the remote terminal device and the relay terminal device can be subsequently authorized PC5 QoS parameters.

In a possible design, the first device sends first indication information to the access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication. In this way, the access network device can be made aware of the second PC5 QoS parameter for relaying communication, and then subsequently authorize the first PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device according to the second PC5 QoS parameter.

In a possible design, the first device receives relay capability information from the terminal device; the first device sends the second PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device, and the specific method may be: The first device sends the second PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device according to the relay capability information. In this way, the access network device can successfully obtain the second PC5 QoS, and then the access network device subsequently authorizes the first PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device according to the second PC5 QoS parameter.

In a possible design, the first device acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, and the specific method may be: the first device receives the second PC5 QoS parameter from the policy control function; wherein, the The terminal equipment is a relay terminal equipment. In this way, the first device can accurately obtain the second PC5 QoS parameters.

In a possible design, the first device acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, and the specific method may be: the first device receives the sixth indication information and the policy and charging control PCC from the policy control function rule, the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is determined according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule; the first device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule QoS parameters. In this way, the first device can accurately obtain the second PC5 QoS parameters.

In a possible design, the first device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule, and the specific method may be: the first device, according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule, Determine a QoS configuration file; the first device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file. In this way, the first device can accurately obtain the second PC5 QoS parameter.

In a possible design, the first device is a policy control function.

In one possible design, the first device is a session management function.

In a third aspect, the present application also provides a communication method, the method may include: the session management function receives a policy and charging control PCC rule from the policy control function, the PCC rule is used to relay the protocol data unit PDU of the terminal device session; the session management function determines a QoS configuration file according to the quality of service QoS parameter in the PCC rule; the session management function sends the second indication information and the QoS configuration file to the access network device, the second The indication information is used to indicate that the second proximity service communication 5PC5 QoS parameter is determined according to the QoS configuration file, and the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for the relay communication of the relay terminal device.

Through the above method, the access device can determine the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file, and then the access network device can determine the PC5 QoS used by the terminal device for relay communication according to the second PC5 QoS parameter parameters for authorization.

In a possible design, the session management function receives sixth indication information from the policy control function, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is determined according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule; The session management function sends the second indication information to the access network device, and the specific method may be: the session management function sends the second indication information to the access network device according to the sixth indication information . In this way, the second indication information can be successfully sent to the access network device, so that the access network device can accurately determine the second PC5 QoS parameter.

In a possible design, the session management function receives the seventh indication information from the access and mobility management function, where the seventh indication information is used to indicate that the PDU session is used for relay communication; the session The management function sends the second indication information to the access network device, and the specific method may be: the session management function sends the second indication information to the access network device according to the seventh indication information. In this way, the second indication information can be successfully sent to the access network device, so that the access network device can accurately determine the second PC5 QoS parameter.

In a fourth aspect, the present application also provides a communication method, the method may include: a terminal device sending first information to an access network device, the first information including a first PC5 QoS parameter, the first PC5 QoS parameter used for relay communication of the terminal device; the terminal device receives communication configuration parameters from the access network device; the terminal device configures the PC5 link according to the communication configuration parameters.

Through the above method, the terminal device can accurately obtain the communication configuration parameters, and then can accurately configure the PC5 link according to the communication configuration parameters, so that the subsequent relay communication can be successfully performed.

In a possible design, before the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device, the terminal device receives the first PC5 QoS parameter from the first device. In this way, the terminal device can send the first PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device.

In a possible design, the terminal device receives eighth indication information from the first device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication. In this way, the terminal device can make it clear that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

In a possible design, the first device is a policy control function or a session management function.

In a possible design, the first information further includes third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication; or, the first information further includes Fourth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication. In this way, the terminal device can make it clear that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

In a possible design, the first information further includes identification information of the PC5 link; before the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device, the terminal device sends the access network The device sends second information, where the second information includes fifth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication. In this way, the access network device can make it clear that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

In a possible design, the terminal device is a remote terminal device, and the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device. The specific method may be: the terminal device sends a relay terminal device to The access network device sends the first information. In this way, the access network device can obtain the request of the remote terminal device for the communication configuration parameter through the relay terminal device.

In a fifth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, which may be an access network device, and the communication device has the function of implementing the access network device in the first aspect or each possible design example of the first aspect. Functions can be implemented by hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

In a possible design, the structure of the communication apparatus may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit, and these units may perform the corresponding functions of the access network equipment in the first aspect or each possible design example of the first aspect. For details, refer to the method The detailed description in the example will not be repeated here.

In a possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a transceiver and a processor, and optionally also includes a memory, the transceiver is used to send and receive data, and used to communicate and interact with other devices in the communication system, and the processor is configured To support the communication apparatus to perform the corresponding functions of the access network device in the first aspect or each possible design example of the first aspect. The memory is coupled to the processor and holds program instructions and data necessary for the communication device.

In a sixth aspect, the present application further provides a communication apparatus, which may be a first device, and the communication apparatus has the function of implementing the first device in the second aspect or each possible design example of the second aspect. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

In a possible design, the structure of the communication apparatus may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit, and these units may perform the corresponding functions of the first device in the second aspect or each possible design example of the second aspect. For details, please refer to the method example The detailed description in , will not be repeated here.

In a possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a transceiver and a processor, and optionally also includes a memory, the transceiver is used to send and receive data, and used to communicate and interact with other devices in the communication system, and the processor is configured To support the communication apparatus to perform the corresponding functions of the first device in the second aspect or each possible design example of the second aspect. The memory is coupled to the processor and holds program instructions and data necessary for the communication device.

In a seventh aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, which may be a session management function, and the communication device has the function of implementing the session management function in the third aspect or each possible design example of the third aspect. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

In a possible design, the structure of the communication device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit, and these units may perform the corresponding functions of the session management function in the third aspect or each possible design example of the third aspect. For details, please refer to the method example The detailed description in , will not be repeated here.

In a possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a transceiver and a processor, and optionally also includes a memory, the transceiver is used to send and receive data, and used to communicate and interact with other devices in the communication system, and the processor is configured To support the communication device to perform the corresponding function of the session management function in the above third aspect or each possible design example of the third aspect. The memory is coupled to the processor and holds program instructions and data necessary for the communication device.

In an eighth aspect, the present application further provides a communication apparatus, which may be a terminal device, and the communication apparatus has the function of implementing the session management function in the fourth aspect or each possible design example of the fourth aspect. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

In a possible design, the structure of the communication apparatus may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit, and these units may perform the corresponding functions of the terminal device in the fourth aspect or each possible design example of the fourth aspect. For details, please refer to the method example. The detailed description is not repeated here.

In a possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a transceiver and a processor, and optionally also includes a memory, the transceiver is used to send and receive data, and used to communicate and interact with other devices in the communication system, and the processor is configured To support the communication apparatus to perform the corresponding functions of the terminal device in the fourth aspect or each possible design example of the fourth aspect. The memory is coupled to the processor and holds program instructions and data necessary for the communication device.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which may include the access network device mentioned above, a first device (a policy control function and/or a session management function), a terminal device, and the like.

A tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium provided by an embodiment of the present application, the computer-readable storage medium stores a program instruction, and when the program instruction is executed on a computer, makes the computer execute the first aspect of the embodiment of the present application and its Any possible design, the second aspect and any possible design thereof, the third aspect and any possible design thereof, or the fourth aspect and any possible design thereof. Illustratively, a computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. Taking this as an example but not limited to: computer readable media may include non-transitory computer readable media, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable Except programmable read only memory (electrically EPROM, EEPROM), CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and capable of Any other media accessed by a computer.

In an eleventh aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product including computer program codes or instructions, which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to implement the first aspect and any possible designs thereof, the second aspect, and the A method of any possible design thereof, the third aspect and any possible design thereof, or the fourth aspect and any possible design thereof.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application further provides a chip, which is coupled to a memory and used to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory, so as to implement the above-mentioned first aspect and any possible designs, A method of the second aspect and any possible design thereof, the third aspect and any possible design thereof, or the fourth aspect and any possible design thereof.

For the various aspects from the fifth aspect to the twelfth aspect and the possible technical effects achieved by each aspect, please refer to the above-mentioned technologies that can be achieved by various possible solutions in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect or the fourth aspect The effect description will not be repeated here.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is the architecture diagram of a kind of communication system provided by this application;

2 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided by the present application;

3 is a schematic diagram of a 5G QoS model based on QoS flow provided by the present application;

4 is a QoS model based on QoS flow in a D2D communication provided by the application;

5 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided by the present application;

6 is a flowchart of a communication method provided by the present application;

7 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by the application;

8 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by the application;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an example of a communication method provided by the present application;

10 is a flowchart of an example of another communication method provided by this application;

11 is a flowchart of an example of another communication method provided by this application;

12 is a flowchart of an example of another communication method provided by the application;

13 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided by the application;

14 is a structural diagram of another communication device provided by the application;

FIG. 15 is a structural diagram of an access network device provided by this application.

detailed description

The present application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and device, so that the RAN side obtains PC5 QoS parameters for relay communication during relay communication, so that the RAN side can provide UE with communication configuration parameters for relay communication . The methods and devices described in this application are based on the same technical concept. Since the methods and devices have similar principles for solving problems, the implementations of the devices and methods can be referred to each other, and repeated descriptions will not be repeated here.

Hereinafter, some terms in the present application will be explained so as to facilitate the understanding of those skilled in the art.

Remote UE (remote UE): A UE connected to the network through indirect network communication. Relay UE (relay UE): The UE that assists the Remote UE to access the network.

In the description of this application, words such as "first" and "second" are only used for the purpose of distinguishing and describing, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying order.

The embodiments of the present application provide a possible architecture of a communication system to which the communication method is applicable. The architecture of the communication system may include: an access network and a core network. The access network is used to realize functions related to wireless access, and the access network includes the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) access network and the non-3GPP (non-3GPP access network). The core network mainly includes the following key logical network elements: access and mobility management function network elements, session management function network elements, user plane function network elements, policy control function network elements, and unified data management function network elements. For example, FIG. 1 shows a possible example of the architecture of the communication system, and each network element or device in the architecture of the communication system is shown as a specific example. Specifically, the architecture of the communication system shown in FIG. 1 may include: terminal equipment (using user equipment (UE) as an example), an access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) network element, session management function (SMF) network element, user plane function (UPF) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, unified data management function network element (unified data management, UDM), authentication server function (AUSF) network element, network exposure function (NEF) network element, application function (application function, AF) network element, network slice selection function (network slice selection) function, NSSF) network element, (radio) access network ((radio) access network, (R)AN) equipment, network storage function (network repository function, NRF) network element. The AMF network element and the access network device can be connected through the N2 interface, the access network device and the UPF can be connected through the N3 interface, the SMF and the UPF can be connected through the N4 interface, and the AMF network element and the UE can be connected through the N4 interface. It can be connected through the N1 interface. The interface name is only an example description, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application are not limited to the communication system shown in FIG. 1 , and the names of the network elements shown in FIG. 1 are only described here as an example, not as a communication system architecture applicable to the communication method of the present application. Limitation of included network elements. The following describes the functions of each network element or device in the communication system in detail:

Terminal equipment: can be UE, handheld terminal, notebook computer, subscriber unit (subscriber unit), cellular phone (cellular phone), smart phone (smart phone), wireless data card, personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA) computer, Tablet computer, wireless modem (modem), handheld device (handheld), laptop computer (laptop computer), cordless phone (cordless phone) or wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, machine type communication (machine type communication) type communication, MTC) terminal or other device that can access the network. A certain air interface technology (such as new radio (NR), LTE) is used to communicate with each other between the terminal device and the access network device. In vehicle networking communication, the communication terminal uploaded by the vehicle is a terminal device, and the roadside unit (RSU) can also be used as a terminal device. The drone is loaded with a communication terminal, which can be regarded as a terminal device.

(R)AN equipment: equipment that provides access for terminal equipment, including RAN equipment and AN equipment. The RAN device is mainly a 3GPP network wireless network device, and the AN can be an access network device defined by non-3GPP. RAN equipment: It is mainly responsible for functions such as radio resource management, quality of service (QoS) management, data compression and encryption on the air interface side. The access network equipment may include various forms of base stations, such as: a macro base station, a micro base station (also referred to as a small cell), a relay station, an access point, and the like. In systems using different radio access technologies, the names of devices with base station functions may be different, for example, in 5G systems, they are called RAN or gNB (5G NodeB), etc.

Access and mobility management function network element: mainly responsible for the signaling processing part, such as: access control, mobility management, attachment and detachment, and gateway selection and other functions. When the AMF network element provides services for the session in the terminal device, it provides storage resources of the control plane for the session to store the session identifier, the SMF network element identifier associated with the session identifier, and the like. For example, in 5G, the access and mobility management function network elements can be AMF network elements, such as shown in Figure 1; in future communications, such as 6G, the access and mobility management function network elements can still be AMF network elements , or other names, which are not limited in this application. When the access and mobility management function network element is an AMF network element, the AMF can provide Namf services.

Session management function network element: It is mainly responsible for session management in the mobile network, such as session establishment, modification and release. Specific functions such as assigning IP addresses to users and selecting UPFs that provide packet forwarding functions. For example, in 5G, the session management function network element can be an SMF network element, such as shown in Figure 1; in future communications, such as 6G, the session management function network element can still be an SMF network element, or have other names, this Application is not limited. When the session management function network element is an SMF network element, the SMF can provide Nsmf services.

User plane function network element: responsible for forwarding and receiving user data in terminal equipment. The user data can be received from the data network and transmitted to the terminal device through the access network device; the UPF network element can also receive the user data from the terminal device through the access network device and forward it to the data network. The transmission resources and scheduling functions that provide services to terminal equipment in the UPF network element are managed and controlled by the SMF network element. For example, in 5G, the user plane function network element can be a UPF network element, such as shown in Figure 1; in future communications, such as 6G, the user plane function network element can still be a UPF network element, or have other names. Application is not limited.

Policy control function network element: mainly supports providing a unified policy framework to control network behavior, provides policy rules to the control layer network function, and is responsible for obtaining user subscription information related to policy decision-making. For example, in 5G, the policy control function network element can be a PCF network element, such as shown in Figure 1; in future communications, such as 6G, the policy control function network element can still be a PCF network element, or have other names, this Application is not limited. When the policy control function network element is a PCF network element, the PCF network element can provide Npcf services.

Network open function network element: mainly supports the secure interaction between 3GPP network and third-party applications. For example, in 5G, the network opening function network element can be a NEF network element, such as shown in Figure 1; in future communications, such as 6G, the network opening function network element can still be a NEF network element, or have other names, this Application is not limited. When the network open function network element is an NEF, the NEF can provide Nnef services to other network function network elements.

Application function network element: mainly supports interaction with the 3GPP core network to provide services, such as influencing data routing decisions, policy control functions, or providing some third-party services to the network side. For example, in 5G, the application function network element may be an AF network element, such as shown in Figure 1; in future communications, such as in 6G, the application function network element may still be an AF network element, or have other names, and this application does not Do limit. When the application function network element is the AF network element, the AF network element can provide the Naf service.

Unified data management function network element: used to generate authentication credential, user identification processing (such as storing and managing user permanent identity, etc.), access authorization control and contract data management, etc. For example, in 5G, the unified data management function network element can be a UDM network element, such as shown in Figure 1; in future communications, such as in 6G, the unified data management function network element can still be a UDM network element, or have other names , which is not limited in this application. When the unified data management function network element is a UDM network element, the UDM network element can provide Nudm services.

Authentication server function network element: used to support the authentication function when the UE accesses the network, and to support the specific authentication and authorization process of the network element slice. For example, in 5G, the authentication server function network element can be an AUSF network element, such as shown in Figure 1; in future communications, such as 6G, the authentication server function network element can still be an AUSF network element, or have other names, this Application is not limited. When the authentication server function network element is an AUSF network element, the AUSF network element can provide the Nausf service.

Network slice selection function network element, which can be used to select network slices that provide services to terminal devices. For example, in 5G, the network slice selection function network element can be an NSSF network element, such as shown in Figure 1; in future communications, such as 6G, the network slice selection function network element can still be an NSSF network element, or have other names , which is not limited in this application. When the network slice selection function network element is the NSSF network element, the NSSF network element can provide the Nnssf service.

The network storage function network element can be used to provide the network element discovery function, and based on the request of other network elements, provide network element information corresponding to the network element type. The NRF network element also provides network element management services, such as network element registration, update, de-registration, and network element status subscription and push. For example, in 5G, the network storage function network element can be an NRF network element, such as shown in Figure 1; in future communications, such as in 6G, the network storage function network element can still be an NRF network element, or have other names. Application is not limited. When the network storage function network element is an NRF network element, the NRF network element can provide the Nnrf service.

A data network (DN) refers to a service network that provides data transmission services for users, such as IP multi-media service (IMS) and the Internet.

The UE accesses the DN through a protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session established between the UE and the DN.

Among them, each network element in the core network can also be called a functional entity or a device, which can be either a network element implemented on dedicated hardware, a software instance running on dedicated hardware, or a virtualization on an appropriate platform. An example of a function, for example, the above-mentioned virtualization platform may be a cloud platform.

It should be noted that the architecture of the communication system shown in FIG. 1 is not limited to including only the network elements shown in the figure, but may also include other devices not shown in the figure, and the specific application will not list them one by one here. .

It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the distribution form of each network element, and the distribution form shown in FIG. 1 is only exemplary, and is not limited in the present application.

For the convenience of description, the following description in this application will take the network element shown in FIG. 1 as an example, and the XX network element is directly abbreviated as XX. It should be understood that the names of all network elements in this application are only examples, and may also be referred to as other names in future communications, or the network elements involved in this application may also be identified by other entities or devices with the same function in future communications. Instead, this application does not limit this. A unified description is made here, and will not be repeated in the future.

It should be noted that the communication system shown in FIG. 1 does not constitute a limitation of the communication system to which the embodiments of the present application can be applied. The communication system architecture shown in FIG. 1 is a 5G system architecture. Optionally, the methods in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to various future communication systems, such as 6G or other communication networks.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided by the present application. The application scenario includes a remote terminal device (remote UE), a relay terminal device (relay UE), an access network device, a UPF, and the like. The application scenario includes UE-Relay-Network (Network) communication, that is, the remote UE accesses the network through the relay UE. The communication mode in which the remote UE accesses the network through the relay UE may be referred to as indirect network communication or relay communication. Relay communication is used in the following description, and relay communication can be understood as indirect network communication.

It should be noted that the application scenario shown in FIG. 2 is not limited to only include the network elements shown in the figure, but may also include other devices not shown in the figure, such as AMF, PCF, etc. List them one by one.

In this application, PCF can be further divided into access and mobility management (AM) PCF and session management function (SM) PCF. AM PCF is a PCF responsible for delivering UE policies and access control policies during UE access-related processes (such as the registration process). The SM PCF is the PCF responsible for delivering the session-related policies during the UE's PDU session-related process (such as the PDU session establishment process).

In the following, in order to facilitate the understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the concepts and basic knowledge involved in the embodiments of the present application are first introduced.

1. 5G QoS management

In the 5G system, in order to ensure the end-to-end service quality of the business, a 5G QoS model based on QoS flow is proposed, as shown in Figure 3. The 5G QoS model supports guaranteed bit rate (guaranteed bit rate, GRB) QoS flow (GBR QoS flow) and non-guaranteed bit rate QoS flow (Non-GBR QoS flow). Data packets controlled by the same QoS flow receive the same transmission processing (such as scheduling, admission thresholds, etc.).

For a UE, one or more PDU sessions can be established with the 5G network; one or more QoS flows can be established in each PDU session. Each QoS flow is identified by a QoS flow identifier (QFI), which uniquely identifies a QoS flow in a session.

Whether a QoS flow is a GBR QoS flow or a GBR QoS flow is determined by the corresponding QoS profile.

For GBR QoS flow, the corresponding QoS configuration file must contain the following QoS parameters: 5G QoS indicator (5G QoS identifier, 5QI), Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP), guaranteed flow bit rate (guaranteed flow bit rate) , GFBR) and the maximum flow bit rate (maximum flow bit rate, MFBR). The optional QoS profile also contains QoS notification control (QoS notification control, QNC). GBR QoS flow is divided into GBR QoS flow that requires QNC and GBR QoS flow that does not require QNC according to whether the QoS profile contains QNC. For the GBR QoS flow that requires QNC, when the RAN detects that the corresponding QoS flow resources cannot be satisfied, the RAN notifies the SMF of the event, and then notifies the PCF of the event. Further SMF can initiate QoS flow deletion or modification flow.

For Non-GBR QoS flow, the corresponding QoS profile must contain the following QoS parameters: 5QI, ARP; the optional QoS profile also contains the Reflective QoS Attribute (RQA).

The specific QoS parameters are defined as follows:

5QI: is a scalar used to index the corresponding 5G QoS features; 5QI is divided into standardized 5QI, pre-configured 5QI and dynamically allocated 5QI. For the standardized 5QI, there is a one-to-one correspondence with a set of standardized 5G QoS feature values; for the pre-configured 5QI, the corresponding 5G QoS feature values are pre-configured at the access network node (AN); for the dynamically allocated 5QI, the corresponding 5G QoS feature values The QoS characteristics are included in the QoS profile and sent to the AN. QoS characteristic values include resource type (Resource Type, resource types are divided into GBR and Non-GBR), priority level (priority level), packet delay budget (packet delay budget, the delay of data packets from UE to UPF), Packet error rate (packet error rate), maximum data burst volume (maximum data burst volume), averaging window (averaging window, used to calculate the rate corresponding to GBR).

ARP: includes priority, preemption capability and preemption capability;

RQA: used to indicate that the service transmitted using the corresponding QoS flow uses reverse QoS;

QNC: used to indicate whether the RAN notifies the network when the GFBR cannot be satisfied during the usage period of the QoS flow;

GFBR: represents the bit rate expected to be provided to GBR QoS flow;

MFBR: Limit the bit rate provided to the GBR QoS flow, that is, the maximum bit rate provided to the GBR QoS flow. If this bit rate is exceeded, packets can be dropped.

The 5G network can perform the management process of QoS control through the signaling plane. SMF binds service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow based on QoS and service requirements. According to the local policy or the policy and charging control (PCC) rules sent by the PCF, the SMF allocates the QFI of the new QoS flow to the SDF, and calculates the QoS Profile (QoS profile) and the corresponding packet inspection rules (packet detection rules). detection rule, PDR) information. Among them, PCC rules include two types: dynamic PCC rules and predefined PCC rules. Dynamic PCC rules are provided by PCF to SMF, and predefined PCC rules are configured on SMF. The PCC rules include service data flow detection related, charging related, and policy control related. The service data flow detection is related to including a service data flow template (SDF template, a data packet detected by a service data flow template in a PCC rule forms an SDF) and a template priority. Policy control related includes Gate status (service data flow can be passed or discarded), authorized QoS parameters (5QI, ARP, maximum bitrate, guaranteed bitrate, etc.), QNC, Reflective QoS Control. maximum bitrate is the maximum bit rate of the service data stream, and guaranteed bitrate is the guaranteed bit rate of the service data stream.

2. D2D QoS management

In 5G D2D communication, UE A can establish one or more PC5 links (PC5 link) with UE B, and each UE assigns a PC5 link identifier (PC5 link identifier) to each link to identify the PC5 link . For a PC5 link between UE A and UE B, UE A and UE B use the same layer 2 identity pair to exchange signaling messages and data transmission. Layer 2 identifiers are further divided into source layer 2 identifiers (source layer-2 ID) and destination layer 2 identifiers (destination layer-2 ID). The PC5 link can be used for direct communication between UEs and can also be used for relay communication. In the relay communication scenario, the PC5 link between the Remote UE and the Relay UE is called the PC5 link used for relay communication. In the inter-UE direct communication scenario, the PC5 link between the UEs is called a PC5 link for inter-UE direct communication.

It should be noted that, in this application, the PC5 link may also be referred to as a PC5 connection or a PC5 link, which is not limited in this application.

In 5G D2D communication, a QoS model based on QoS flow is proposed as shown in Figure 4, which is similar to the 5G QoS model shown in Figure 3. One or more QoS flows can be established in each PC5 link. Each QoS flow is identified by a PC5 QoS flow identifier (PC5 QoS flow identifier, PFI), which uniquely identifies a QoS flow in the link. D2D QoS supports GBR QoS flow and Non-GBR QoS flow.

PC5 QoS parameters include PQI (PC5 5QI), PC5 flow bit rate and PC5 link aggregated bit rate. PQI is a special 5QI. Each PQI value corresponds to a QoS characteristic value one-to-one. The content contained in the QoS characteristic value is the same as that involved in 5G QoS. PC5 stream bit rates include GFBR and MFBR.

For QoS management in the D2D scenario, the UE obtains the QoS mapping configuration from the PCF during the registration process, and the QoS mapping configuration is included in the UE policy. QoS mapping configuration includes: 1) Correspondence between service types or service requirements (priority, reliability, delay, etc.) and PC5 QoS parameters (such as PQI, MFBR/GFBR, etc.); 2) PC5 QoS parameters and sidelinks Correspondence of side link radio bear (SLRB). PC5 QoS parameters are PC5 QoS parameters authorized by the network. Configuration 1) is used in the scenario where the UE is in network service and not in network service, and configuration 2) is used in the scenario where the UE is not in network service. While providing the authorized PC5 QoS parameters to the UE, the PCF also sends the authorized PC5 QoS parameters to the RAN where the UE resides through the AMF. It is worth noting that the PC5 QoS parameters sent to the UE and the RAN are all PC5 QoS parameters used for direct communication between UEs. The PC5 QoS parameter used for direct communication between UEs can be understood as the PC5 QoS parameter used for the PC5 link of direct communication between UEs.

In the process of establishing a link or updating a link, the UE negotiates PC5 QoS parameter information to establish a PC5 QoS flow. For each PC5 QoS flow, the PC5 QoS flow information includes the PFI and the QoS parameter information corresponding to the PFI. The UE derives a QoS rule (QoS rule), which represents the correspondence between service data packets and PFI. QoS rules include: QFI of the associated QoS flow, packet filter set and priority. Packet filter sets are used in QoS rules and PDR to identify data flows. Priority determines the order in which QoS rules are used.

After the UE negotiates the PC5 QoS parameter information, the UE determines the communication configuration parameters corresponding to the PC5 QoS parameters and obtains communication resources. Under the network service, the UE provides PC5 QoS parameter information and link information (such as PC5 link ID or destination layer 2 ID) to the RAN to obtain the communication configuration parameters and communication resources corresponding to the PC5 QoS parameters, and the RAN provides the UE with the corresponding Communication configuration parameters, the RAN provides corresponding communication resources to the UE. Communication configuration parameters can be understood as access layer configuration parameters, such as sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) configuration, radio link control (radio link control, RLC) configuration and logical channel (logical channel) configuration. SLRB configuration includes sequence number (sequence number) and header compression (header compression) parameters. RLC configuration includes transparent mode (transparent mode), unacknowledged mode (unacknowledged mode) or confirmed mode (acknowledged mode). The logical channel configuration includes logical channel priority and so on. The RAN authorizes the PC5 QoS parameters provided by the UE according to the authorized PC5 QoS parameters obtained from the PCF, and then provides the communication configuration parameters and communication resources after the authorization is passed.

In the process of sending data by the UE, the UE maps the application layer data packets to the PFI according to the QoS Rule, obtains the corresponding QoS parameters according to the PFI, and then obtains the communication configuration parameters and communication resources from the RAN according to the QoS parameters, and then sends the corresponding data.

3. The Remote UE needs to realize the uplink and downlink transmission of its own data through the PC5 link between the Remote UE and the Relay UE and the PDU session of the Relay UE. In the relay communication scenario, the PC5 link between the Remote UE and the Relay UE is called the PC5 link used for relay communication. The end-to-end QoS requirements of Remote UE can be divided into PC5 QoS parameters for relay communication and QoS parameters corresponding to PDU sessions. The PC5 QoS parameter used for relay communication can be understood as the PC5 link used by the PC5 QoS parameter for relay communication. Both PC5 links and PDU sessions used for relay communication are QoS processed based on the QoS flow model. The Relay UE can forward the data of the Remote UE according to the one-to-one mapping relationship between the QoS flow in the PC5 link used for relay communication and the QoS flow in the Relay UE PDU session.

The QoS rules and QoS parameters corresponding to the QoS flows in the PDU session are determined by the SMF. The SMF provides the QoS rules corresponding to the QoS flow and the corresponding QoS parameters to the Relay UE. The Relay UE converts the QoS parameters (such as 5QI, GFBR, MFBR, etc.) corresponding to the QoS flow in the PDU session into the corresponding PC5 QoS parameters (such as PQI, GFBR, MFBR, etc.) for relay communication. Since the PC5 link and PDU session used for relay communication are based on the QoS flow model for QoS processing, most of the QoS parameters of the QoS flow level can be used directly. For example, when the Relay UE obtains the GFBR corresponding to a QoS flow from the SMF, the GFBR is also set as the GFBR corresponding to the QoS flow on the PC5 link used for relay communication, so that the PC5 link used for relay communication The QoS flow in the PDU session is consistent with the GFBR parameters of the corresponding QoS flow in the PDU session. The MFBR of the QoS flow on the PC5 link used for relay communication is also set similarly. However, for the 5QI corresponding to the QoS flow in the PDU session, the Relay UE determines the value of the PQI according to the mapping relationship between the 5QI and the PQI. The mapping relationship can be pre-configured on the Relay UE.

At present, the PC5 QoS parameters used for relay communication may be different from the PC5 QoS parameters used for direct communication between UEs, which may cause RAN authorization problems. For example, currently, the RAN only obtains PC5 QoS parameters for direct communication between UEs, and there is no solution to obtain PC5 QoS parameters for relay communication from the core network. Therefore, the RAN cannot authorize the PC5 QoS parameters used for relay communication, that is, cannot provide communication configuration parameters and communication resources for relay communication. Specifically, the scenario diagram shown in FIG. 5 can make it clear that the PC5 QoS parameters used for relay communication are different from the PC5 QoS parameters used for direct communication between UEs. The end-to-end representation of direct communication between UEs is that the source point of data is UE1 (Remote UE), and the destination point of data is UE2 (Relay UE). The end-to-end representation of the relay communication of the Remote UE is that the source point of the data is the Remote UE, and the destination point of the data is the server in the network. In both cases, when the end-to-end delay is the same (10ms), the delay (3ms) left for PC5 communication in the case of relay communication is less than that of direct communication between UEs. It can also be understood that the PC5 QoS parameters (such as delay) used for relay communication will be stricter than the PC5 QoS parameters (such as delay) used for direct communication between UEs.

Based on this, this application proposes a communication method, which is used to realize that the RAN side obtains the PC5 QoS parameters used for the relay communication during relay communication, so that the RAN side can authorize the PC5 QoS parameters used for the relay communication, so that the RAN side can authorize the PC5 QoS parameters used for the relay communication. The UE is provided with communication configuration parameters for relay communication.

In order to describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application more clearly, the communication method and apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

A communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application is applicable to the communication system shown in FIG. 1 and the application scenario shown in FIG. 2 . Referring to Figure 6, the specific flow of the method may include:

Step 601: The terminal device sends first information to the access network device, where the first information includes a first PC5 QoS parameter, and the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication of the terminal device.

Step 602: The access network device sends a communication configuration parameter to the terminal device according to the first PC5 QoS parameter.

Step 603: The terminal device configures the PC5 link according to the communication configuration parameter.

Specifically, the terminal device is a relay terminal device or a remote terminal device.

In an optional implementation manner, the first information may be included in a first message, where the first message is a Sidelink UE Information NR (Sidelink UE Information NR) message, and the first message is used to report the terminal Information about the PC5 link of the device. Alternatively, the first message is a sidelink configuration parameter request message, and the first message is used to request communication configuration parameters. Wherein, the communication configuration parameter is a configuration parameter for a PC5 link of the terminal device, and the PC5 link is used for relay communication. Exemplarily, the communication configuration parameters may be access stratum configuration parameters, such as SLRB configuration, RLC configuration and logical channel configuration. SLRB configuration includes sequence number and header compression parameters, etc. The RLC configuration includes transparent mode, unacknowledged mode or acknowledged mode. The logical channel configuration includes logical channel priority and so on.

In an optional implementation manner, before the access network device sends the communication configuration parameter to the terminal device according to the first PC5 QoS parameter, the access network device obtains the terminal device The second PC5 QoS parameter, the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for the relay communication of the terminal device; the access network device authorizes the first PC5 QoS parameter according to the second PC5 QoS parameter. Wherein, the second PC5 QoS parameter is the QoS parameter used by the terminal device for relaying communication or the QoS parameter that the network authorizes the terminal device to use for relaying communication. The first PC5 QoS parameters may include PQI, MFBR, GFBR, and the like. The second PC5 QoS parameters may include PQI, MFBR, GFBR and the like.

Specifically, according to different actual scenarios, when the access network device acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, the following methods may be specifically included:

Method a1: the access network device receives the second PC5 QoS parameter from the first device; or the access network device receives the second PC5 QoS parameter and the first indication information from the first device, the The first indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

Specifically, the second PC5 QoS parameter and the first indication information may be carried in one message.

In the method a1, the first device is a policy control function; or, the first device is a session management function. In the case that the first device is a policy control function, the access network device receives the second PC5 QoS parameter and the first indication information from the policy control function through the access and mobility management function, and the terminal device is a medium relay terminal device or remote terminal device. In the case where the first device is a session management function, the access network device receives the second PC5 QoS parameter and the first indication information from the session management function through the access and mobility management function, and the terminal device is a medium follow the terminal equipment.

Method a2: the access network device receives a QoS configuration file and second indication information from the first device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is determined according to the QoS configuration file; and then the The access network device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file.

In the method a2, the first device is a session management function, and the terminal device is a relay terminal device. The access network device receives the QoS profile and the second indication information from the session management function through the access and mobility management function.

Specifically, the access network device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file, and the specific method may be: the access network device determines the QoS parameter according to the QoS mapping relationship and the QoS parameter in the QoS configuration file. , determine the second PC5 QoS parameter, and the QoS mapping relationship is used to represent the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter in the QoS configuration file and the PC5 QoS parameter. The QoS parameters in the QoS profile can include 5QI, GFBR, MFBR, etc. The QoS mapping relationship includes the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter 5QI in the QoS configuration file and the PC5 QoS parameter PQI, the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter GFBR in the QoS configuration file and the PC5 QoS parameter GFBR, the QoS parameter MFBR in the QoS configuration file and the PC5 The mapping relationship of the QoS parameter MFBR, etc. For example, the mapping relationship between 5QI and PQI may be that 5QI=10 is mapped to PQI=20, and the mapping relationship between GFBR and MFBR may be equal in value.

In an optional implementation manner, the first information further includes third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication; or, the first The information further includes fourth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication.

In an optional implementation manner, the first information further includes identification information of the PC5 link; further, before the access network device receives the first information from the terminal device, the access network device Second information is received from the terminal device, where the second information includes fifth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication.

In an optional implementation manner, when the terminal device is a remote terminal device, the remote terminal device sends the second information to the access network device through a relay terminal device.

In a specific implementation manner, when the terminal device is a remote terminal device, the access network device receives the first information from the terminal device, which may specifically be: the access network device passes the middle The terminal device receives the first information from the terminal device. That is, the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device through the relay terminal device.

In an optional implementation manner, before the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device, the terminal device receives the first PC5 QoS parameter from the first device.

Optionally, the terminal device further receives eighth indication information from the first device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

In an optional implementation manner, the access network device further sends PC5 communication resources to the terminal device according to the first PC5 QoS.

Using the communication method provided by this application, the access network device can provide the terminal device with communication configuration parameters according to the first PC5 QoS parameter used for relay communication, so that the terminal device configures the PC5 link according to the communication configuration parameter.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication method, which is applicable to the communication system shown in FIG. 1 and the application scenario shown in FIG. 2 . Referring to Figure 7, the specific flow of the method may include:

Step 701: The first device obtains the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, and the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication of the terminal device.

Step 702: The first device sends the second PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device.

In an optional implementation manner, the first device sends first indication information to the access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication. At this time, the first device is a policy control function or a session management function.

In an exemplary implementation, the first device receives relay capability information (relay capability) from the terminal device; further, the first device sends the second device to the access network device PC5 QoS parameters, the specific method may be: the first device sends the second PC5 QoS parameters to the access network device according to the relay capability information. At this time, the first device is a policy control function. The relay capability information may be sent by the terminal device to the first device through a non-access stratum (non access stratum, NAS) message during the registration process of the terminal device.

In an example, the first device obtains the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, and the specific method may be: the first device receives the second PC5 QoS parameter from the policy control function; wherein, in this case Below, the terminal device is a relay terminal device. At this time, the first device is a session management function.

In another example, the first device acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, and the specific method may be: the first device receives sixth indication information and PCC rules from the policy control function, and the sixth The indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is determined according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule; the first device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule. At this time, the first device is a session management function.

Specifically, the first device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule, and the specific method may be: the first device determines the QoS configuration file according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule ; The first device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file. At this time, the first device is a session management function.

Specifically, after the access network device receives the second PC5 QoS parameter, the access network device authorizes the access network device to receive the first PC5 QoS parameter from the terminal device according to the second PC5 QoS parameter. A PC5 QoS parameter. For details, refer to the related description in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 .

By using the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first device sends the second PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device, so that the access network device can be the PC5 used by the terminal device to relay communication according to the second PC5 QoS parameter QoS parameters for authorization.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication method, which is applicable to the communication system shown in FIG. 1 and the application scenario shown in FIG. 2 . Referring to Figure 8, the specific flow of the method may include:

Step 801: The session management function receives the policy and charging control PCC rules from the policy control function, where the PCC rules are used to relay the PDU session of the terminal device.

Step 802: The session management function determines a QoS configuration file according to the QoS parameters of the quality of service in the PCC rule.

Step 803: The session management function sends second indication information and the QoS configuration file to the access network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is determined according to the QoS configuration file, and the first Two PC5 QoS parameters are used for the relay communication of the relay terminal equipment.

In an optional implementation manner, the session management function receives sixth indication information from the policy control function, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 is determined according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule QoS parameters; further, the session management function sends second indication information to the access network device, and the specific method may be: the session management function sends, according to the sixth indication information, to the access network device the second indication information.

In another optional implementation manner, the session management function receives seventh indication information from the access and mobility management function, where the seventh indication information is used to indicate that the PDU session is used for relay communication; further , the session management function sends the second indication information to the access network device, and the specific method may be: the session management function sends the second indication information to the access network device according to the seventh indication information. Instructions.

Specifically, after receiving the QoS configuration file, the access network device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file, and then the access network device authorizes the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the second PC5 QoS parameter. The first PC5 QoS parameter received by the access network device from the terminal device. For details, refer to the related description in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 .

Using the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the subsequent access device can determine the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file, and then the access network device can use the second PC5 QoS parameter for the terminal device to use The PC5 QoS parameters of the relay communication are authorized.

Based on the above embodiments, the communication method provided by the present application will be described in detail below through the examples shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 12 . In the following example, the terminal device is UE, the access network device is RAN, the session management function is SMF, and the policy control function is PCF as an example for description.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a communication method provided by the present application. In this example, the PCF will provide the PC5 QoS parameters for relay communication to the UE and the RAN. When the UE requests the RAN to obtain the communication configuration parameters or communication resources corresponding to the PC5 QoS parameters, it indicates the PC5 chain corresponding to the PC5 QoS parameters. The channel is used to relay communication. The UE can be a remote UE (Remote UE) or a relay UE (Relay UE). The Remote UE resides in RAN1, and the Relay UE resides in RAN2. RAN1 and RAN2 can be the same RAN or different RANs. Specifically, the process of this example can be:

Step 901: During the registration process of the Remote UE, the Remote UE sends a NAS message to the AM PCF through the AMF, and the NAS message includes relay capability information. Relay access capability information.

Step 902: After the AM PCF obtains the subscription information of the Remote UE from the UDR, the AM PCF sends the second PC5 QoS parameter (Authorized PC5 QoS parameter) to the RAN 1 according to the relay capability information .

Specifically, the AM PCF also sends first indication information (for relaying indication) to the RAN 1.

Wherein, the AM PCF can send a registration response message to the RAN 1 through the AMF, and the registration response message includes the second PC5 QoS parameter and the first indication information.

After receiving the Authorized PC5 QoS parameter and the for relaying indication, the RAN1 stores the Authorized PC5 QoS parameter and the for relaying indication in the context of the Remote UE.

Among them, the Authorized PC5 QoS parameter indicates the PC5 QoS parameter authorized by the Remote UE, which is used for the relay communication of the terminal device; the for relaying indication indicates that the authorized PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication or the authorized PC5 QoS parameter corresponds to The PC5 link is used to relay communication.

In addition, optionally, AM PCF will also correspond the service type or service requirements (such as priority, reliability, delay, etc.) used for relay communication with the Authorized PC5 QoS parameter (here considered as the first PC5 QoS parameter) The relationship is sent to the Remote UE via AMF. The Remote UE uses the corresponding relationship to determine the PC5 QoS parameter corresponding to the service of the relay communication.

Steps 903 to 904: The registration process of the Relay UE is similar to the registration process of the Remote UE. For details, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions in Steps 901 and 902, which will not be described in detail here. The RAN corresponding to the Relay UE is RAN2.

Step 905: The Remote UE establishes a PC5 link with the Relay UE, and the PC5 link is used for relay communication.

Specifically, the Remote UE and the Relay UE determine the service correspondence of the relay communication according to the correspondence between the service type or service requirements (such as priority, reliability, delay, etc.) of the relay communication and the Authorized PC5 QoS parameter PC5 QoS parameters. The Remote UE negotiates with the Relay UE for PC5 QoS parameters corresponding to the transmission service under relay communication.

Step 906: The Relay UE establishes a PDU session.

After that, the Relay UE requests the RAN to obtain the communication configuration parameters or communication resources corresponding to the PC5 QoS parameters, which can be in the following two cases of step 907a and step 907b.

Step 907a: including step 907a-1 and step 907a-2.

Step 907a-1: After the Relay UE establishes the PC5 link, it sends an RRC message to the RAN 2, the RRC message includes second information, and the second information includes fifth indication information (relay indication) and the PC5 link The identification information (that is, the PC5 link information link info), the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication. Wherein, the identification information of the PC5 link may be the destination layer two identification of the PC5 link. The RRC message is a sidelink terminal information NR message. Alternatively, the first message is a sidelink configuration parameter request message.

Step 907a-2: the Relay UE sends a request message (that is, the above-mentioned first message) to the RAN 2, the request message is used to request communication configuration parameters or communication resources, and the request message includes the above-mentioned first information, The first information includes the first PC5 QoS parameter and the PC5 link identification information. The request message is a sidelink terminal information NR message or a sidelink configuration parameter request message.

Step 907b: When the Relay UE requests the RAN 2 to obtain the communication configuration parameters or communication resources corresponding to the PC5 QoS parameters, it sends first information to the RAN 2, where the first information includes the first PC5 QoS parameters and a third indication information, the third indication information is used to indicate that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication; or, the first information includes the first PC5 QoS parameter, the fourth indication information and the identification information of the PC5 link, The fourth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication. Wherein, the first information is carried in the request message of the Relay UE requesting the RAN 2 for communication configuration parameters or communication resources.

Step 908: The RAN 2 authorizes the first PC5 QoS parameter (that is, authorizes the first PC5 QoS parameter) according to the second PC5 QoS parameter (the authorized PC5 QoS parameter in step 904).

Step 909: After the authorization in Step 908 is passed, the RAN 2 sends communication configuration parameters to the Relay UE according to the first PC5 QoS parameters, and the communication configuration parameters are used for relay communication.

In addition, the RAN 2 also sends communication resources for relay communication to the Relay UE.

Specifically, the process of the Remote UE requesting the RAN 1 to obtain the communication configuration parameters or the communication resources corresponding to the PC5 QoS parameters is similar to the request process of the Relay UE described in steps 907a-909, which can be referred to each other, and will not be repeated here. The detailed description is also not shown in FIG. 9 .

Through the above example, the RAN can perceive the PC5 QoS parameters used for direct communication between UEs and the PC5 QoS parameters used for relay communication, and can respectively authorize the communication configuration parameters in the two cases or the PC5 QoS parameters in the communication resource request process. .

FIG. 10 shows an example of another communication method provided by the present application. In this example, RAN1 (the RAN where the Remote UE resides) and RAN2 (the RAN where the Relay UE resides) respectively obtains PC5 QoS parameters for relay communication from the core network. The Remote UE and the Relay UE respectively request the RAN where they reside to obtain the communication configuration parameters or communication resources corresponding to the PC5 QoS parameters used for relay communication. The Remote UE resides in RAN1, and the Relay UE resides in RAN2. RAN1 and RAN2 can also be the same. Specifically, the process of this example can be:

Step 1001: The Remote UE establishes a PC5 link with the Relay UE.

Step 1002: The Relay UE establishes a PDU session. After the PDU session is established, the Relay UE reports the Remote UE information to the SMF through the AMF, and the Remote UE information includes the Remote UE identification information and the Remote UE address information. The SMF reports the Remote UE information to the SM PCF.

Step 1003: The SM PCF perceives that the service data flow requested by the AF is that of the Remote UE, and determines the PCC rule and the PC5 QoS parameter (that is, the second PC5 QoS parameter) used for relay communication.

Specifically, the SM PCF determines that the destination UE requested by the AF is the Remote UE according to the address information provided by the AF and the Remote UE address information obtained from the SMF. The PCF generates PCC rules and second PC5 QoS parameters according to the service requirements requested by the AF.

Step 1004: The SM PCF sends the second PC5 QoS parameter and the PCC rule (Rule) to the SMF.

Step 1005: The SMF sends the second PC5 QoS parameter to RAN2, and the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication of the Relay UE.

Specifically, the second PC5 QoS parameter is also used to authorize the PC5 QoS parameter (that is, the first PC5 QoS parameter) requested by the Relay UE for relay communication.

Wherein, the SMF may send the second PC5 QoS parameter to the RAN 2 through N2 SM information (info). Specifically: Method 1: When the SMF receives the PCC Rule and the second PC5 QoS parameter from the SM PCF, it will put the second PC5 QoS parameter into the N2 SM info; When the relay communication (PDU session for relaying) information is used, and the second PC5 QoS parameters are received from the SM PCF, the second PC5 QoS parameters will be placed in the N2 SM info.

Optionally, the SMF further sends first indication information (for relaying indication) to the RAN 2, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

Afterwards, the RAN 2 stores the second PC5 QoS parameters obtained from the SMF for relay UE relay communication.

Step 1006: The SMF sends the second PC5 QoS parameter to the Relay UE and the Remote UE.

Wherein, the SMF sends the second PC5 QoS parameter to the Relay UE through the AMF, and the Relay UE sends the second PC5 QoS parameter to the Remote UE through the PC5 link.

Step 1007: The SM PCF sends a first update message to the UDR, where the first update message includes the identification information of the Remote UE, the second PC5 QoS parameter and the indication information for relay communication (the first indication information).

Through step 1007, the second PC5 QoS parameter can be updated to the UDR, that is, the subscription data of the Remote UE can be updated.

Step 1008: The UDR sends a second update message to the RAN 1 through the AM PCF, and the second update message includes the identification information of the Remote UE, the second PC5 QoS parameter and the indication information for relay communication (the first update message). instructions).

The UDR described in step 1008 can trigger the AM PCF to update the context of the Remote UE in RAN 1, that is, update the PC5 QoS parameters that the Remote UE uses for relay communication. Afterwards, RAN 1 stores the second PC5 QoS parameters for Remote UE relay communication.

Steps 1009a to 1011 are the same as the above-mentioned steps 907a to 909 shown in FIG. 9 , and can refer to each other and will not be repeated here.

Similarly, the process of the Remote UE requesting the RAN 1 to obtain the communication configuration parameters or communication resources corresponding to the PC5 QoS parameters is similar to the request process of the Relay UE described in steps 1009a to 1011, which can be referred to each other, but not here. No further details are shown in FIG. 10 .

Through the above example, the RAN can obtain the PC5 QoS parameters for the relay communication between the Remote UE and the Relay UE from the core network, and can authorize the Remote UE and the Relay UE to request the communication configuration parameters or the PC5 QoS parameters of the relay communication in the process of communication resources.

FIG. 11 shows an example of another communication method provided by the present application. The difference between this example and the example shown in FIG. 10 is that only RAN 2 (the RAN where the Relay UE resides) acquires the PC5 QoS parameters for relay communication from the core network. The Relay UE assists the Remote UE to request the RAN 2 for the communication configuration parameters or communication resources corresponding to the PC5 QoS parameters of the relay communication. Specifically, the process of this example can be:

Steps 1101 to 1106 are the same as steps 1001 to 1006 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 10 , and can refer to each other, and details are not repeated here.

The process of the Relay UE requesting the communication configuration parameters or the communication resources corresponding to the PC5 QoS parameters of the relay communication to the RAN 2 is the same as the steps 907a-909 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, and will not be repeated here. It is no longer shown in FIG. 11 here.

The process of the Remote UE requesting the communication configuration or communication resource corresponding to the PC5 QoS parameter of the relay communication from the RAN 2 may include the following steps 1107-1109:

Step 1107: The Remote UE sends the first information to the RAN 2 through the Relay UE.

Specifically, the step 1107 may include the following steps 1107a and 1107b:

Step 1107a: The Remote UE sends a first request message to the Relay UE, the first request message includes the first information, and the first information includes the first PC5 QoS parameter and PC5 link identification information . The first request message may be a PC5-Signalling (PC5-Signalling, PC5-S) message.

Step 1107b: The Relay UE sends a second request message to the RAN 2, where the second request message includes the first information, and the first information includes the first PC5 QoS parameter and PC5 link identification information. Wherein, the second request message may further include indication information, where the indication information and the first information come from the Remote UE. Specifically, the indication information may be Remote UE ID information.

Optionally, the first information may also include relay indication, where relay indication indicates that the PC5 link is used for relay communication.

Step 1108: The RAN 2 authorizes the first PC5 QoS parameter according to the second PC5 QoS parameter obtained in step 1105.

Step 1109: The RAN 2 sends communication configuration parameters (or communication resources) to the Remote UE through the Relay UE.

Specifically, the RAN 2 sends the communication configuration parameter to the Relay UE according to the first PC5 QoS parameter (which may be sent through a first response message), and then the Relay UE forwards the communication configuration parameter to the Remote UE (which may be sent by the Remote UE). forwarded via the second response message).

FIG. 12 shows an example of another communication method provided by the present application. In this example, the RAN generates PC5 QoS parameters for relay communication according to the for relaying instruction of the SMF. Specifically, the process of this example can be:

Step 1201: A PC5 link for relay communication is established between the Remote UE and the Relay UE.

Step 1202: The Relay UE establishes or modifies a PDU session for relay communication. The Relay UE reports the Remote UE information to the SMF through the AMF, and the Remote UE information includes the Remote UE identification information and the Remote UE address information. The SMF reports the Remote UE information to the SM PCF.

Step 1203: The SM PCF determines a PCC rule, and the PCC rule is used to relay the PDU session of the terminal device.

Specifically, the SM PCF determines that the destination UE requested by the AF is the Remote UE based on the address information provided by the AF in the service requirements corresponding to the service data flow requested by the AF and the Remote UE address information obtained from the SMF, and the SM PCF determines the destination UE of the AF request according to the AF request. Business requirements generate PCC rules.

Step 1204: The SM PCF sends the PCC rule to the SMF.

Optionally, the SM PCF sends sixth indication information (for relaying indication) to the SMF, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is determined according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule.

Step 1205: The SMF determines a QoS configuration file according to the QoS parameters of the quality of service in the PCC rule.

Step 1206: The SMF sends the second indication information and the QoS configuration file to the RAN 2.

Wherein, the two ways for the SMF to obtain/determine the second indication information include: 1) obtaining according to the sixth indication information obtained from the SM PCF; 2) the SMF receiving the seventh indication information from the AMF, and the SMF according to the sixth indication information Seven indication information to obtain the second indication information. The second indication information is used to indicate that a second PC5 QoS parameter is determined according to the QoS configuration file, and the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication of the relay terminal device.

The QoS profile (QoS profile) includes 5QI, GFBR, and MFBR.

Specifically, the SMF may send the second indication information to the RAN 2 through the N2 SM info.

Step 1207: The RAN 2 determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file.

Specifically, the RAN2 determines the second PC5 QoS parameters (PQI, GFBR) according to the QoS mapping relationship (such as the 5QI/PQI mapping relationship) and the QoS parameters (including 5QI, GFBR, MFBR) in the QoS configuration file , MFBR), the QoS mapping relationship is used to represent the mapping relationship between QoS parameters and PC5 QoS parameters. RAN2 determines the PQI in the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the 5QI/PQI mapping relationship) and the 5QI in the QoS configuration file. RAN2 sets the GFBR in the second PC5 QoS parameter to be equal to the GFBR in the QoS configuration file. RAN2 sets the MFBR in the second PC5 QoS parameter to be equal to the MFBR in the QoS configuration file.

The 5QI/PQI mapping relationship is pre-configured in the RAN 2, or the AM PCF is provided to the RAN 2 through the AMF during the Relay UE registration process, or provided by the SMF, or provided by the SM PCF. For example, the 5QI/PQI mapping relationship may be that 5QI=10 is mapped to PQI=20.

Step 1208: The SMF sends the QoS parameters in the PDU session such as 5QI to the Relay UE.

Step 1209: The Relay UE maps the PC5 QoS parameters for relay communication according to the QoS parameters in the PDU session such as 5QI, and sends them to the Remote UE.

After that, the process for the Relay UE and the Remote UE to request communication configuration parameters or communication resources is the same as the process involved in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11 . Specifically, for the Relay UE, reference may be made to the same steps 907a to 909 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, and details are not repeated here. 12 is no longer shown here; for Remote UE, steps 1210-1212 may refer to steps 1107-1109 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, and details are not repeated here.

Through the above example, RAN can generate PC5 QoS parameters of relay communication, which are consistent with the PC5 QoS parameters of relay communication generated by Relay UE/Remote UE, and can authorize the PC5 QoS parameters of relay communication in the process of requesting communication configuration parameters or communication resources parameter.

Based on the above embodiments, a communication apparatus is provided by the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 13 , the communication apparatus 1300 may include a transceiver unit 1301 and a processing unit 1302 . The transceiver unit 1301 is used for the communication device 1300 to receive information (message or data) or send information (message or data), and the processing unit 1302 is used to control and manage the actions of the communication device 1300 . The processing unit 1302 may also control the steps performed by the transceiver unit 1301 .

Exemplarily, the communication apparatus 1300 may be the access network device in the above-mentioned embodiment, and specifically may be a processor in the access network device, or a chip or a chip system, or a functional module, etc.; or, the communication apparatus 1300 may be the first device in the foregoing embodiment, and specifically may be a processor in the first device, or a chip or a chip system, or a functional module, etc.; or, the communication apparatus 1300 may be a session in the foregoing embodiment. The management function may specifically be a processor, or a chip or a chip system, or a functional module in the session management function; A processor, or a chip or a system of chips, or a functional module, etc.

In one embodiment, when the communication apparatus 1300 is configured to implement the functions of the access network device in the foregoing embodiment, it may specifically include:

The transceiver unit 1301 is configured to receive first information from a terminal device, where the first information includes a first proximity-based service communication 5PC5 quality of service QoS parameter, and the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relaying of the terminal device Communication; according to the first PC5 QoS parameter, send the communication configuration parameter to the terminal device; the processing unit 1302 is configured to control the sending and receiving operation of the sending and receiving unit 1301.

In an optional implementation manner, the terminal device is a relay terminal device or a remote terminal device.

Specifically, before the transceiver unit 1301 sends the communication configuration parameter to the terminal device according to the first PC5 QoS parameter, the processing unit 1302 is further configured to: acquire the second PC5 QoS of the terminal device parameter, the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication of the terminal device; according to the second PC5 QoS parameter, the first PC5 QoS parameter is authorized.

Exemplarily, when the processing unit 1302 acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, it is specifically configured to: control the transceiver unit 1301 to receive the second PC5 QoS parameter from the first device; or, control the The transceiver unit 1301 receives the second PC5 QoS parameter and first indication information from the first device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

In an optional implementation manner, the terminal device is a relay terminal device, and when acquiring the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, the processing unit 1302 is specifically configured to: control the transceiver unit 1301 from the first A device receives a QoS configuration file and second indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct to determine the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file; and determine the second PC5 QoS according to the QoS configuration file parameter.

Specifically, when the processing unit 1302 determines the QoS parameters of the second PC5 according to the QoS configuration file, it is specifically configured to: determine the second PC5 according to the QoS mapping relationship and the QoS parameters in the QoS configuration file. QoS parameters, the QoS mapping relationship is used to represent the mapping relationship between QoS parameters and PC5 QoS parameters.

Optionally, the first device is a policy control function.

Optionally, the first device is a session management function, and the terminal device is a relay terminal device.

In a specific implementation manner, the first information further includes third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication; or, the first information It also includes fourth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication.

In another specific implementation manner, the first information further includes identification information of the PC5 link; before the transceiver unit 1301 receives the first information from the terminal device, the transceiver unit 1301 is further configured to: The terminal device receives second information, where the second information includes fifth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication.

In an example, the terminal device is a remote terminal device, and when the transceiver unit 1301 receives the first information from the terminal device, it is specifically configured to: receive the first information from the terminal device through a relay terminal device. first information.

In one embodiment, when the communication apparatus 1300 is configured to implement the function of the first device in the foregoing embodiment, it may specifically include:

The processing unit 1302 is configured to acquire the second proximity-based service communication 5PC5 quality of service QoS parameter of the terminal device, and the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication of the terminal device; The access network device sends the second PC5 QoS parameter.

Exemplarily, the transceiver unit 1301 is further configured to send first indication information to the access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

Specifically, the transceiver unit 1301 is further configured to receive relay capability information from the terminal device; further, when the transceiver unit 1301 sends the second PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device, it is specifically used for : send the second PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device according to the relay capability information.

Optionally, when the processing unit 1302 acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, it is specifically configured to: control the transceiver unit 1301 to receive the second PC5 QoS parameter from a policy control function; wherein, the terminal The device is a relay terminal device.

Optionally, when the first device acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, the processing unit 1302 is specifically configured to: control the transceiver unit 1301 to receive the sixth indication information and the policy and accounting information from the policy control function. Charge control PCC rules, the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameters are determined according to the QoS parameters in the PCC rules; according to the QoS parameters in the PCC rules, the second PC5 QoS parameters are determined .

Exemplarily, when the processing unit 1302 determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule, it is specifically configured to: determine a QoS configuration file according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule; QoS configuration file, to determine the second PC5 QoS parameters.

In an optional implementation manner, the first device is a policy control function.

In another optional implementation manner, the first device is a session management function.

In one embodiment, when the communication apparatus 1300 is used to implement the function of the session management function in the foregoing embodiment, it may specifically include:

The transceiver unit 1301 is configured to receive the policy and charging control PCC rules from the policy control function, and the PCC rules are used to relay the protocol data unit PDU session of the terminal device; The QoS parameters of the quality of service are determined, and the QoS configuration file is determined; the transceiver unit 1301 is further configured to send second indication information and the QoS configuration file to the access network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that according to the QoS configuration The file determines the second proximity service communication 5PC5 QoS parameter, the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for the relay communication of the relay terminal device.

In an optional implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1301 is further configured to receive sixth indication information from the policy control function, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the first indication is determined according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule Second PC5 QoS parameter; when the transceiver unit 1301 sends the second indication information to the access network device, it is specifically configured to: send the second indication to the access network device according to the sixth indication information information.

In an optional implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1301 is further configured to receive the seventh indication information from the access and mobility management function, where the seventh indication information is used to indicate that the PDU session is used in the middle communication;

When the transceiver unit 1301 sends the second indication information to the access network device, it is specifically configured to: send the second indication information to the access network device according to the seventh indication information.

In one embodiment, when the communication apparatus 1300 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the foregoing embodiment, it may specifically include:

The transceiver unit 1301 is configured to send first information to the access network device, where the first information includes the first proximity-based service communication 5PC5 quality of service QoS parameter, and the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for the terminal device's QoS parameters. Relay communication; receive communication configuration parameters from the access network device; and the processing unit 1302 is configured to configure the PC5 link according to the communication configuration parameters.

Specifically, before the transceiver unit 1301 sends the first information to the access network device, the transceiver unit 1301 is further configured to: receive the first PC5 QoS parameter from the first device.

Exemplarily, the transceiver unit 1301 is further configured to receive eighth indication information from the first device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

Optionally, the first device is a policy control function or a session management function.

Specifically, the first information further includes third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication; or, the first information further includes fourth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication.

Exemplarily, the first information further includes identification information of the PC5 link; before sending the first information to the access network device, the transceiver unit 1301 is further configured to: send to the access network device The second information includes fifth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication.

In an optional implementation manner, the terminal device is a remote terminal device, and when the transceiver unit 1301 sends the first information to the access network device, it is specifically configured to: send the first information to the access network device through the relay terminal device. The access network device sends the first information.

It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division, and other division methods may be used in actual implementation. Each functional unit in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically alone, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware, or may be implemented in the form of software functional units.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present application can be embodied in the form of software products in essence, or the parts that contribute to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solutions, and the computer software products are stored in a storage medium , including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk and other media that can store program codes .

Referring to FIG. 14 , for a communication apparatus provided in this embodiment of the present application, the communication apparatus 1400 may include a transceiver 1401 and a processor 1402 . Optionally, the communication apparatus 1400 may further include a memory 1403 . The memory 1403 may be disposed inside the communication device 1400 or outside the communication device 1400 . The processor 1402 can control the transceiver 1401 to receive and transmit data or information.

Specifically, the processor 1402 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of CPU and NP. The processor 1402 may further include hardware chips. The above-mentioned hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD) or a combination thereof. The above-mentioned PLD can be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a general-purpose array logic (generic array logic, GAL) or any combination thereof.

The transceiver 1401, the processor 1402 and the memory 1403 are connected to each other. Optionally, the transceiver 1401, the processor 1402 and the memory 1403 are connected to each other through a bus 1404; the bus 1404 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) ) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into address bus, data bus, control bus and so on. For ease of presentation, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 14, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

In an optional implementation manner, the memory 1403 is used to store programs and the like. Specifically, the program may include program code, the program code including computer operation instructions. The memory 1403 may include RAM, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more disk memories. The processor 1402 executes the application program stored in the memory 1403 to realize the above-mentioned functions, thereby realizing the functions of the communication device 1400 .

Exemplarily, the communication apparatus 1400 may be the above-mentioned access network device, first device, session management function, or terminal device.

In one embodiment, when the communication apparatus 1400 is configured to implement the functions of the access network device in the foregoing embodiment, it may specifically include:

The transceiver 1401 is configured to receive first information from a terminal device, the first information includes a first proximity-based service communication 5PC5 quality of service QoS parameter, and the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relaying of the terminal device communication; according to the first PC5 QoS parameters, send communication configuration parameters to the terminal device; the processor 1402 is used to control the transceiver 1401 for sending and receiving operations.

Specifically, before the transceiver 1401 sends the communication configuration parameter to the terminal device according to the first PC5 QoS parameter, the processor 1402 is further configured to: acquire the second PC5 QoS of the terminal device parameter, the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication of the terminal device; according to the second PC5 QoS parameter, the first PC5 QoS parameter is authorized.

Exemplarily, when the processor 1402 acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, it is specifically configured to: control the transceiver 1401 to receive the second PC5 QoS parameter from the first device; or, control the The transceiver 1401 receives the second PC5 QoS parameter and first indication information from the first device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

In an optional implementation manner, the terminal device is a relay terminal device, and when the processor 1402 acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, it is specifically configured to: control the transceiver 1401 from the first A device receives a QoS configuration file and second indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct to determine the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file; and determine the second PC5 QoS according to the QoS configuration file parameter.

Specifically, when the processor 1402 determines the QoS parameters of the second PC5 according to the QoS configuration file, it is specifically configured to: determine the second PC5 according to the QoS mapping relationship and the QoS parameters in the QoS configuration file. QoS parameters, the QoS mapping relationship is used to represent the mapping relationship between QoS parameters and PC5 QoS parameters.

Optionally, the first device is a policy control function.

In another specific implementation manner, the first information further includes identification information of the PC5 link; before the transceiver 1401 receives the first information from the terminal device, the transceiver 1401 is further configured to: The terminal device receives second information, where the second information includes fifth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication.

In an example, the terminal device is a remote terminal device, and when the transceiver 1401 receives the first information from the terminal device, it is specifically configured to: receive the first information from the terminal device through a relay terminal device. first information.

In one embodiment, when the communication apparatus 1400 is configured to implement the function of the first device in the foregoing embodiment, it may specifically include:

The processor 1402 is configured to acquire the second proximity-based service communication 5PC5 quality of service QoS parameter of the terminal device, and the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for the relay communication of the terminal device; the transceiver 1401 is used to send The access network device sends the second PC5 QoS parameter.

Exemplarily, the transceiver 1401 is further configured to send first indication information to the access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

Specifically, the transceiver 1401 is further configured to receive relay capability information from the terminal device; further, when the transceiver 1401 sends the second PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device, it is specifically used for : send the second PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device according to the relay capability information.

Optionally, when the processor 1402 acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, it is specifically configured to: control the transceiver 1401 to receive the second PC5 QoS parameter from a policy control function; wherein, the terminal The device is a relay terminal device.

Optionally, when the first device acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, the processor 1402 is specifically configured to: control the transceiver 1401 to receive the sixth indication information and the policy and accounting information from the policy control function. Charge control PCC rules, the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameters are determined according to the QoS parameters in the PCC rules; according to the QoS parameters in the PCC rules, the second PC5 QoS parameters are determined .

Exemplarily, when the processor 1402 determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule, it is specifically configured to: determine a QoS configuration file according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule; QoS configuration file, to determine the second PC5 QoS parameters.

In one embodiment, when the communication apparatus 1400 is used to implement the function of the session management function in the foregoing embodiment, it may specifically include:

The transceiver 1401 is configured to receive policy and charging control PCC rules from the policy control function, and the PCC rules are used to relay the protocol data unit PDU session of the terminal device; the processor 1402 is configured to according to the PCC rules The QoS parameters of the quality of service are determined, and the QoS configuration file is determined; the transceiver 1401 is further configured to send second indication information and the QoS configuration file to the access network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that according to the QoS configuration The file determines the second proximity service communication 5PC5 QoS parameter, the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for the relay communication of the relay terminal device.

In an optional implementation manner, the transceiver 1401 is further configured to receive sixth indication information from the policy control function, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the first indication is determined according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule Second PC5 QoS parameter; when the transceiver 1401 sends the second indication information to the access network device, it is specifically configured to: send the second indication to the access network device according to the sixth indication information information.

In an optional implementation manner, the transceiver 1401 is further configured to receive the seventh indication information from the access and mobility management function, where the seventh indication information is used to indicate that the PDU session is used in the middle communication;

When the transceiver 1401 sends the second indication information to the access network device, it is specifically configured to: send the second indication information to the access network device according to the seventh indication information.

In one embodiment, when the communication apparatus 1400 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the foregoing embodiment, it may specifically include:

The transceiver 1401 is configured to send first information to an access network device, where the first information includes a first proximity-based service communication 5PC5 quality of service QoS parameter, and the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for the terminal device's QoS parameters. Relay communication; receive communication configuration parameters from the access network device; and the processor 1402 is configured to configure the PC5 link according to the communication configuration parameters.

Specifically, before the transceiver 1401 sends the first information to the access network device, the transceiver 1401 is further configured to: receive the first PC5 QoS parameter from the first device.

Exemplarily, the transceiver 1401 is further configured to receive eighth indication information from the first device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.

Exemplarily, the first information further includes identification information of the PC5 link; before sending the first information to the access network device, the transceiver 1401 is further configured to: send to the access network device The second information includes fifth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication.

In an optional implementation manner, the terminal device is a remote terminal device, and when the transceiver 1401 sends the first information to the access network device, it is specifically used for: sending the first information to the access network device through the relay terminal device. The access network device sends the first information.

FIG. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network device provided by an embodiment of the present application, such as a schematic structural diagram of a base station. As shown in FIG. 15 , the access network device can be applied to the communication system as shown in FIG. 1 , and performs the function of any one of the access network devices in the foregoing method embodiments. The base station 1500 may include one or more distributed units (DUs) 1501 and one or more centralized units (CUs) 1502 . The DU 1501 may include at least one antenna 15011, at least one radio frequency unit 15012, at least one processor 15017 and at least one memory 15014. The DU 1501 part is mainly used for the transmission and reception of radio frequency signals, the conversion of radio frequency signals and baseband signals, and part of baseband processing. The CU 1502 may include at least one processor 15022 and at least one memory 15021 . The CU1502 and the DU1501 can communicate through interfaces, wherein the control plane interface can be Fs-C, such as F1-C, and the user plan interface can be Fs-U, such as F1-U.

The CU 1502 part is mainly used to perform baseband processing, control the base station, and the like. The DU 1501 and the CU 1502 may be physically set together, or may be physically separated, that is, a distributed base station. The CU 1502 is the control center of the base station, which can also be called a processing unit, and is mainly used to complete the baseband processing function. For example, the CU 1502 may be used to control the base station to perform the operation procedures related to the access network device in the foregoing method embodiments.

Specifically, the baseband processing on the CU and DU can be divided according to the protocol layers of the wireless network. For example, the functions of the PDCP layer and above are set in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below PDCP, such as the RLC layer and the MAC layer, are set in the DU. . For another example, the CU implements the functions of the RRC and PDCP layers, and the DU implements the functions of the RLC, MAC, and physical (physical, PHY) layers.

In addition, optionally, the base station 1500 may include one or more radio frequency units (RUs), one or more DUs, and one or more CUs. The DU may include at least one processor 15017 and at least one memory 15014 , the RU may include at least one antenna 15011 and at least one radio frequency unit 15012 , and the CU may include at least one processor 15022 and at least one memory 15021 .

In an example, the CU1502 may be composed of one or more single boards, and multiple single boards may jointly support a wireless access network (such as a 5G network) with a single access indication, or may respectively support wireless access systems of different access standards. Access network (such as LTE network, 5G network or other network). The memory 15021 and the processor 15022 may serve one or more single boards. That is to say, the memory and processor can be provided separately on each single board. It can also be that multiple boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits may also be provided on each single board. The DU1501 can be composed of one or more single boards. Multiple single boards can jointly support a wireless access network (such as a 5G network) with a single access indication, or can support a wireless access network with different access standards (such as a 5G network). LTE network, 5G network or other network). The memory 15014 and processor 15017 may serve one or more single boards. That is to say, the memory and processor can be provided separately on each single board. It can also be that multiple boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits may also be provided on each single board.

Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication system, which may include the first device (policy control function or session management function) involved in the above embodiments, access network devices, terminal devices, and the like.

Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium, where the computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the communication method provided by the foregoing method embodiments.

Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product, where the computer program product is used to store a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the communication method provided by the above method embodiments.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, where the chip is coupled with a memory, and the chip is used to implement the communication method provided by the above method embodiments.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor, which is configured to support the above-mentioned communication apparatus to implement the functions involved in the above-mentioned aspects. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data of the communication device. The chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, a system, or a computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to the processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine such that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce Means for implementing the functions specified in a flow or flow of a flowchart and/or a block or blocks of a block diagram.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory result in an article of manufacture comprising instruction means, the instructions The apparatus implements the functions specified in the flow or flow of the flowcharts and/or the block or blocks of the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded on a computer or other programmable data processing device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process such that The instructions provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flow or blocks of the flowcharts and/or the block or blocks of the block diagrams.

Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the protection scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

A method of communication, comprising:

The access network device receives first information from the terminal device, the first information includes a first proximity-based service communication 5PC5 quality of service QoS parameter, and the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication of the terminal device;

The access network device sends the communication configuration parameter to the terminal device according to the first PC5 QoS parameter.
The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is a relay terminal device or a remote terminal device.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein before the access network device sends the communication configuration parameter to the terminal device according to the first PC5QoS parameter, the method further comprises:

The access network device acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, and the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication of the terminal device;

The access network device authorizes the first PC5 QoS parameter according to the second PC5 QoS parameter.
The method of claim 3, wherein the access network device obtains the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, comprising:

The access network device receives the second PC5 QoS parameter from the first device; or,

The access network device receives the second PC5 QoS parameter and first indication information from the first device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the terminal device is a relay terminal device, and the access network device obtains the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, comprising:

The access network device receives a QoS configuration file and second indication information from the first device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is determined according to the QoS configuration file;

The access network device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file.
The method of claim 5, wherein the access network device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file, comprising:

The access network device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS mapping relationship and the QoS parameter in the QoS configuration file, and the QoS mapping relationship is used to represent the mapping relationship between the QoS parameter and the PC5 QoS parameter .
The method of claim 4, wherein the first device is a policy control function.
The method according to any one of claims 4-6, wherein the first device is a session management function, and the terminal device is a relay terminal device.
The method according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the first information further includes third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relaying communications; or,

The first information further includes fourth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication.
The method according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the first information further includes identification information of the PC5 link;

Before the access network device receives the first information from the terminal device, the method further includes:

The access network device receives second information from the terminal device, where the second information includes fifth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate the PC5 link Used to relay communications.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4 and 7, wherein the terminal device is a remote terminal device, and the access network device receives the first information from the terminal device, comprising:

The access network device receives the first information from the terminal device through the relay terminal device.
A communication method, comprising:

The first device acquires the second based on the proximity service communication 5 PC5 quality of service QoS parameter of the terminal device, and the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for the relay communication of the terminal device;

The first device sends the second PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device.
The method of claim 12, wherein the terminal device is a relay terminal device or a remote terminal device.
The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein the method further comprises:

The first device sends first indication information to the access network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.
The method according to any one of claims 12-14, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the first device, relay capability information from the terminal device;

The sending, by the first device, the second PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device includes: the first device sending the second PC5 QoS parameter to the access network device according to the relay capability information parameter.
The method according to any one of claims 12-14, wherein the first device acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, comprising:

The first device receives the second PC5 QoS parameter from the policy control function;

Wherein, the terminal device is a relay terminal device.
The method according to any one of claims 12-14, wherein the first device acquires the second PC5 QoS parameter of the terminal device, comprising:

The first device receives sixth indication information and a policy and charging control PCC rule from the policy control function, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is determined according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule;

The first device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule.
The method of claim 16, wherein the first device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule, comprising:

The first device determines a QoS configuration file according to the QoS parameters in the PCC rule;

The first device determines the second PC5 QoS parameter according to the QoS configuration file.
The method according to any one of claims 12-16, wherein the first device is a policy control function.
The method according to any one of claims 12-14 and 16-18, wherein the first device is a session management function.
A communication method, comprising:

the session management function receives the policy and charging control PCC rules from the policy control function, the PCC rules are used to relay the protocol data unit PDU session of the terminal device;

The session management function determines a QoS configuration file according to the quality of service QoS parameter in the PCC rule;

The session management function sends second indication information and the QoS configuration file to the access network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the second proximity service communication 5 PC5 QoS parameter is determined according to the QoS configuration file, and the The second PC5 QoS parameter is used for the relay communication of the relay terminal device.
The method of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises:

The session management function receives sixth indication information from the policy control function, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the second PC5 QoS parameter is determined according to the QoS parameter in the PCC rule;

The session management function sends second indication information to the access network device, including:

The session management function sends the second indication information to the access network device according to the sixth indication information.
The method of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises:

The session management function receives the seventh indication information from the access and mobility management function, where the seventh indication information is used to indicate that the PDU session is used for relay communication;

The session management function sends second indication information to the access network device, including:

The session management function sends the second indication information to the access network device according to the seventh indication information.
A communication method, comprising:

The terminal device sends first information to the access network device, the first information includes the first proximity-based service communication 5PC5 quality of service QoS parameter, and the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication of the terminal device;

receiving, by the terminal device, communication configuration parameters from the access network device;

The terminal device configures the PC5 link according to the communication configuration parameter.
The method of claim 24, wherein the terminal device is a relay terminal device or a remote terminal device.
The method according to claim 24 or 25, wherein before the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device, the method further comprises:

The terminal device receives the first PC5 QoS parameter from the first device.
The method of claim 26, wherein the method further comprises:

The terminal device receives eighth indication information from the first device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relay communication.
The method according to claim 26 or 27, wherein the first device is a policy control function or a session management function.
The method according to any one of claims 24-28, wherein the first information further includes third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate that the first PC5 QoS parameter is used for relaying communications; or,

The first information further includes fourth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the PC5 link is used for relay communication.
The method according to any one of claims 24-28, wherein the first information further includes identification information of the PC5 link;

Before the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device, the method further includes:

The terminal device sends second information to the access network device, where the second information includes fifth indication information and identification information of the PC5 link, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate the PC5 link Used to relay communications.
The method according to any one of claims 24-30, wherein the terminal device is a remote terminal device, and the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device, comprising:

The terminal device sends the first information to the access network device through the relay terminal device.
A communication device, characterized by comprising a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1-11.
A communication device, characterized by comprising a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 12-20.
A communication device, characterized by comprising a unit or module for performing the method according to any one of claims 21-23.
A communication device, characterized by comprising a unit or module for performing the method according to any one of claims 24-31.
A communication device, comprising a processor and a transceiver, wherein:

the transceiver, for sending and receiving data or information;

The processor, coupled to a memory, is configured to invoke a program in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1-11.
A communication device, comprising a processor and a transceiver, wherein:

the transceiver, for sending and receiving data or information;

The processor, coupled to a memory, is configured to invoke a program in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 12-20.
A communication device, comprising a processor and a transceiver, wherein:

the transceiver, for sending and receiving data or information;

The processor, coupled to a memory, is configured to invoke a program in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 21-23.
A communication device, comprising a processor and a transceiver, wherein:

the transceiver, for sending and receiving data or information;

The processor, coupled to a memory, is configured to invoke a program in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 24-31.