EP-4507215-B1 - COMMUNICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, RELATED DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

EP4507215B1EP 4507215 B1EP4507215 B1EP 4507215B1EP-4507215-B1

Inventors

HU, Yushuang
SHI, Nanxiang
DENG, Pingke
ZHENG, Shaowen

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20230427

Claims (13)

A communication method performed by a first satellite-based core network device, comprising: receiving (101) a first session establishment request sent by a first access network device; wherein the first session establishment request is used to request to establish a session for a terminal, and the first session establishment request at least includes an identifier of a first network slice; selecting (102) a satellite for serving the first network slice by using location information of the terminal and ephemeris information; establishing (103) a session for the terminal through the selected satellite; wherein the selecting a satellite for serving the first network slice by using location information of the terminal and ephemeris information, includes: according to the location information of the terminal and the ephemeris information, selecting a satellite supporting the first network slice, which the terminal accesses within a time period; wherein when an access duration of the terminal exceeds an access duration provided by the selected satellite, reselecting a satellite supporting the first network slice that the terminal accesses within the time period, according to the location information of the terminal and the ephemeris information.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting a satellite for serving the first network slice, includes: determining a satellite user plane function, UPF, and/or satellite service platform serving the first network slice.
The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the following conditions is met between the network slice and the satellite: one network slice is supported by a single bearer of one satellite; one network slice is supported by one satellite; one satellite supports one network slice; multiple bearers of one satellite support multiple network slices.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the method further includes: determining a satellite that supports the first network slice by using a first mapping relationship and/or a second mapping relationship; wherein the first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a network slice and a satellite bearer, and the second mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a network slice and a satellite.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further includes: synchronizing user information of the terminal with a ground core network.
The method according to claim 5, wherein the user information includes at least one of the following: location information of the terminal; subscribed network slice information; tracking area, TA, related information; access and mobility management function, AMF, related information; network slice selection policy, NSSP.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further includes: receiving a first registration request sent by a first access network device, wherein the first registration request is used to request registration for the terminal; after the terminal is successfully registered, returning registration-related information to the first access network device, wherein the registration-related information includes an identifier of a configured network slice and an identifier of a network slice available in an area where the terminal is located.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the method further includes: transferring context information of the terminal to the second satellite core network device.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the transferring context information of the terminal to the second satellite core network device, includes: transferring the context information of the terminal to the second satellite core network device through an interface with the second satellite core network device; transferring the context information of the terminal to the second satellite core network device through the first access network device; transferring the context information of the terminal to the second satellite core network device through the first access network device and the second access network device in sequence.
A communication method performed by a first access network device, comprising: receiving (301) a second session establishment request sent by a terminal; wherein the second session establishment request is used to request to establish a session for a terminal, and the second session establishment request at least includes an identifier of a first network slice; selecting (302) a first satellite-based core network device according to at least location information of the terminal and the identifier of the first network slice; sending (303) a first session establishment request to the first satellite-based core network device; wherein the first session establishment request is configured to request to establish a session for a terminal, and the first session establishment request at least includes the identifier of the first network slice; wherein the first session establishment request is configured to request the selection of a satellite supporting the first network slice based on the location information of the terminal and ephemeris information, which the terminal accesses within a time period, and is configured to request to establish a session for the terminal through the selected satellite; wherein when an access duration of the terminal exceeds an access duration provided by the selected satellite, the request is configured to request reselecting a satellite supporting the first network slice that the terminal accesses within the time period, according to the location information of the terminal and the ephemeris information.
The method according to claim 10, wherein the method further includes: receiving a second registration request sent by the terminal, wherein the second registration request is used to request registration for the terminal; selecting the first satellite core network device for the terminal; sending a first registration request to the first satellite core network device, wherein the first registration request is used to request registration for the terminal; receiving registration-related information returned by a first access network device, wherein the registration-related information includes the identifier of the configured network slice and an identifier of a network slice available in an area where the terminal is located.
A communication device configured to be installed in a first satellite-based core network device, comprising: a first receiving unit (601) used to receive a first session establishment request sent by a first access network device; wherein the first session establishment request is used to request to establish a session for a terminal, and the first session establishment request at least includes an identifier of a first network slice; a first processing unit (602) used to select a satellite for serving the first network slice by using location information of the terminal and ephemeris information; and establish a session for the terminal through the selected satellite; wherein the first processing unit (602) is used to select a satellite supporting the first network slice, which the terminal accesses within a time period, according to the location information of the terminal and ephemeris information; wherein when an access duration of the terminal exceeds an access duration provided by the selected satellite, the first processing unit (602) reselects a satellite supporting the first network slice that the terminal accesses within a time period, according to the location information of the terminal and ephemeris information.
A communication device configured to be installed in a first access network equipment, comprising: a second receiving unit (701) used to receive a second session establishment request sent by a terminal; wherein the second session establishment request is used to request to establish a session for a terminal, and the second session establishment request at least includes an identifier of a first network slice; a second processing unit (702) used to select a first satellite-based core network device according to at least location information of the terminal and the identifier of the first network slice; and send a first session establishment request to the first satellite-based core network device; wherein the first session establishment request is configured to request to establish a session for a terminal, and the first session establishment request at least includes the identifier of the first network slice; wherein the first session establishment request is configured to request the selection of a satellite supporting the first network slice based on the location information of the terminal and ephemeris information, which the terminal accesses within a time period, and is configured to request to establish a session for the terminal through the selected satellite; wherein when an access duration of the terminal exceeds an access duration provided by the selected satellite, the request is configured to request reselecting a satellite supporting the first network slice that the terminal accesses within the time period, according to the location information of the terminal and the ephemeris information.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION The present disclosure claims the priority of Chinese Application No. 202210502155.X, filed on May 9, 2022. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular to a communication method and device. BACKGROUND The satellite-ground convergence network has new and complex application scenarios and complex and changeable business characteristics. Implementing network slicing technology based on satellite-ground integration can effectively organize network resources on demand according to various business characteristics, and form differentiated services for different users and different business scenarios. At present, the research on this technology in satellite-ground integration network is still in its infancy. DRIF YOUSSOUF ET AL: "Slice Aware Non Terrestrial Networks", 2021 IEEE 46TH CONFERENCE ON LOCAL COMPUTER NETWORKS (LCN), IEEE, 4 October 2021 (2021-10-04), pages 24-31) relates to a slice aware non terrestrial networks. R2-2203183 discloses a way forward and TP for RAN slicing solution. US2020137552A1 discloses a method for registering terminal in wireless communication system and apparatus therefor. SUMMARY In order to solve the related technical problems, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method and device. The invention is set out in the appended set of claims. According to the communication method and device, related apparatus and storage medium provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first access network device receives the second session establishment request sent by the terminal, where the second session establishment request is used to request to establish a session for the terminal, and the second session establishment request at least includes the identifier of the first network slice; selects a first satellite core network device based on at least the location information of the terminal and the identifier of the first network slice; and sends a first session establishment request to the first satellite core network device, where the first session establishment request is used to request to establish a session for the terminal. The first session establishment request at least includes the identifier of the first network slice. The first satellite core network device uses the location information of the terminal and ephemeris information to select a satellite serving the first network slice; and uses the selected satellite to establish a session for the terminal. According to the solution provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the satellite core network can real-time adjust the strategy of the satellite serving a certain network slicing instance based on ephemeris information and location information of the terminal, so as to select the optimal network connection solution. In this way, the resource isolation, quality assurance and service customization requirements of different application scenarios can be met. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a network structure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a satellite that provides slicing services for terminals changing over time according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing processing flow of network slicing data services according to an application embodiment of the present disclosure;FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a satellite core network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a satellite access network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; andFIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present disclosure will be described in details hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. In related art, main modes used for satellite-ground fusion networks include the following: Mode 1: satellite transparent transmission, that is, transparent forwarding mode, in which a satellite only plays the role of frequency converter and radio frequency device;Mode 2: distributed base station, that is, the base station adopts a centralized unit (CU)-distributed unit (DU) separated architecture., and only the DU is deployed on the satellite, which is a regeneration mode;Mode 3: an entire base station is deployed on a satellite, which is a regeneratio