WO2022032891A1 - Communication method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a communication method and apparatus, relating to the technical field of communication. In the method, a first network element receives from a second network element a first message comprising attribute information of first data, the first data comprising data being obtained or data obtained by the second network element; the first network element receives from a third network element a second message comprising attribute information of second data, the second message being used for requesting the first network element to discover a network element capable of providing the second data; when the attribute information of the first data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the first network element sends to the third network element a response message for the second message, the response message comprising information of the second network element. Thus, the third network element directly uses the attribute information of the second data to be obtained to obtain from the first network element the second network element capable of providing the second data, thereby increasing data query and acquisition efficiency.

Description

Communication method and device

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with the application number PCT/CN2020/108750 and the application name "Communication Method and Device" filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on August 12, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference Applying.

technical field

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

Background technique

In the fifth generation (5G) communication network, the network data analysis function (NWDAF) network element is introduced. The NWDAF network element obtains the relevant data of the terminal equipment and the network, and uses the machine learning method to do the training and analysis work based on the obtained large amount of data, and generate the analysis results. In the process of NWDAF acquiring data, there is an indirect query behavior. Specifically, NWDAF network elements determine the range of network elements that can provide the required data, and then query the network repository function (NRF) for the network elements corresponding to the range. information, and obtain data from the network element according to the information of the network element. Existing data analysis methods have low data acquisition efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, which are used to improve the efficiency of data acquisition by a network element.

To achieve the above purpose, the embodiments of the present application provide the following technical solutions:

A first aspect provides a communication method, comprising: a first network element receiving a first message including attribute information of first data from a second network element, the first data including data being acquired by the second network element and/or or acquired data; the first network element receives a second message including attribute information of the second data from the third network element, and the second message is used to request the first network element to discover a network element that can provide the second data; When the attribute information of the first data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the first network element sends a response message of the second message to the third network element, and the response message includes the information of the second network element. In the method provided in the first aspect, when the second network element obtains the attribute information of the first data, the second network element can send the attribute information of the first data to the first network element, so that the first network element can know which items are stored in the second network element. data, in the subsequent process, when the third network element requests the first network element for the network element that provides the second data, if the first network element sends the attribute information of the first data and the attribute information of the second data matches or partially matches, Then, the information of the second network element is sent to the third network element. In this case, the third network element directly obtains the second network element that can provide the second data from the first network element by using the attribute information of the second data that it wants to obtain. network element, which improves the efficiency of data query and acquisition.

In a possible implementation manner, the first data is that the second network element provides data that the network element is acquiring and/or acquired data to the data. When the first data is the data being acquired, the second network element can send the first message to the first network element without waiting for the first data to be acquired, so as to store the attribute information of the first data in the first network element as soon as possible. element, and shortens the storage delay of the attribute information of the first data, so that subsequent network elements can obtain the first data from the second network element as quickly as possible without the need to obtain the first data from the network element that originally provided the data. When the first data is acquired data, the second network element stores the attribute information of the first data in the first network element only after the second network element actually acquires the first data. Compared with the first case, the storage delay of the attribute information of the first data in this way is relatively large, but because the first data has been actually acquired by the second network element, the accuracy is high.

In a possible implementation manner, the second message further includes information of the requested network element type, the requested network element type includes the data analysis network element type and/or the database type, and the network element type of the second network element belongs to the requested network element type. NE type. In this case, it can be ensured that the third network element preferentially selects the data analysis network element and/or the database to provide the second data for it, without affecting the mainstream performance of 5GC NF except for the data analysis network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the information of the second network element includes any one or more of the following information: data storage validity time information of the second network element, load information of the second network element, second network element The identification information of the second network element, the service area information of the second network element, the information of the network element type of the second network element, and the information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element, wherein the second network element saves the first data in the data storage device in the device. In this case, the third network element may acquire part or all of the second data from the second network element or the data storage device according to the information of the second network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message further includes attribute information of the first data. In this case, through the attribute information of the first data, the third network element can determine which data is included in the second network element, and then determine which data to acquire.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the first network element receives a third message from the fourth network element, the third message includes attribute information of the third data, and the third data includes that the fourth network element is The acquired data and/or the acquired data; if the attribute information of the third data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the first network element determines the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element . In this case, if both the attribute information of the first data and the attribute information of the third data match or partially match the attribute information of the second data, the first network element may determine the first network element from the second network element and the fourth network element. Two network elements, so as to select a more suitable network element for the third network element, and further improve the efficiency of data acquisition.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network element determining the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element includes: the first network element according to the service areas corresponding to the second network element and the fourth network element One or more of information, load information, network topology information, network element type information, data sharing capability information, data sharing range information, and data storage validity time information determine the second network element. The first network element may determine a more suitable network element for providing data for the third network element according to the information. For example, the first network element may determine the second network element according to the load information of the second network element and the fourth network element. In this case, the first network element may perform load balancing to ensure balanced use of different network elements as data providers Feedback to subsequent network element inquirers, thereby ensuring that network element inquirers (also data requesters at this time) obtain relevant data from different data providers in a balanced manner, avoiding heavy burdens on network elements with heavy loads.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the first network element receiving a third message including attribute information of third data from the fourth network element, where the third data includes data being acquired by the fourth network element and /or the acquired data; if the attribute information of the third data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the response message further includes the information of the fourth network element. In this case, if both the attribute information of the first data and the attribute information of the third data match or partially match the attribute information of the second data, the first network element may feed back both the second network element and the fourth network element to the The third network element helps the third network element to obtain the second data completely.

In a possible implementation, the set of the first data and the third data is the same as the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the first network element receives a fourth message from the second network element, where the fourth message is used to instruct the first network element to delete attribute information of the first data. In this case, the first network element can delete the attribute information of the first data in a timely manner, thereby preventing the network element that cannot provide the first data from being fed back to other network elements in the subsequent process.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the first network element receives any one or more of the following information from the second network element: identification information of the second network element, network elements of the second network element Type information, service area information of the second network element, data sharing capability of the second network element, data sharing range of the second network element, data storage validity time information of the second network element, load information of the second network element, Information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element, wherein the second network element stores the first data in the data storage device. In this case, the first network element can obtain relevant information of the second network element, which helps the first network element to determine whether the data in the second network element can be shared with a subsequent network element according to the information.

In a possible implementation manner, the attribute information of the first data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the first data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, and data source information , data status information. In this case, the first network element can acquire specific attribute information of the first data, which helps the first network element to query the network element that provides the first data according to the information.

In a possible implementation manner, the attribute information of the second data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the second data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, and data status information. In this case, the first network element can acquire specific attribute information of the second data, which helps the first network element to query the network element that provides the second data according to the information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network element is an NRF network element or a UDM network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the second network element is an NWDAF network element or a database network element. In this case, the third network element preferentially obtains data from these NWDAF or database network elements that have obtained or is obtaining part or all of the second data, rather than from the network element that originally provided the data (for example, providing the second network element with Obtaining data from the network element that originally provided the data) can avoid increasing the burden of the network element that originally provided the data, thereby not affecting the performance of the main body of the network element that originally provided the data.

In a possible implementation manner, the third network element is an NWDAF network element.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, comprising: acquiring attribute information of first data by a second network element, where the first data includes data being acquired and/or acquired data by the second network element; The second network element sends a first message to the first network element, where the first message includes attribute information of the first data. In the method provided in the second aspect, when the second network element acquires the attribute information of the first data, the second network element can send the attribute information of the first data to the first network element, so that the first network element can know which items are stored in the second network element. In the subsequent process, when the third network element requests the first network element for the network element that provides the second data, if the attribute information of the first data sent by the first network element matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data , then the information of the second network element is sent to the third network element. In this case, the third network element directly uses the attribute information of the second data to be obtained by itself to obtain the first network element that can provide the second data. The second network element improves the efficiency of data query and acquisition.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending, by the second network element, the first message to the first network element includes: when the first condition is satisfied, the second network element sending the first message to the first network element The first message; wherein, the first condition is: the request message from the second network element to obtain the first data from the fifth network element is accepted; or, the first condition is: the first The second network element acquires the first data from the fifth network element; or, the first condition is: the second network element completes the data training or data inference process based on the acquired first data; or, the The first condition is: the data state information of the first data is changed. When the first data is the data being acquired, the second network element can send the first message to the first network element without waiting for the first data to be acquired, so as to store the attribute information of the first data in the first network element as soon as possible. element, and shortens the storage delay of the attribute information of the first data, so that subsequent network elements can obtain the first data from the second network element as quickly as possible without the need to obtain the first data from the network element that originally provided the data. When the first data is acquired data, the second network element stores the attribute information of the first data in the first network element only after the second network element actually acquires the first data. Compared with the first case, the storage delay of the attribute information of the first data in this way is relatively large, but because the first data has been actually acquired by the second network element, the accuracy is high.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: when the second condition is satisfied, the second network element sends a fourth message to the first network element, where the fourth message is used to indicate The first network element deletes the attribute information of the first data; wherein, the second condition is: the second network element deletes the first data; or, the second condition is: the first The storage validity time of the first data corresponding to the second network element is invalid; the second condition is: the sharing capability of the second network element corresponding to the first data becomes negative. That is to say, when the second network element cannot provide the first data, a fourth message is sent to the first network element, so that the first network element can delete the attribute information of the first data in time, thereby preventing other network elements in the subsequent process. Feedback the network element that cannot provide the first data.

In a possible implementation manner, the attribute information of the first data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the first data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, Data source information, data status information. In this case, the first network element can acquire specific attribute information of the first data, which helps the first network element to query the network element that provides the first data according to the information.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the second network element sending any one or more of the following information to the first network element: identification information of the second network element, The network element type information of the second network element, the service area information of the second network element, the data sharing capability of the second network element, the data sharing range of the second network element, the second network element Element data storage valid time information, load information of the second network element, information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element, wherein the second network element saves the first data in the in the data storage device. In this case, the first network element can obtain relevant information of the second network element, which helps the first network element to determine whether the data in the second network element can be shared with a subsequent network element according to the information.

In a possible implementation manner, the second network element is an NWDAF network element or a database network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network element is an NRF network element or a UDM network element.

In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, comprising: a third network element sending a second message to a first network element, where the second message includes attribute information of the second data, and the second message is used to request all The first network element discovers a network element that can provide the second data; the third network element receives a response message for the second message from the first network element, and the response message includes the second The information of the network element; wherein, the attribute information of the first data in the second network element matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data. In the method provided by the third aspect, if the second network element sends the attribute information of the first data to the first network element after acquiring the attribute information of the first data, the first network element learns which data is stored in the second network element , in the subsequent process, when the third network element requests the network element that provides the second data to the first network element, if the attribute information of the first data sent by the first network element matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, then Send the information of the second network element to the third network element. In this case, the third network element directly obtains the second network element that can provide the second data from the first network element by using the attribute information of the second data to be obtained by itself. It improves the efficiency of data query and acquisition.

In a possible implementation manner, the second message further includes information of the requested network element type, the requested network element type includes the data analysis network element type and/or the database type, and the second network element The network element type belongs to the requested network element type. In this case, it can be ensured that the third network element preferentially selects the data analysis network element and/or the database to provide the second data for it, without affecting the mainstream performance of 5GC NF except for the data analysis network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: acquiring, by the third network element, part or all of the second data from the second network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message further includes attribute information of the first data, and the third network element obtains part or all of the second data from the second network element, including : the third network element acquires part or all of the second data from the second network element according to the attribute information of the first data.

In a possible implementation manner, the information of the second network element includes any one or more of the following information: data storage validity time information of the second network element, load of the second network element information, the identification information of the second network element, the service area information of the second network element, the information of the network element type of the second network element, and the information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element, Wherein, the second network element saves the first data in the data storage device; the method further includes: the third network element retrieves the data from the second network element according to the information of the second network element Part or all of the second data is obtained from the metadata or the data storage device.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message further includes information of a fourth network element, where the attribute information of the third data in the fourth network element matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, The third network element obtains part or all of the second data from the second network element, including: the third network element obtains the second data from the second network element and the fourth network element. Part or all of the data.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message further includes information of a fourth network element, where the attribute information of the third data in the fourth network element matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, Obtaining, by the third network element, part or all of the second data from the second network element, comprising: determining, by the third network element, the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element. the second network element; the third network element obtains part or all of the second data from the second network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the third network element, the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element includes: the third network element according to the third network element One or more of service area information, load information, network topology information, network element type information, data sharing capability information, data sharing range information, and data storage valid time information corresponding to the second network element and the fourth network element, Determine the second network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending, by the third network element, the second message to the first network element includes: when the third condition is satisfied, the third network element sending the second message to the first network element The second message; wherein, the third condition is: the third network element receives a data acquisition request sent by the sixth network element, and the data acquisition request is used to request to acquire part or all of the second data Alternatively, the third condition is: the third network element receives a request for obtaining a data analysis result sent by the seventh network element, and the data analysis result needs to be generated based on part or all of the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the attribute information of the second data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the second data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, Data status information. In this case, the first network element can acquire specific attribute information of the second data, which helps the first network element to query the network element that provides the second data according to the information.

In a possible implementation manner, the third network element is an NWDAF network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network element is an NRF network element or a UDM network element.

In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit; the processing unit is configured to receive, through the communication unit, a first message from a second network element, where the first message includes attribute information of the first data, The first data includes the data being acquired by the second network element and/or the acquired data; the processing unit is further configured to receive, through the communication unit, a second message from the third network element, where the second message includes attributes of the second data information, the second message is used to request the communication device to discover a network element that can provide the second data; the processing unit is further configured to send a response message of the second message to the third network element through the communication unit, where the response message includes the second network element’s information, wherein the attribute information of the first data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the first data is that the second network element provides data that the network element is acquiring and/or acquired data to the data.

In a possible implementation manner, the second message further includes information of the requested network element type, the requested network element type includes the data analysis network element type and/or the database type, and the network element type of the second network element belongs to the requested network element type. NE type.

In a possible implementation manner, the information of the second network element includes any one or more of the following information: data storage validity time information of the second network element, load information of the second network element, second network element The identification information of the second network element, the service area information of the second network element, the information of the network element type of the second network element, and the information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element, wherein the second network element saves the first data in the data storage device in the device.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message further includes attribute information of the first data.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to receive a third message from the fourth network element through the communication unit, where the third message includes attribute information of the third data, and the third data includes that the fourth network element is The acquired data and/or the acquired data; if the attribute information of the third data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the processing unit is further configured to determine the second network element and the fourth network element. network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: according to the service area information, load information, network topology information, network element type information, data sharing capability information, data One or more of sharing range information and data storage validity time information determine the second network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to receive a third message from the fourth network element through the communication unit, where the third message includes attribute information of the third data, and the third data includes that the fourth network element is The acquired data and/or the acquired data; if the attribute information of the third data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the response message further includes information of the fourth network element.

In a possible implementation, the set of the first data and the third data is the same as the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to receive a fourth message from the second network element through the communication unit, where the fourth message is used to instruct the communication apparatus to delete attribute information of the first data.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to receive any one or more of the following information from the second network element through the communication unit: the identification information of the second network element, the network element of the second network element Type information, service area information of the second network element, data sharing capability of the second network element, data sharing range of the second network element, data storage validity time information of the second network element, load information of the second network element, Information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element, wherein the second network element stores the first data in the data storage device.

In a possible implementation manner, the attribute information of the first data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the first data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, and data source information , data status information.

In a possible implementation manner, the attribute information of the second data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the second data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, and data status information.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication device is an NRF network element or a UDM network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the second network element is an NWDAF network element or a database network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the third network element is an NWDAF network element.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit; the processing unit is configured to acquire attribute information of first data, where the first data includes data being acquired by the communication device and/or or acquired data; the communication unit is configured to send a first message to the first network element, where the first message includes attribute information of the first data.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is specifically configured to: send the first message to the first network element when a first condition is satisfied; wherein the first condition is: The request message of the communication device to obtain the first data from the fifth network element is accepted; or, the first condition is: the communication device obtains the first data from the fifth network element; or, all The first condition is: the communication device completes the data training or data inference process based on the acquired first data; or, the first condition is: the data state information of the first data changes.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to: when the second condition is satisfied, send a fourth message to the first network element through the communication unit, where the fourth message uses attribute information instructing the first network element to delete the first data; wherein the second condition is: the communication device deletes the first data; or the second condition is: the communication The storage valid time of the first data corresponding to the device is invalid; the second condition is: the sharing capability of the communication device corresponding to the first data becomes negative.

In a possible implementation manner, the attribute information of the first data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the first data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, Data source information, data status information.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to: send any one or more of the following information to the first network element: identification information of the communication device, identification information of the communication device Network element type information, service area information of the communication device, data sharing capability of the communication device, data sharing range of the communication device, data storage validity time information of the communication device, load information of the communication device . Information of the data storage device corresponding to the communication device, wherein the communication device saves the first data in the data storage device.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication device is an NWDAF network element or a database network element.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a communication unit and a processing unit; the processing unit is configured to send a second message to a first network element through the communication unit, where the second message includes a second attribute information of the data, the second message is used to request the first network element to discover a network element that can provide the second data; the processing unit is further configured to receive data from the first network element through the communication unit The response message of the second message of the network element, the response message includes the information of the second network element; wherein, the attribute information of the first data in the second network element and the attribute of the second data Information match or partial match.

In a possible implementation manner, the second message further includes information of the requested network element type, the requested network element type includes the data analysis network element type and/or the database type, and the second network element The network element type belongs to the requested network element type.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to acquire part or all of the second data from the second network element through the communication unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message further includes attribute information of the first data, and the processing unit is specifically configured to, according to the attribute information of the first data, use the communication unit from the The second network element obtains part or all of the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the information of the second network element includes any one or more of the following information: data storage validity time information of the second network element, load of the second network element information, the identification information of the second network element, the service area information of the second network element, the information of the network element type of the second network element, and the information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element, Wherein, the second network element saves the first data in the data storage device; the processing unit is specifically configured to: according to the information of the second network element, from the communication unit from the The second network element or the data storage device acquires part or all of the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message further includes information of a fourth network element, where the attribute information of the third data in the fourth network element matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, The processing unit is specifically configured to: acquire part or all of the second data from the second network element and the fourth network element through the communication unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message further includes information of a fourth network element, where the attribute information of the third data in the fourth network element matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, The processing unit is specifically configured to: determine the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element; acquire the second data from the second network element through the communication unit part or all of it.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: according to the service area information, load information, network topology information, network element type information, corresponding to the second network element and the fourth network element, One or more of data sharing capability information, data sharing range information, and data storage validity time information to determine the second network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: send the second message to the first network element through the communication unit when the third condition is satisfied; wherein the The third condition is: the communication device receives a data acquisition request sent by the sixth network element, and the data acquisition request is used to request to acquire part or all of the second data; or, the third condition is: the The communication device receives a request for obtaining a data analysis result sent by the seventh network element, where the data analysis result needs to be generated based on part or all of the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the attribute information of the second data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the second data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, Data status information.

In a seventh aspect, a communication method is provided, comprising: a first network element receiving a first message from a second network element, where the first message includes attribute information of first data, and the first data includes the The data being acquired and/or acquired by the second network element; the first network element receives a second message from the third network element, the second message includes attribute information of the second data, the second message is used to request to acquire the second data, or the second message is used to request the first network element to discover a network element that can provide the second data; the first network element determines the second data The attribute information of the data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the first data; the first network element sends a sixth message to the second network element, and the sixth message is used to request the second network element Obtain the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the sixth message includes identification information or destination address information of the third network element, and the identification information or destination address information of the third network element is used for the second network element. element sends the second data to the third network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the second message further includes identification information or destination address information of the third network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the first network element sends a response message of the second message to the third network element, where the response message includes the second network element Information.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message further includes attribute information of the first data.

In a possible implementation manner, the information of the second network element includes any one or more of the following information: identification information of the second network element, service area information of the second network element, The data of the second network element stores the valid time information, the load information of the second network element, the information of the network element type of the second network element, and the information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element.

In a possible implementation manner, if the attribute information of the second data includes data analysis type identification information, the data analysis type identification information is used to indicate the purpose of acquiring the second data by the third network element is to perform the data analysis task corresponding to the data analysis type identification information, and the method further includes: the first network element determines the first network element according to the attribute information of the second data and the attribute information of the first data One piece of data includes data analysis result data corresponding to the data analysis type; the first network element sends a seventh message to the second network element, and the seventh message is used to obtain the data from the second network element data analysis results.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving, by the first network element, a third message from a fourth network element, where the third message includes attribute information of third data, and the third The data includes the data that the fourth network element is acquiring and/or the acquired data; if the attribute information of the third data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the first The second network element is determined from the second network element and the fourth network element, and/or the first network element sends an eighth message to the fourth network element, and the eighth message is used in requesting the fourth network element to obtain the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network element determining the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element includes: the first network element according to the first network element One or more of service area information, load information, network topology information, network element type information, data sharing capability information, data sharing range information, and data storage effective time information corresponding to the second network element and the fourth network element Determine the second network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network element determining the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element includes: the first network element according to the first network element The matching data volume of the first data and the second data, and the matching data volume of the third data and the second data, determine the second network element; wherein, the first data and the second data The matching data amount of the data is greater than the matching data amount of the third data and the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the first network element receiving a fourth message from the second network element, where the fourth message is used to instruct the first network element to delete the attribute information of the first data; the first network element sends a ninth message to the second network element, where the ninth message is used to request the second network element to cancel the acquisition of the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the first network element sends a tenth message to the third network element, where the tenth message is used to indicate to the third network element the The second network element no longer provides the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the first network element sends an eighth message to the fourth network element, where the eighth message is used to request the fourth network element to obtain the information the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the first network element obtains any one or more of the following information from the second network element: the data sharing capability of the second network element , the data sharing range of the second network element, the data storage valid time information of the second network element, the load information of the second network element, and the information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the attribute information of the first data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the first data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, Data source information, data status information, and data analysis type identification information.

In a possible implementation manner, the attribute information of the second data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the second data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, Data status information, data analysis type identification information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network element is a DCCF or NRF network element or a UDM network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the second network element is an NWDAF network element or a database network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the third network element is an NWDAF network element.

The beneficial effects of the various methods provided in the seventh aspect are similar to those of the corresponding similar methods provided in the first aspect, which can be understood with reference to the above, and will not be repeated.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit; the communication unit is configured to receive a first message from a second network element, where the first message includes attribute information of the first data , the first data includes data being acquired and/or acquired by the second network element; the communication unit is further configured to receive a second message from a third network element, where the second message includes the first The attribute information of the second data, the second message is used to request the acquisition of the second data, or the second message is used to request the communication device to discover a network element that can provide the second data; the processing a unit for determining that the attribute information of the second data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the first data; the communication unit is further configured to send a sixth message to the second network element, the first The sixth message is used to request the second network element to obtain the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the sixth message includes identification information or destination address information of the third network element, and the identification information or destination address information of the third network element is used for the second network element. element sends the second data to the third network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the second message further includes identification information or destination address information of the third network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send a response message of the second message to the third network element, where the response message includes information of the second network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the response message further includes attribute information of the first data.

In a possible implementation manner, the information of the second network element includes any one or more of the following information: identification information of the second network element, service area information of the second network element, The data of the second network element stores the valid time information, the load information of the second network element, the information of the network element type of the second network element, and the information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element.

In a possible implementation manner, if the attribute information of the second data includes data analysis type identification information, the data analysis type identification information is used to indicate the purpose of acquiring the second data by the third network element is to perform the data analysis task corresponding to the data analysis type identification information: the processing unit is further configured to determine, according to the attribute information of the second data and the attribute information of the first data, that the first data contains the data analysis result data corresponding to the data analysis type; the communication unit is further configured to send a seventh message to the second network element, where the seventh message is used to obtain the data from the second network element Analyze the resulting data.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to receive a third message from a fourth network element, where the third message includes attribute information of third data, and the third data includes the The data being acquired and/or the acquired data by the fourth network element; if the attribute information of the third data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the processing unit is further configured to obtain the data from the The second network element is determined from the second network element and the fourth network element, and/or the communication unit is further configured to send an eighth message to the fourth network element, and the eighth message uses in requesting the fourth network element to obtain the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: according to the service area information, load information, network topology information, network element type information, corresponding to the second network element and the fourth network element, One or more of data sharing capability information, data sharing range information, and data storage valid time information determine the second network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: according to the matching data amount between the first data and the second data, and the matching data between the third data and the second data and determining the second network element; wherein, the matching data volume of the first data and the second data is greater than the matching data volume of the third data and the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to: receive a fourth message from the second network element, where the fourth message is used to instruct the communication apparatus to delete the attribute of the first data information; sending a ninth message to the second network element, where the ninth message is used to request the second network element to cancel the acquisition of the second data.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send a tenth message to the third network element, where the tenth message is used to indicate the second network element to the third network element The second data is no longer provided.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send an eighth message to the fourth network element, where the eighth message is used to request the fourth network element to acquire the second data .

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to acquire any one or more of the following information from the second network element: the data sharing capability of the second network element, the first The data sharing range of the two network elements, the data storage validity time information of the second network element, the load information of the second network element, and the information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the attribute information of the first data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the first data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, Data source information, data status information, and data analysis type identification information.

In a possible implementation manner, the attribute information of the second data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the second data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, Data status information, data analysis type identification information.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication device is a DCCF or NRF network element or a UDM network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the second network element is an NWDAF network element or a database network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the third network element is an NWDAF network element.

In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor. The processor is connected to the memory, the memory is used for storing computer-executed instructions, and the processor executes the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory, thereby implementing any one of the methods provided in any of the first to third and seventh aspects. Exemplarily, the memory and the processor may be integrated together, or may be independent devices. In the latter case, the memory may be located in the communication device or outside the communication device.

In a possible implementation, the processor includes a logic circuit, and also includes at least one of an input interface and an output interface. Exemplarily, the output interface is used for performing the sending action in the corresponding method, and the input interface is used for performing the receiving action in the corresponding method.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication device further includes a communication interface and a communication bus, and the processor, the memory and the communication interface are connected through the communication bus. The communication interface is used to perform the actions of transceiving in the corresponding method. The communication interface may also be referred to as a transceiver. Optionally, the communication interface includes at least one of a transmitter and a receiver. In this case, the transmitter is configured to perform the sending action in the corresponding method, and the receiver is configured to perform the receiving action in the corresponding method.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication device exists in the form of a chip product.

A tenth aspect provides a communication device (or chip), comprising: a processor and an interface, the processor is coupled to a memory through the interface, and when the processor executes a computer program in the memory or a computer executes instructions, the first aspect is Any one of the methods provided by any one of the third aspect and the seventh aspect is performed.

In an eleventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, including computer-executable instructions, which, when the computer-executable instructions are executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute any one of the first to third aspects, and the seventh aspect. any of the methods.

A twelfth aspect provides a computer program product, comprising computer-executable instructions, which, when the computer-executable instructions are run on a computer, cause the computer to execute any one of the first, third, and seventh aspects. a way.

According to a thirteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, including one or more of the above-mentioned first network element, second network element and third network element.

For the technical effects brought about by any one of the fourth aspect to the sixth aspect, and the eighth aspect to the thirteenth aspect, please refer to the first aspect to the third aspect and the seventh aspect. The technical effect will not be repeated here.

It should be noted that, on the premise that the solutions are not contradictory, the solutions in the above aspects can be combined.

Description of drawings

1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture;

Fig. 2 is another kind of network architecture schematic diagram;

3 is a schematic diagram of a process for acquiring data by the NWDAF provided by the embodiment of the present application;

4 is a flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

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

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the composition of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of another communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

10 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

11 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of still another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

detailed description

In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "/" means or means, for example, A/B can mean A or B. In this article, "and/or" is only an association relationship to describe the associated objects, which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean that A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone these three situations. In the description of this application, unless stated otherwise, "at least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more.

In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same or similar items with basically the same function and effect. Those skilled in the art can understand that the words "first", "second" and the like do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the words "first", "second" and the like are not necessarily different.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the fourth generation (4th Generation, 4G) system, various systems based on the evolution of the 4G system, the fifth generation (5th Generation, 5G) system, and various systems based on the evolution of the 5G system. in the system. The 4G system may also be called an evolved packet system (EPS). The core network (CN) of the 4G system may be called an evolved packet core (EPC), and the access network may be called long term evolution (LTE). The core network of the 5G system can be called 5GC (5G core), and the access network can be called new radio (NR). For the convenience of description, the present application is exemplified below by taking the application of the present application to a 5G system as an example. When the present application is applied to the 4G system or other communication systems, the network elements involved in the present application may be replaced with network elements having the same or similar functions in the corresponding communication system.

FIG. 1 exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a 5G system based on a service-oriented interface. In this schematic diagram, the 5G system may include: an authentication server function (AUSF) network element, an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, a data network (DN) ), unified data management (UDM) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, (radio) access network ((R)AN) network element, user User plane function (UPF) network element, terminal equipment (terminal), application function (application function, AF) network element, session management function (session management function, SMF) network element, binding support function (binding support function) , BSF) network element, NWDAF network element, network exposure function (NEF) network element, NRF network element.

For the convenience of description, (R)AN network element, AMF network element, SMF network element, UDM network element, UPF network element, PCF network element, BSF network element, NWDAF network element, NRF network element, NEF network element, etc. They are referred to by RAN, AMF, SMF, UDM, UPF, PCF, BSF, NWDAF, NRF, NEF, etc., respectively.

The 5G system is divided into two parts: the access network and the core network. The access network is used to implement functions related to wireless access, mainly including the RAN. The core network is used for network service control, data transmission, etc. The core network consists of multiple network elements, mainly including: AMF, SMF, UPF, PCF, UDM, etc.

The functions of some network elements in Figure 1 are as follows:

PCF is responsible for providing policies to AMF and SMF, such as quality of service (QoS) policies, slice selection policies, etc.

UDM, for processing 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) authentication and key agreement (AKA) authentication credentials, user identification processing, access authorization, registration/mobility management, subscription management , SMS management, etc. In this application, UDM can provide and store information about network elements currently serving terminal equipment (serving NF (serving NF), for example, serving AMF (serving AMF), serving SMF (serving SMF), serving NWDAF (serving NWDAF), etc.) function.

AF, which may be an application server, may belong to an operator or a third party. It 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.

AMF is mainly responsible for the signaling processing part, such as registration management of terminal equipment, connection management of terminal equipment, reachability management of terminal equipment, access authorization and access authentication of terminal equipment, security function of terminal equipment, terminal equipment Device mobility management (such as terminal device location update, terminal device registration network, terminal device switching, etc.), network slice selection, SMF selection, terminal device registration or de-registration and other functions.

SMF is mainly responsible for all control plane functions of terminal device session management, including UPF selection, control and redirection, Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management, session QoS management, and obtaining policies and accounting from PCF. Charge control (policy and charging control, PCC) strategy, bearer or session establishment, modification and release, etc.

UPF, as the anchor point of the protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session connection, is responsible for data packet filtering, data transmission/forwarding, rate control, generation of billing information, user plane QoS processing, and uplink transmission authentication for terminal equipment , transmission level verification, downlink data packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, etc. The UPF can also act as a branch point for a multi-homed PDU session. The transmission resources and scheduling functions that provide services to terminal equipment in the UPF are managed and controlled by the SMF.

NRF is a network element that stores information such as network element attributes, network element status, and network topology relationships. It has network element discovery functions and network element management functions.

BSF, with the ability to bind or store the corresponding terminal device address, terminal device identifier, data network name (DNN), single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) for the PDU session, The function of PCF instance and PCF set identification. For example, the PCF corresponding to the terminal device can be queried from the BSF.

NWDAF has at least one of the following functions: data collection function, data analysis function. Among them, the data collection function refers to the collection of relevant data from network elements, third-party service servers, terminal equipment or network management systems; the data analysis function refers to the analysis and training based on the relevant input data, and the The third-party service server, terminal equipment, or network management system provides data analysis results. The analysis results can assist the network to select service quality parameters for services, or assist the network to perform traffic routing, or assist the network to select background traffic transmission strategies. This application mainly involves the data collection function of NWDAF. Because NWDAF can only perform related training and analysis functions based on the collected data, the premise is that it can collect and obtain relevant data.

In the embodiment of the present application, the NWDAF may be an independent network element, or may be co-located with other network elements. For example, NWDAF network elements may be co-located with AMF network elements or co-located with SMF network elements.

RAN, a network composed of one or more access network devices (also referred to as RAN nodes or network devices), implements radio physical layer functions, resource scheduling and radio resource management, radio access control and mobility management functions, services Features such as quality management, data compression and encryption. The access network equipment is connected to the UPF through the user plane interface N3, and is used to transmit the data of the terminal equipment. The access network equipment establishes a control plane signaling connection with the AMF through the control plane interface N2, which is used to implement functions such as radio access bearer control.

The access network equipment may be a base station, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) access point (AP), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) site, and the like. The base station may include various forms of base stations, such as: a macro base station, a micro base station (also called a small station), a relay station, an access point, and the like. Specifically, it can be: an AP in a wireless local area network (WLAN), a base station in the global system for mobile communications (GSM) or code division multiple access (CDMA) ( base transceiver station, BTS), or a base station (NodeB, NB) in wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), or an evolved base station (evolved node B, eNB or eNodeB) in LTE ), or relay stations or access points, or in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, and the next generation node B (gNB) in the future 5G system or the public land mobile network (PLMN) evolved in the future ) base stations in the network, etc.

The terminal device may be a wireless terminal device, or may also be a wired terminal device. A wireless end device may be a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with wireless connectivity, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. A certain air interface technology (such as NR technology or LTE technology) is used to communicate with each other between the terminal device and the access network device. A certain air interface technology (such as NR technology or LTE technology) can also be used to communicate with each other between terminal devices. The wireless terminal device may communicate with one or more core network devices via access network devices, such as with AMF, SMF, and the like. The wireless terminal device may be a mobile terminal device, such as a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone), smart phone, satellite wireless device, wireless modem card, and a computer with a mobile terminal device, for example, may be a laptop, portable, Pocket, handheld, computer built-in or vehicle mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and/or data with access network equipment. Exemplarily, the wireless terminal device may be a personal communication service (PCS) phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal Digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), virtual reality (virtual reality, VR) glasses, augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) glasses, machine type communication terminal equipment, Internet of things terminal equipment and other equipment. In vehicle networking communication, the communication device loaded on the vehicle is a terminal device, and the roadside unit (RSU) can also be used as a terminal device. The communication equipment loaded on the UAV can also be regarded as a kind of terminal equipment. Wireless terminal equipment may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, subscriber unit (subscriber unit), subscriber station (subscriber station), mobile station (mobile station), mobile station (mobile), remote station (remote station) ), access point, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, etc.

DN refers to an operator network that provides data transmission services for users, such as IP multi-media service (IMS), Internet and so on. The terminal device accesses the DN by establishing a PDU session (PDU session) between the terminal device and the access network device and the UPF and the DN.

It can be understood that, in addition to the functional network elements shown in FIG. 1 , the network architecture of the 5G network may also include other functional network elements. For example, databases. The database can be a unified data repository (UDR), an unstructured data storage function (UDSF), or other network elements capable of storing data. Among them, the UDR is used to store one or more of the user's subscription data, policy data, service data and capability opening data, and the UDSF is used to store unstructured data. The UDR and UDSF can also communicate with other network elements based on the service-oriented interface. For details, refer to FIG. 2 . In the embodiment of the present application, the network elements can also be called entities or devices.

It should be noted that RAN, AMF, SMF, AUSF, UDM, UPF, PCF, BSF, NWDAF, NRF, NEF, etc. in Figures 1 and 2 are only names, and the names do not limit the network element itself. In the 5G system and other future networks, the entities or devices corresponding to these network elements may also have other names, which are not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. For example, UDM may also be replaced by a user home server (home subscriber server, HSS) or a user subscription database (user subscription database, USD) or a database network element, etc., which are described here uniformly, and will not be repeated below.

The NWDAF network element was introduced in 3GPP Release 15 (Release15, R15) for the purpose of acquiring terminal equipment, network (eg, RAN, CN, transmission network (TN), etc.), AF, operation, management and maintenance (operation, administration and maintenance, OAM) and other related data in various domains, and use machine learning methods to do training analysis based on a large amount of data obtained to generate analysis results, which can be used to assist network policy formulation and execution. For example, the NWDAF generates service experience analysis results based on data obtained from the network and data obtained from the AF, and the service experience analysis results can help the PCF to formulate PCC and QoS policies related to terminal device services.

Multiple NWDAFs can be deployed in a communication network at the same time. From one dimension, different NWDAFs are responsible for analysis for different purposes. For example, some NWDAFs are responsible for the analysis of the movement trajectory of terminal devices, some are responsible for the analysis of service experience, and some NWDAFs are responsible for the analysis of the service experience. Responsible for the analysis of abnormal behavior of terminal equipment; from another dimension, different NWDAFs are responsible for different service areas. For example, some NWDAFs are responsible for data analysis in area 1, and another NWDAF is responsible for data analysis in area 2.

In order to obtain a certain type of data from 5GC NF (for example, AMF, SMF, etc.), NWDAF needs to query the NRF/UDM/BSF to find the specific data providing network element if it does not know who the data providing network element is in advance. . For example, in order to obtain information on the number of terminal devices in the area of interest (AOI, area of interest), NWDAF will use AMF's data reporting service to obtain the number of terminal devices from AMF. For example, NWDAF calls AMF event exposure (event exposure). ) service, and specify the event ID (event ID) = the number of terminal devices (UE num) and AOI, before that, NWDAF needs to query the NRF for the AMF instance corresponding to the AOI, and the query message carries the NF type (NF type) =AMF (used to indicate that what needs to be queried is an instance of the AMF type) and AOI (used to limit the scope of the query area). For another example, in order to obtain information on the number of PDU sessions existing in a terminal device, NWDAF will use the data reporting service of SMF to obtain information on the number of PDU sessions existing in the terminal device from SMF. For example, NWDAF calls the SMF event expouse service, and Specify event ID = PDU session number (PDU session num) and terminal equipment identification (UE ID), before that, NWDAF needs to query the UDM for the SMF serving the terminal equipment, and the query message carries the identification information of the terminal equipment.

It can be seen from the above description that when NWDAF queries NRF/UDM/BSF and other network elements that provide data, it can only first query a certain type of AOI and terminal equipment based on information such as AOI, terminal equipment identification, and NF type. NEs, and then specify to the queried NEs what data needs to be acquired, but whether the queried NEs can really provide the corresponding data cannot be guaranteed, which may lead to unsuccessful final data acquisition. This existing method cannot directly query the network element that provides data according to the data to be acquired, and the query efficiency is low.

For example, if NWDAF wants to obtain user service experience information in an AOI for a period of time, NWDAF decides on its own that it needs to obtain the information of the SMF corresponding to the AOI, and then NWDAF queries the NRF for the information of the SMF serving the AOI, and obtains the information from the SMF. User service experience information corresponding to the AOI within the above-mentioned period of time. However, the SMF may not provide the user service experience information corresponding to the AOI during this time period or does not provide the user service experience information corresponding to the AOI at all, then the NWDAF cannot obtain the required data, and in the subsequent process, the NWDAF may report to the NRF again. Requesting other network elements to acquire user service experience information corresponding to the AOI in this time period results in low efficiency of NWDAF data acquisition.

In addition, based on the above query data to provide the network element process, if multiple NWDAFs need to obtain the same/similar data and query the same 5GC NF from NRF/UDM/BSF, etc., each subsequent NWDAF will initiate a request to the 5GC NF The data subscription process (the event exposure service provided by the existing 5GC NF can be used) is used to obtain data. For example, referring to Figure 3, if NWDAF1, NWDAF2 and NWDAF3 all need to obtain the number information of terminal devices in the same AOI, each NWDAF performs NF query to NRF/UDM/BSF, and NRF/UDM/BSF provides the same 5GC NF information, NWDAF1, NWDAF2 and NWDAF3 all send data subscription requests to the 5GC NF, and the 5GC NF sends NWDAF1, NWDAF2 and NWDAF3 the number of terminal devices in the same AOI through the data subscription response to NWDAF1, NWDAF2 and NWDAF3.

In this case, different NWDAFs provide the same query conditions to the UDM/NRF/BSF, etc., and the UDM/NRF/BSF may feed back the same 5GC NF network element as the data providing network element. In the subsequent process, multiple NWDAFs repeatedly obtain the same data from the same 5GC NF, which will cause the 5GC NF to repeatedly report the same data.

Because the 5GC NF (eg, SMF, AMF) other than NWDAF is the main network element of the communication network, its main function is not to provide data, but to provide other mainstream functions, such as mobility, session management, policy charging and other functions . In general, NWDAF needs to obtain a large amount of data for big data analysis, so the repeated reporting of a large amount of the same data will reduce the main performance of 5GC NF.

This scenario is a typical scenario of the problem raised by the background art. In the communication network, there may be other scenarios with similar problems. In order to solve this problem, the present application provides a communication method, see FIG. 4 , the method includes:

401. The second network element acquires attribute information of the first data, where the first data includes the data being acquired by the second network element and/or the acquired data.

The network element in this embodiment of the present application may be a node or a physical device in the network. Wherein, in one case, the second network element may be a data analysis network element (eg, NWDAF), a database, and the like. At this time, the first data is the data being acquired and/or the acquired data by the second network element to the data providing network element (for example, access network equipment, terminal equipment, 5GC NF other than the data analysis network element, etc.) . In other words, the first data is data acquired by the second network element from other network elements and stored in itself or another designated device. In another case, the second network element may be a 5GC NF other than the data analysis network element, for example, SMF, AMF, etc.

The attribute information of the first data may be obtained by the second network element from other network elements. The attribute information of the first data may also be generated by the second network element for the first data. Specifically, the second network element may generate attribute information of the first data after aggregate processing of the acquired first data. For example, if the second network element obtains the data of all users in a certain area, after the second network element aggregates the data into a data set, the second network element generates attribute information corresponding to the data set, and the attribute information will include a list of terminal devices ( UE list) or terminal equipment group identification (UE group ID). For another example, the second network element may also generate attribute information corresponding to the data set after aggregating the acquired data corresponding to different data types (for example, different event IDs) into a data set, and the attribute information will include the data type identifier. list (event ID list).

The first data may include the data being acquired by the second network element and/or part or all of the acquired data, which is not limited in this application. Acquiring means that the data acquisition process is in progress, that is, the data has been subscribed, but not all the data has been acquired. For example, 0%, 20%, or 80% of all data may be captured, etc. The first data being acquired or acquired by the second network element may be data corresponding to a single event ID. The first data being acquired or acquired by the second network element may also be multiple event ID data corresponding to a data analysis identifier (analytic ID). For example, for the data analysis task of analytic ID = service mean opinion score (MOS) (service MOS), NWDAF obtains event IDs = application ID (application ID), reference signal received power (reference signal received power, RSRP) , QoS flow identifier (QFI) and other input data, then NWDAF can aggregate the data of the above event IDs into a data set for storage, so that the corresponding generated attribute information contains event ID list, optional, Can also contain the analytics ID.

Wherein, the attribute information of a piece of data (for example, the above-mentioned first data or the following second data) may include any one or more of the following information corresponding to the data:

1) Data type

The data type is used to indicate what the data is, for example, terminal equipment location (UE location) information, terminal equipment number (number of UE) information, SMF load (SMF load), number of PDU sessions (PDU session), etc.

Among them, in the implementation of using the event exposure service to obtain data, the data type can be represented by event ID.

2) Data objects

The data object is used to describe which object the data to be acquired comes from or is related to, and the object here can be a terminal device or a network element. For example, the data object corresponding to the location of the terminal device is a specific terminal device identifier, and the data object corresponding to the location of the terminal device group is the identifier of the terminal device group. The data object corresponding to the SMF load is the information of a specific SMF, for example, the SMF ID (SMF ID), the SMF address, and the SMF fully qualified domain name (FQDN), etc. Among them, in the implementation of using the event exposure service to obtain data, the data object can be represented by an event target (target of event).

3) Data filtering information

The data filtering information is used to indicate the conditions that the data needs to meet, or to limit the scope of the acquired data.

For example, if the data type is the number of terminal devices, and the filtering information is information of a certain area or time at the same time, it is limited to obtain the number of terminal devices in this area or at this time. The area information may be a cell ID (cell ID), a tracking area (tracking area, TA) ID (TA ID), or a base station ID, and the like. The time period information may be time point information, time period information (eg, start time, end time, duration, etc.), and the like.

For another example, if the data type is the number of PDU sessions, and the filtering information is the service type, it is limited to obtain only the number of PDU sessions corresponding to the service type. The data filtering information may also be a slice, a data network name (DNN), etc., which is not limited in this application. The data filtering information can be represented by a filter.

4) Data reporting information

Data reporting information is used to define or describe the method of data reporting, for example, single reporting or periodic reporting. In the case of periodic reporting, the time interval, reporting start time, and reporting duration can also be limited. . Data reporting information can be represented by reporting info.

5) Information on the source of the data

The source information of the data is used to indicate from which network element or terminal device or OAM device or AF the data is obtained. The representation form of the source of the data may be the information of the network element, for example, the identification of the network element, the FQDN of the network element, the address of the network element, and the like.

6) Data status information

The data status information is used to indicate whether the data is currently being acquired or is being acquired. Wherein, the status in progress refers to a status in which a data subscription or a data request has been initiated to the network element that provides the data, but all the data has not been formally acquired.

The attribute information of the first data includes the above-mentioned data-related features, which are used to identify or index the first data. If the network element provides the attribute information of the first data, it means that the network element can provide the first data indicated by the attribute information of the first data.

402. The second network element sends a first message to the first network element, where the first message includes attribute information of the first data. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the first message from the second network element.

The first network element may be NRF, UDM, UDR, data collection control function (DCCF), UDSF, BSF, data repository service function (DRSF), and the like. The first message may be a message initially initiated to save the attribute information of the first data, or may be a message initiated to update the attribute information of the first data after the attribute information of the first data changes, for example, the second When the network element is acquiring the first data, it sends a message for saving the attribute information of the first data to the first network element, and after acquiring the first data, it can initiate another message for updating the attribute information of the first data .

Exemplarily, when the second network element is an NWDAF, the first message may be a status update message or a status registration message.

403. The third network element sends a second message to the first network element, where the second message includes attribute information of the second data, and the second message is used to request the first network element to discover a network element capable of providing the second data. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the second message from the third network element.

Wherein, the third network element may be a data analysis network element (for example, NWDAF), a database, a 5GC NF other than the data analysis network element, DCCF, and the like.

For the relevant description of the attribute information of the second data, refer to the above, and will not be repeated.

404. The first network element sends a response message of the second message to the third network element, where the response message includes information of the second network element, wherein the attribute information of the first data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data. Correspondingly, the third network element receives a response message to the second message from the first network element.

Optionally, the second message further includes information of the requested network element type, and the requested network element type includes the data analysis network element type and/or the database type. In this case, the network element type of the second network element belongs to the network element type requested by the third network element. That is to say, it is ensured that the third network element preferentially selects the data analysis network element and/or the database to provide it with the second data, and does not affect the mainstream performance of 5GC NF except for the data analysis network element.

Optionally, referring to FIG. 4, after step 404, the method further includes step 405 or step 406:

405. The third network element acquires part or all of the second data from the second network element.

The applicable scenario of step 405 is: the third network element needs to obtain the second data by itself. In this case, the third network element obtains part or all of the second data from the second network element after inquiring the second network element that can provide part or all of the second data.

Exemplarily, if the second network element is a certain NWDAF instance, the third network element may obtain part or all of the second data from the second network element by using the data subscription service/data request service provided by the second network element. Similarly, in the case where the second network element is an instance of another network element, the method for acquiring data by the third network element is similar.

In order to ensure that the first network element can subsequently find the third network element according to the attribute information of the second data, after acquiring the second data, the third network element can send the attribute information of the second data to the first network element for storage. , the specific process is similar to that of the second network element sending the attribute information of the first data to the first network element for storage, and details are not repeated here.

406. The third network element sends the information of the second network element to other network elements (referred to as the sixth network element).

The applicable scenario of step 406 is: the sixth network element queries the network elements that can provide part or all of the second data through the third network element. In this case, after the third network element queries the second network element, it sends the information of the second network element to the sixth network element, and the sixth network element can obtain part or all of the second data from the second network element. Exemplarily, the third network element may be a DCCF.

In the method provided by this embodiment of the present application, when the second network element acquires the attribute information of the first data, the second network element may send the attribute information of the first data to the first network element, so that the first network element can know that the second network element stores the information about the attributes of the first data. Which data, in the subsequent process, when the third network element requests the first network element for the network element that provides the second data, if the attribute information of the first data sent by the first network element matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data , then the information of the second network element is sent to the third network element. In this case, the third network element directly uses the attribute information of the second data to be obtained by itself to obtain the first network element that can provide the second data. The second network element improves the efficiency of data query and acquisition. In addition, the third network element may obtain part or all of the second data from the second network element. If the second network element is likely to be a data analysis network element or a database, etc., the third network element preferentially obtains or is in the process of obtaining the second data. The data analysis network element or database network element that obtains part or all of the second data obtains data without obtaining data from the network element that originally provided the data (for example, the network element that provides the first data for the second network element), which can avoid The burden of the network element that originally provided the data was increased, so that the performance of the main body of the network element that originally provided the data was not affected.

Optionally, referring to FIG. 4 , the above method further includes step 407:

407. The first network element receives a fourth message from the second network element, where the fourth message is used to instruct the first network element to delete the attribute information of the first data. In a subsequent process, the first network element may delete the attribute information of the first data according to the fourth message.

Wherein, when the second condition is satisfied, the second network element sends a fourth message to the first network element. The second condition is: the second network element deletes the first data; or, the second condition is: the storage validity time of the first data corresponding to the second network element is invalid; the second condition is: the second network element corresponds to the first data Shared ability becomes negative. That is to say, when the second network element cannot provide the first data, a fourth message is sent to the first network element, so that the first network element can delete the attribute information of the first data in time, thereby preventing other network elements in the subsequent process. Feedback the network element that cannot provide the first data.

In the above embodiment, optionally, the specific implementation of step 402 includes: when the first condition is satisfied, the second network element sends the first message to the first network element.

In the first case, the first condition is: the request message of the second network element to obtain the first data from the fifth network element is accepted.

In the first case, the fifth network element may include multiple network elements, and the second network element may be accepted in a request message for obtaining part or all of the first data sent to all the fifth network elements In this case, the first message is sent to the first network element, or the request message for obtaining part or all of the first data sent to any one of the fifth network elements is accepted. The network element sends the first message.

In the first case, the request message for obtaining part or all of the first data may be a data subscription request or a data request. The first data may be all data involved in a data training or data reasoning task.

In the first case, the second network element can send the first message to the first network element without waiting for obtaining the first data, so as to store the attribute information of the first data in the first network element as soon as possible, and shorten the first data The storage delay of the attribute information, so that subsequent other network elements can obtain the first data from the second network element as quickly as possible without needing to obtain the first data from the network element that originally provided the data.

In the second case, the first condition is: the second network element obtains the first data from the fifth network element. That is, the process of acquiring the first data has ended.

In the second case, the fifth network element may include multiple network elements, and the second network element may send the first data to the first network element only after acquiring the first data from all the fifth network elements. For sending the first message, the first message may also be sent to the first network element when part or all of the first data is acquired from any one of the fifth network elements.

In the second case, the attribute information of the first data is stored in the first network element only after the second network element actually obtains the first data. Compared with the first case, the storage delay of the attribute information of the first data in this way is relatively large, but because the first data has been actually acquired by the second network element, the accuracy is high.

In the first case and the second case, the second network element may acquire a part of the first data from each of the fifth network elements, or may obtain a part of the first data from each of the fifth network elements Get all the first data.

In the third case, the first condition is: the second network element completes the data training or data inference process based on the acquired first data.

In the third case, the second network element delays the storage of the attribute information of the first data, so as to ensure that the second network element preferentially completes its own data training or inference task.

In the fourth case, the first condition is: the data state information of the first data is changed.

In the fourth case, the change of the data state information of the first data may be: the data state of the first data is changed from being acquired to acquired. In this case, it can be ensured that the stored attribute information of the first data has high accuracy.

Optionally, the method further includes: the second network element sends any one or more of the following information to the first network element: the identification information of the second network element, the network element type information of the second network element, the second network element The service area information of the network element, the data sharing capability of the second network element, the data sharing range of the second network element, the data storage validity time information of the second network element, the load information of the second network element, the corresponding data of the second network element Data storage device information. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the information sent by the second network element from the second network element.

The meaning of each piece of information in the information sent by the second network element is:

1) Identification information of the second network element

The identification information of the second network element is used to identify the second network element, and may be the identifier of the second network element, the FQDN of the second network element, the address of the second network element, the media access control (MAC) address, IP address, etc.

2) Network element type information of the second network element

The network element type information of the second network element is used to indicate the network element type of the second network. For example, the network element type of the second network element may be a data analysis network element type or a database type.

For example, if the network element type of the second network element is NWDAF, and the network element type of the second network element needs to be indicated in a message, NF type=NWDAF in the message. If the network element type of the second network element is AMF, the network element type of the second network element needs to be indicated in a message, and NF type=AMF in the message. If the network element type of the second network element is SMF, and the network element type of the second network element needs to be indicated in a message, then NF type=SMF in the message. If the network element type of the second network element is a database, and the network element type of the second network element needs to be indicated in a message, NF type=data repository in the message.

3) Service area information of the second network element

The service area information of the second network element is used to indicate an area that the second network element can serve. The service area may be a range of a cell (cell), a TA, or a corresponding base station (eg, a gNB).

4) Data sharing capability of the second network element

The data sharing capability of the second network element is used to indicate whether the second network element is capable or willing to share the acquired data with other network elements.

Wherein, different data in the second network element may correspond to the same data sharing capability, or may correspond to different data sharing capabilities.

5) Data sharing range of the second network element

The data sharing range of the second network element is used to indicate to which network elements or those types of network elements the second network element can share the data acquired by itself. The representation of the sharing range here can be the type of network element (used to describe which type of network element to share data with), the identifier, address, or FQDN of a specific network element, or the area identifier (using It can be used to describe that data can be shared with all network elements in the area), and it can also be manufacturer information, version information, etc.

Wherein, different data in the second network element may correspond to the same data sharing range, or may correspond to different data sharing ranges.

6) Data storage validity time information of the second network element

The data storage valid time of the second network element is used to describe the time period or duration information for the second network element to store the acquired data. Beyond the valid time range, the data stored in the second network element will be deleted, or the integrity and accuracy will not be guaranteed. The valid time period can be expressed in the form of start time, end time, duration, and so on.

Wherein, different data in the second network element may correspond to the same valid storage time, or may correspond to different valid storage time.

7) Load information of the second network element

The load information of the second network element is used to indicate the load condition of the second network element. The load condition of the second network element may be the load condition of the memory (for example, the storage occupancy rate is 80%), or the load condition of the central processing unit (CPU) (for example, the CPU occupancy rate is 90%), and the It can be the load condition of other devices, which is not limited in this application.

8) Information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element

It should be noted that, after the second network element acquires the data, it may be stored locally, or may be sent to other devices (for example, a centralized database, an intra-regional distributed database, etc.), and the data storage device corresponding to the second network element That is, the other device. The information of the data storage device may include identification information of the data storage device (for example, ID, IP address, FQDN, MAC address, etc. of the data storage device), network element type information, service area information, data sharing capability information, and data sharing range information , Data storage effective time information, load information, etc.

After step 402, the first network element stores the attribute information of the first data and the received information sent by the second network element. The information sent by the second network element may be carried in the first message, or may be carried in other messages, which is not limited in this application.

Exemplarily, in the case where the first network element is an NRF and the second network element is an NWDAF, in a first implementation manner, the NWDAF invokes the network element management service (Nnrf NF management) provided by the NRF, and converts the first data The attribute information is stored in the NRF as the content of the NF profile of the NWDAF. In another implementation manner, the first NWDAF invokes the network element management service (Nnrf NF management) provided by the NRF, and saves the attribute information of the first data as a new information field (such as a data profile) in the in NRF.

Exemplarily, in the case where the first network element is the UDM and the second network element is the NWDAF, the NWDAF invokes the terminal device context management (Nudm UE Context Management) service provided by the UDM, and saves the attribute information of the first data to the UDM. middle.

Exemplarily, when the first network element is the BSF and the second network element is the NWDAF, the NWDAF invokes the management (Nbsf management) service provided by the BSF, and saves the attribute information of the first data in the BSF.

Optionally, the specific implementation of step 403 includes: when the third condition is satisfied, the third network element sends the second message to the first network element.

In the first case, the third condition is: the third network element receives the data acquisition request sent by the sixth network element, and the data acquisition request is used to request to acquire part or all of the second data.

In the first case, the third network element may be a DCCF. The sixth network element may be an NWDAF that wants to acquire data.

In the second case, the third condition is: the third network element receives the request for obtaining the data analysis result sent by the seventh network element, and the data analysis result needs to be generated based on the second data.

In the second case, the third network element may be a data analysis network element.

In step 404, if the attribute information shows that the first data contains part of the data in the second data, it can be considered that the attribute information of the first data partially matches the attribute information of the second data. In other words, if there is an intersection between the first data and the second data, and the intersection is smaller than the second data, it can be considered that the attribute information of the first data partially matches the attribute information of the second data. If the attribute information shows that all the data in the second data exists in the first data, it can be considered that the attribute information of the first data matches the attribute information of the second data. In other words, when there is an intersection between the first data and the second data, and the intersection is the second data, it can be considered that the attribute information of the first data matches the attribute information of the second data.

Exemplarily, the attribute information of the first data shows that the first data is the quantity information of terminal devices in AOI1 to AOI5, and the attribute information of the second data shows that the second data is the quantity information of terminal devices in AOI1 to AOI3 (in this case, All the data in the second data exists in the first data), or the attribute information of the second data shows that the second data is the quantity information of the terminal devices in AOI1 to AOI7 (in this case, the first data exists in the second data. part of the data), or the attribute information of the second data shows that the second data is the quantity information of the terminal devices in AOI3 to AOI7 (in this case, the first data and the second data partially overlap), then the first network element can determine the two match.

Further, when the data precision in the first data is not lower than the data precision in the second data, the two are considered to match. Exemplarily, the attribute information of the first data shows that the first data is the position data of the terminal device 1 located in the area 1 (area1) in the past week, and the sampling interval is every hour. The attribute information of the second data provided in the second message shows that the second data is the location data of the terminal device 1 in the area 1 in the past three days, and the sampling interval is every three hours, then the first network element can determine that the two match.

In step 404, optionally, the information of the second network element includes any one or more of the following information: data storage validity time information of the second network element, load information of the second network element, The identification information of the second network element, the service area information of the second network element, the information of the network element type of the second network element, and the information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element. The specific meaning of these information can be found in the above, and will not be repeated here.

Based on the acquired information of the second network element, the third network element may acquire part or all of the second data from the second network element or the data storage device according to the information of the second network element.

Wherein, based on the identification information of the second network element, the third network element may determine from which network element the data needs to be obtained. Based on the service area information of the second network element, the third network element may determine which area the data provided by the second network element belongs to. Based on the data storage validity time information of the second network element, the third network element may determine whether the data provided by the second network element is valid, and obtain data from the second network element if the data provided by the second network element is valid. Based on the load information of the second network element, the third network element may learn the load of the second network element, and the third network element may acquire data from the second network element when the load is less than a threshold. Based on the information of the network element type of the second network element, the third network element can learn the network element type of the second network element, and the third network element can know the network element type of the second network element when the network element type of the second network element is a data analysis network element or a database Next, obtain data from the second network element.

In step 404, optionally, the response message further includes attribute information of the first data or attribute information of the overlapping part of the first data and the second data. Wherein, in addition to the attribute information of the first data, the response message may also include attribute information of other data in the second network element, so that the third network element can determine what other data the second network element can provide.

In this case, the specific implementation of step 405 may include: the third network element obtains part or all of the second data from the second network element according to the attribute information of the first data. Wherein, through the attribute information of the first data, the third network element can determine which data is included in the second network element, and then determine which data is acquired.

On the one hand, the third network element can determine whether the second network element has acquired data or is acquiring data according to the data status information in the attribute information of the first data, so as to determine whether to request data from the network element immediately or after a period of time. Then request data from the network element.

On the other hand, the third network element may determine how to acquire the data according to the attribute information of the first data. For example, the third network element determines when to acquire data from the network element in the second network element according to the data storage valid time in the attribute information of the first data. For another example, whether to change the scope and/or precision of data obtained from the second network element is determined according to data filtering information and/or data reporting information. For example, the first data stored in the second network element is obtained at a sampling interval of 1 minute. (higher precision), but the third network element wants to obtain data with a sampling interval of 5 minutes at this time, the third network element can directly request the second network element to provide data with a sampling interval of 5 minutes as required.

Optionally, the above method further includes: the first network element receives a third message from the fourth network element, the third message includes attribute information of the third data, and the third data includes the data being acquired by the fourth network element and/or or obtained data. The fourth network element may be a data analysis network element (eg, NWDAF), a database, and a 5GC NF other than the data analysis network element.

The process of reporting the attribute information of the third data by the fourth network element in the present application is similar to the process of reporting the attribute information of the first data by the second network element, and will not be described again. Similarly, the fourth network element may also perform other actions performed by the second network element in the foregoing method, which may be understood with reference to the actions of the second network element.

If the attribute information of the third data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the first network element may further perform the following actions:

Action 1: The first network element determines the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element.

When performing action 1, optionally, the first network element may use the service area information, load information, network topology information, network element type information, and data sharing information corresponding to the second network element and the fourth network element to share data. One or more of capability information, data sharing range information, and data storage validity time information determine the second network element.

When performing action 1, the first network element may determine to feed back the information of the second network element in the response message when the second network element satisfies but the fourth network element does not satisfy at least one of the following conditions 1 to 7 .

Among them, Condition 1 to Condition 7 are:

Condition 1: Have the ability to share data.

Condition 2: The third network element is a network element within the data sharing range of the network element.

Condition 3: The data is within the storage valid time.

Condition 4: The network element type is the data analysis network element type or the database type.

Condition 5: The network topology shows that the distance from the first network element is closest, or the distance from the first network element satisfies a certain condition (for example, less than or equal to a threshold).

Condition 6: The service area belongs to the area corresponding to the second data, wherein the area corresponding to the second data means that the second data is data related to these areas. For example, if the second data is the quantity information of the terminal devices in AOI1, then The area corresponding to the second data is AOI1.

Condition 7: The load is the lowest or the load meets a certain condition (eg, less than or equal to a threshold).

For example, the first network element may determine the second network element according to the load information of the second network element and the fourth network element. For example, if the load information of the second network element and the fourth network element is used to determine the second network element, if the load of the second network element is lower than the load of the fourth network element, or the second network element and the fourth network element If only the load of the second network element satisfies a certain condition, the first network element determines to feed back the information of the second network element in the response message. Exemplarily, if the third network element needs to obtain the related data of AOI1, the first data and the third data are both related data of an area in AOI1. At this time, if the load of the second network element is less than a threshold but the fourth If the load of the network element is greater than the threshold, the first network element determines to feed back the information of the second network element in the response message.

At this time, the first network element can perform load balancing to ensure balanced feedback of different network elements as data providers to subsequent network element queryers, thereby ensuring that network element queryers (also data requesters at this time) are balanced Obtain relevant data from different data providers to avoid heavy burden on network elements with heavy load.

Action 2: The first network element feeds back the information of the fourth network element to the third network element.

For example, the response message further includes information of the fourth network element. The description about the information about the fourth network element is similar to the information about the second network element, which can be understood by referring to the above, and will not be repeated here.

When the first network element performs action 2, in the first implementation manner, the above-mentioned step 405 may include: the third network element obtains the part of the second data from the second network element and the fourth network element. or all. Further, the third network element obtains part or all of the second data from the second network element and the fourth network element respectively according to the information of the second network element and the information of the fourth network element. The process of the third network element acquiring part or all of the second data from the fourth network element is similar to the process of acquiring part or all of the second data from the second network element, and details are not repeated here.

The first data and the third data may be completely different (in this case, the attribute information of the first data and the attribute information of the third data may be partially the same or completely different), in this case, the third network element may Both the second network element and the fourth network element acquire data. The first data and the third data may also partially overlap (in this case, the attribute information of the first data and the attribute information of the third data may be partially the same). The network element obtains the overlapping parts, and obtains different parts from the second network element and the fourth network element respectively. The first data and the third data may all overlap (in this case, the attribute information of the first data and the attribute information of the third data may be exactly the same), in this case, the third network element may The network element obtains data.

Optionally, the combination of the first data and the third data may be a part of the second data, or may be the whole of the second data. In the latter case, optionally, the set of the first data and the third data is the same as the second data.

In the case where the first network element performs action 2, in the second implementation manner, the above-mentioned step 405 may include: the third network element obtains information from the second network element and the fourth network element. The second network element is determined in the second network element; the third network element obtains part or all of the second data from the second network element.

Optionally, the third network element determining the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element includes: the third network element is based on the second network element and the fourth network element. one or more of the service area information, load information, network topology information, network element type information, data sharing capability information, data sharing range information, and data storage effective time information corresponding to the fourth network element, and determine the second network element. network element. The specific process is similar to the process in which the first network element determines the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element, which can be understood with reference and will not be repeated.

Wherein, the meaning that the attribute information of the third data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data is similar to the meaning that the attribute information of the first data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data. Understand, not repeat them.

It should be noted that, in actual implementation, the attribute information of the data reported by more network elements may match or partially match the attribute information of the second data. The network element types of these more network elements can be the same, for example, they are all NWDAF, and the network element types of these more network elements can also be different, for example, some network elements are NWDAF, some network elements are databases, and some network elements are databases. A meta can be a 5GC NF other than NWDAF. The data indicated by the attribute information of the data reported by each network element may include the data that the network element is acquiring and/or part or all of the acquired data, which is not limited in this application. The data indicated by the attribute information of the data reported by different network elements may be completely different, may partially overlap, or may completely overlap, which is not limited in this application.

For example, referring to Table 1, if five network elements report the attribute information of the data, the five network elements are respectively network element A to network element E, and the data indicated by the attribute information of the data reported by network element A to network element E are respectively Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI1 to AOI5. At this time, there is no overlap between the data indicated by the attribute information of the data reported by different network elements.

Table 1

network element The data indicated by the attribute information of the data reported by the network element NE A Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI1 NE B Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI2 NE C Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI3

NE D Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI4 NE E Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI5

For another example, referring to Table 2, if the network elements include 5 network elements, the 5 network elements are network element A to network element E respectively, and Table 2 may refer to Table 2 for the data indicated by the attribute information of the data reported by each network element. At this time, there is overlap between the data indicated by the attribute information of the data reported by different network elements.

Table 2

network element The data indicated by the attribute information of the data reported by the network element NE A Quantity information of end devices in AOI1 and AOI2 NE B Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI2 NE C Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI3 and AOI4 NE D Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI4 and AOI5 NE E Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI3, AOI4 and AOI5

For another example, referring to Table 3, if the network element includes five network elements, the five network elements are network element A to network element E respectively, and the data indicated by the attribute information of the data reported by each network element is the terminal equipment in AOI1 to AOI5. quantity information. At this time, the data indicated by the attribute information of the data reported by different network elements completely overlap.

table 3

network element The data indicated by the attribute information of the data reported by the network element NE A Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI1, AOI2, AOI3, AOI4 and AOI5 NE B Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI1, AOI2, AOI3, AOI4 and AOI5 NE C Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI1, AOI2, AOI3, AOI4 and AOI5 NE D Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI1, AOI2, AOI3, AOI4 and AOI5 NE E Quantity information of terminal devices in AOI1, AOI2, AOI3, AOI4 and AOI5

In this case, the first network element can determine to feed back the information of one or more network elements to the third network element according to one or more of the above conditions 1 to 7, and can also directly send the information of these more network elements to the third network element. The information of the element is fed back to the third network element.

For example, if the attribute information of the data reported by the five network elements in Table 1, Table 2 or Table 3 matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the first network element can The information of the network elements smaller than a certain threshold is fed back to the third network element, or the first network element may feed back the information of the network elements whose network element type is the data analysis network element type or the database type among the five network elements to the third network element. The third network element, or the first network element may feed back the information of the network element with the data sharing capability among the five network elements to the third network element.

Similarly, in the case of receiving one or more network elements fed back by the first network element, the third network element may request corresponding data from these network elements according to the information of these network elements, or may request corresponding data from these network elements according to the corresponding One or more of the service area information, load information, network topology information, network element type information, data sharing capability information, data sharing range information, and data storage effective time information, and determine the network element that finally obtains the data. The specific process is as follows: The process for the third network element to determine the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element is similar, and will not be repeated.

Further, the first network element may also feed back attribute information of the data corresponding to each network element to the third network element, so that the third network element can determine which part of the second data is provided by which network element.

Optionally, in the case that the attribute information of the second data does not match the attribute information of the data reported by any data analysis network element and any database to the first network element, if the data analysis network element and the database are not If other network function entities can provide part or all of the second data, the first network element can feed back information of other network function entities except the data analysis network element and the database to the third network element. If no network element can provide part or all of the second data, the network element in the response message of the second message may be empty or invalid.

In addition, it should be noted that when the second network element sends the acquired first data to other network elements, the second network element may also include the information of the other network elements (for example, the identifier of the other network element) in the first message. information, network element type information, service area information, data sharing capability information, data sharing range information, data storage validity time information, load information) are sent to the first network element for storage. In the subsequent process, if the attribute information of the first data and the The attribute information of the second data matches, and the first network element may also feed back the information of the other network element to the third network element.

In order to make the embodiments of the present application more clear, in Embodiments 1 and 2, for the parts that are the same as those of the embodiment of FIG. 4 , refer to the relevant description of the embodiment of FIG. 4 for details. In Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2, the second network element is NWDAF1 and the third network element is NWDAF2 for illustration.

Example 1

Embodiment 1 is used to illustrate the process of NWDAF1 saving attribute information of acquired or currently acquired data to the first network element in the above-mentioned embodiment. Referring to FIG. 5 , the method includes:

501. The NWDAF1 sends a request message 1 to the first network element, where the request message 1 is used to request the first network element to discover and feed back the network element that provides the first data (referred to as the data providing network element 1). Correspondingly, the first network element receives request message 1 from NWDAF1.

Wherein, if the NWDAF1 does not know which network element or network elements the data providing network element 1 is before acquiring the first data, it needs to query the first network element for the data providing network element 1 through step 501 at this time.

For example, NWDAF1 needs to obtain data related to the terminal device (for example, the location information of the terminal device in the AMF) because it needs to perform data analysis at the granularity of a certain terminal device (for example, analyzing the movement trajectory of a certain terminal device), then NWDAF1 It is necessary to query the first network element (for example, UDM) in advance for the network element serving the terminal device (for example, the AMF serving the terminal device). Wherein, the request message 1 carries the identifier of the terminal device, and specifies the type of network element to be acquired (for example, NF type=AMF).

For another example, NWDAF1 needs to obtain relevant network elements serving the area (for example, SMF, UPF, etc. serving the AOI) because it needs to perform regional-level data analysis (for example, analyzing the load information of network elements such as SMF and UPF of a certain AOI). ), the NWDAF1 needs to query the first network element (for example, NRF) for the network element serving the area. Among them, the specific NF type and AOI are indicated in the request message 1.

For another example, NWDAF1 may need to query the PCF that provides data due to some data analysis tasks, then NWDAF1 may query the first network element (eg, BSF) for the PCF. Wherein, the request message 1 indicates the NF type and the corresponding terminal device information (for example, the terminal device identifier, the IP address of the terminal device, etc.) and the like.

502. The first network element sends a response message 1 to the NWDAF1, where the response message 1 includes information used to instruct the data providing network element 1.

Wherein, the information used to indicate the data providing network element 1 may be an identifier of the data providing network element 1, FQDN or address information, and the like.

503. The NWDAF1 acquires the first data from the data providing network element 1.

When step 503 is specifically implemented, the NWDAF1 sends a data acquisition request to the queried data providing network element 1 for acquiring the first data. Correspondingly, the data providing network element 1 reports the first data to the NWDAF1.

The NWDAF1 sends a data acquisition request to the data providing network element 1 fed back by the first network element according to the needs of its own data training or inference task, so as to collect relevant training data or inference data.

Specifically, NWDAF1 can use various data subscription or data request mechanisms that have been defined in the prior art to request data from data providing network element 1. For example, if data providing network element 1 is a 5GC NF other than NWDAF, NWDAF1 can use The existing event expouse service obtains the first data from the data providing network element 1. For the terminal device or the access network device, the NWDAF1 may obtain the first data reported by the terminal device or the access network device by using services such as performance measurement provided by the network management plane.

It should be noted that if the first data represents all data in a data set, there may be multiple data providing network elements 1, then when NWDAF1 obtains the first data from each data providing network element 1, it may only obtain the first data each time. part of the dataset. For example, the first data is the event ID list data set corresponding to analytic ID1, and NWDAF1 obtains the event ID1 data from the first data providing network element 1. Other event ID data corresponding to analytic ID1 can be obtained from other data providing network element 1, from all The data acquired by the data providing network element 1 constitutes the first data. For another example, the first data is a data set composed of data of several different sub-areas in an area, and NWDAF1 acquires area 1 (area1) data from the first data providing network element 1 . The corresponding other area data may be obtained from other data providing network elements 1, and the data obtained from all data providing network elements 1 constitute the first data.

Among them, in the data acquisition request sent to the data providing network element 1, NWDAF1 may specify one or more of the following information: data type (such as event ID), data object (such as target of UE), data filtering information ( Such as AOI), data reporting information (such as last week cycle). The meaning of these information can be found in the above, and will not be repeated here.

Correspondingly, the data providing network element 1 reports the first data to the NWDAF1 according to the request of the NWDAF1. While reporting the first data on demand (for example, according to a certain period), the data providing network element 1 may also provide one or more of the data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information and other information of the first data. A variety of information is carried to the NWDAF1, and these information can be used by the NWDAF1 to update the attribute information of the first data.

After step 503, NWDAF1 has acquired the first data, and can perform corresponding data training or data inference based on the acquired first data.

504. NWDAF1 sends a first message to the first network element, where the first message includes attribute information of the first data. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the first message from NWDAF1.

For the relevant description about the first message, reference may be made to the above, and details are not repeated here.

505. The first network element stores attribute information of the first data in the first message.

Exemplarily, the NWDAF1 may save the attribute information of the first data obtained from the data providing network element 1 to the first network element through a state update process or a state registration process.

Exemplarily, when the first network element is an NRF, NWDAF1 can save the attribute information of the first data to the first network element through Nnrf_NFManagement_NFRegister or Nnrf_NFManagement_NFUpdate. When the first network element is a UDM, NWDAF1 can use Nudm_UECM_Registration or Nudm_UECM_Update to save the first network element. The attribute information of the data is saved to the first network element. When the first network element is a BSF, the NWDAF1 can save the attribute information of the first data to the first network element through Nbsf_Management_Register or Nbsf_Management_Update.

Embodiment 1 provides a method for NWDAF1 to store attribute information corresponding to the first data acquired by itself in the first network element, so as to ensure that the first network element can subsequently find NWDAF1 by querying according to the attribute information of the first data.

Example 2

Embodiment 2 is used to exemplarily describe the process in which the NWDAF2 acquires the network element that provides the second data from the first network element (ie, the second network element in the above, referred to as the data providing network element 2 here). Referring to Figure 6, the process includes:

601. NWDAF2 sends a second message to the first network element, where the second message includes attribute information of the second data, and the second message is used to request the first network element to discover and feed back the data providing network element 2. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the second message from NWDAF2.

The trigger condition for NWDAF2 to execute step 601 is similar to that of NWDAF1 in the foregoing step 501, which can be understood with reference to the above, and will not be repeated here.

The attribute information of the second data contained in the second message is used to indicate to the first network element what data it will acquire, in other words, to indicate what data the data providing network element 2 it is looking for must have, so that the first network element can According to the attribute information, a network element finds the network element or device that has the corresponding data.

The second message also includes information about the requested network element type, where the requested network element type includes the NWDAF type (for example, NF type1=NWDAF included in the second message), which is used to inform the first network element to query and discover that the second data is provided In the subsequent process, the first network element preferentially feeds back to NWDAF2 the NWDAF found by the query that can provide the second data.

The network element type requested by NWDAF2 may also include other network element types, such as database, SMF, AMF, and so on. At this time, exemplarily, the NF type2 included in the second message=database, SMF or AMF.

602. The first network element sends a second response to the NWDAF2, where the second response includes the information of the data providing network element 2.

Wherein, the information of the data providing network element 2 may be the identity of the data providing network element 2, FQDN or address information, service area, etc., and may also be other information. For details, please refer to the above, which will not be repeated.

After the first network element receives the second message, if it is determined that the attribute information of the first data matches the attribute information of the second data, it determines that the data providing network element 2 is NWDAF1, and sends the information of NWDAF1 to NWDAF2.

Further, if the first network element also determines that the attribute information of the data reported by other NWDAFs other than NWDAF1 or the 5GC NF other than NWDAF matches the attribute information of the second data, it is determined that the data providing network element 2 also includes: Other NWDAFs and 5GC NFs, in this case, the information of other NWDAFs and 5GC NFs can also be sent to NWDAF2. Alternatively, if the first network element also determines that the attribute information of the data reported by other NWDAFs other than NWDAF1 matches the attribute information of the second data, the first network element may select the data whose load is less than a certain threshold according to the load information of multiple NWDAFs. NWDAF, and these NWDAFs are provided as data by network element 2 and fed back to NWDAF2.

603. The NWDAF2 acquires the second data from the data providing network element 2.

For the specific implementation of step 603, reference may be made to the above, and details are not repeated here.

604. NWDAF2 sends a fifth message to the first network element, where the fifth message includes attribute information of the second data. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the fifth message from NWDAF2.

605. The first network element stores the attribute information of the second data in the fifth message.

Exemplarily, the NWDAF2 may save the attribute information of the second data acquired from the data providing network element 2 to the first network element through a state update process or a state registration process. For details, refer to step 505 above, which will not be repeated.

The purpose of steps 604 and 605 is to ensure that the subsequent first network element can find NWDAF2 according to the attribute information of the second data, so as to ensure that NWDAF2 is preferentially indicated to other network elements as the network element that provides the second data as much as possible.

In the above embodiment, each message and its response may also have other names, which are not limited in this application. For example, the second message may also be referred to as a network function discovery message (NF discovery request), and the second response may also be referred to as a network function discovery response (NF discovery response).

It should be noted that the steps in the processes shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 of the present application may be more or less than those shown in the figures. That is to say, some steps in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are optional. Some steps are added, which is not limited in this application. In addition, the above processes in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are only examples, and the specific implementation of each step may refer to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 .

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem that the main performance of 5GC NF is reduced due to repeated reporting of a large amount of the same data, the present application also provides a communication method, see FIG. 10 , including:

1001. The second network element sends a first message to the first network element, where the first message includes attribute information of the first data, and the first data includes the data being acquired and/or acquired by the second network element. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the first message from the second network element.

Optionally, the second network element is a data analysis network element (for example, NWDAF) or a database or other functional network elements that can acquire or store data, such as AMF, SMF, and the like. Optionally, the first network element is DCCF or NRF or UDM.

Optionally, the attribute information of the first data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the first data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, data source information, data status information, Data analysis type identification information (for example, analytics ID), data acquisition time information (optional, corresponding to the status of data acquisition). The data analysis type identification information is used to indicate that the first data includes data analysis result data corresponding to the data analysis type identification information. The source information of the data may be information of the second network element, or may be information of another network element, and the other network element is a network element that provides the second network element with the first data. For the meaning of other information corresponding to the first data, reference may be made to the above description, which will not be repeated.

Exemplarily, when the second network element is an NWDAF, the first message may be a state update message or a state registration message, for example, a data profile register/update (data profile register/update) message or an NF state management (NF) message. status management) message. For other related descriptions about the first message, reference may be made to the foregoing step 402, which will not be repeated.

Before step 1001, the second network element may acquire the attribute information of the first data, and the related description can refer to the above-mentioned step 401, which will not be repeated.

1002. The third network element sends a second message to the first network element, where the second message includes attribute information of the second data, and the second message is used to request acquisition of the second data, or the second message is used to request the first network element. The element discovers a network element capable of providing the second data. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the second message from the third network element.

Optionally, the third network element is an NWDAF network element. The second data is the data that the third network element wants to acquire.

Optionally, the attribute information of the second data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the second data: data type, data object, data filtering information, data reporting information, data status information, and data analysis type identification information . The data analysis type identification information is used to indicate that the third network element acquires the second data for the purpose of performing a data analysis task corresponding to the data analysis type identification information. For other related descriptions about the attribute information of the second data, refer to the above, and details are not repeated here.

Optionally, the second message further includes identification information or destination address information of the third network element, and the identification information or destination address information of the third network element is used by the first network element to determine which network element is sending the second message. Yuan. Exemplarily, the second message may be a data subscription message, such as Ndccf_Data_Service_subscribe.

1003. The first network element determines that the attribute information of the second data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the first data.

For a description about the matching or partial matching between the attribute information of the first data and the attribute information of the second data, reference may be made to the foregoing embodiments, and details are not repeated here.

1004. The first network element sends a sixth message to the second network element, where the sixth message is used to request the second network element to acquire the second data. Correspondingly, the second network element receives the sixth message from the first network element.

Exemplarily, the sixth message may be a data subscription message. For example, if the second network element is NWDAF, the sixth message may be Nnwdaf_Data_Service_subscribe.

Optionally, in one case, the sixth message includes identification information or destination address information of the third network element, and the identification information or destination address information of the third network element is used by the second network element to send the second data to the third network element. Three network elements. In this case, referring to FIG. 10, after step 1004, the method may further include:

1005. The second network element sends the second data to the third network element. Correspondingly, the third network element receives the second data from the second network element.

Optionally, in another case, the sixth message includes identification information or destination address information of the first network element, and the identification information or destination address information of the first network element is used by the second network element to send the second data to The first network element. In this case, referring to FIG. 10, after step 1004, the method may further include:

1006. The second network element sends the second data to the first network element. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the second data from the second network element.

1007. The first network element sends the second data received from the second network element to the third network element.

It should be noted that the sixth message may also include both the identification information or destination address information of the third network element, and the identification information or destination address information of the first network element. In this case, the second network element can choose by itself Whether to send the second data to the first network element or the third network element.

Optionally, referring to Figure 10, the method further includes:

1008. The first network element sends a response message of the second message to the third network element, where the response message includes information of the second network element. The purpose of sending the information of the second network element to the third network element is to inform the third network element that the network element providing the second data is the second network element or to inform the third network element that the second network element will obtain the second network element from the second network element. data.

Optionally, the information of the second network element includes any one or more of the following information: identification information of the second network element, service area information of the second network element, data storage validity time information of the second network element, The load information of the second network element, the information of the network element type of the second network element, and the information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element. The specific meaning of these information can be found in the above, and will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the method further includes: the first network element obtains any one or more of the following information from the second network element: the data sharing capability of the second network element, the data sharing range of the second network element, the second network element The data of the network element stores the valid time information, the load information of the second network element, and the information of the data storage device corresponding to the second network element. The second network element stores the first data in the data storage device. The specific meaning of these information can be found in the above, and will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the response message of the second message further includes data status information, which is used to indicate whether the data is currently being acquired or is being acquired. Optionally, the response message of the second message further includes information on the required acquisition time of the data, which is used to indicate how long it takes for the data to be acquired at present, and is used to indicate the waiting time of the third network element. The third network element can obtain the data status information and/or the required data acquisition time information, so as to evaluate the waiting time required for receiving the second data, and then prepare corresponding resources according to the waiting time. For example, if the data status information indicates that the second network element has completed acquiring part or all of the required second data, the third network element evaluates that the second data fed back by the second network element will be obtained soon, and the third network element The meta may need to immediately prepare corresponding storage resources for receiving the corresponding second data. Conversely, if the data status information indicates that the second network element is acquiring part or all of the required second data, and the required data acquisition time is 48 hours, the third network element evaluates that it will take at least 48 hours for the second network element to If the second data is fed back, the third network element preferably prepares corresponding storage resources 48 hours before the arrival.

Optionally, the response message of the second message further includes attribute information of the first data. Wherein, in addition to the attribute information of the first data, the response message of the second message may also include attribute information of other data in the second network element, so that the third network element can determine what other data the second network element can provide. The data. In this case, if the attribute information of the first data includes the data status information and/or the required data acquisition time information, the response message of the second message may no longer separately include the data status information and/or the required data acquisition time. information.

Optionally, if the attribute information of the second data includes data analysis type identification information, the method further includes:

11) The first network element determines that the first data includes data analysis result data corresponding to the data analysis type according to the attribute information of the second data and the attribute information of the first data. For example, the first network element may determine that the first data includes data analysis result data corresponding to the data analysis type when the attribute information of the first data also includes the data analysis type identification information.

12) The first network element sends a seventh message to the second network element, where the seventh message is used to request the second network element to obtain data analysis result data.

The seventh message and the sixth message may be the same message or different messages, or the first network element may only send the seventh message without sending the sixth message.

The seventh message may include identification information or destination address information of the first network element, and the second network element sends the data analysis result data to the first network element according to the identification information or destination address information of the first network element. A network element sends the data analysis result data to a third network element. The seventh message may also include identification information or destination address information of the third network element, and the second network element directly sends the data analysis result data to the third network element according to the identification information or destination address information of the third network element. The seventh message may also include identification information or destination address information of the first network element and the third network element, and the second network element chooses to send the data analysis result data to the first network element or the third network element. In this case, the third network element does not need to generate the data analysis result data by itself, thereby reducing the power consumption of the third network element and the complexity of data processing.

Optionally, the method further includes:

21) The first network element receives a third message from the fourth network element, the third message includes attribute information of the third data, and the third data includes the data being acquired by the fourth network element and/or the acquired data.

In this case, if the attribute information of the third data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the first network element may perform the following action 1 and/or action 2.

Action 1. The first network element determines the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element.

Action 2: The first network element sends an eighth message to the fourth network element, where the eighth message is used to request the fourth network element to acquire the second data. Correspondingly, the fourth network element receives the eighth message from the first network element.

The action 1 can be determined by the following way 1 or way 2 or way 3.

Mode 1. The first network element according to the service area information, load information, network topology information, network element type information, data sharing capability information, data sharing range information, data storage effective time information corresponding to the second network element and the fourth network element One or more of to determine the second network element. Wherein, the relevant description about Mode 1 may refer to the above, and will not be repeated here.

Manner 2: The first network element determines the second network element according to the matching data volume of the first data and the second data, and the matching data volume of the third data and the second data. Wherein, the matching data volume of the first data and the second data is greater than the matching data volume of the third data and the second data. That is, when the first data includes more data required by the third network element, the network element that provides the second data is determined to be the second network element.

way 3

If the attribute information of the second data includes data analysis type identification information, the first network element may determine the second network element according to the data analysis type identification information, and the second network element may provide data analysis result data corresponding to the data analysis type identification information.

Similar to the sixth message, the eighth message may include identification information or destination address information of the third network element and/or the first network element, and identification information or destination address information of the third network element and/or the first network element. for the fourth network element to send the second data to the third network element or the first network element. In the case that the identification information or destination address information of the third network element is included in the eighth message, the fourth network element may, according to the identification information or destination address information of the third network element in the eighth message, convert the third network element in the third data The data required by the three network elements (that is, the second data requested by the third network element) is sent to the third network element. When the eighth message includes the identification information or destination address information of the first network element, the fourth network element may convert the first network element in the third data according to the identification information or destination address information of the first network element in the eighth message The data required by the three network elements (that is, the second data requested by the third network element) is sent to the first network element. When the eighth message includes identification information or destination address information of the first network element and the third network element, the fourth network element can choose to send the second data to the first network element or the third network element by itself. Wherein, for other related descriptions of the various steps in the optional method, reference may be made to the above, and details are not repeated here.

In the case that the first data and the second data included in the third data are all the same, the first network element may perform action 1, and after performing action 1, send a sixth message to the second network element.

In the case where the first data and the second data contained in the third data are the same, in one case, the first network element may perform action 1, and after performing action 1, send a sixth message to the second network element. In another case, the first network element may perform action 2 in addition to performing action 1 and sending the sixth message to the second network element after performing action 1. The second data acquired by the element may be the second data not included in the second network element, that is, the same second data included in the first data and the third data is acquired only once, thereby improving the efficiency of data acquisition.

In the case where the second data contained in the first data and the third data are completely different, the first network element may perform action 1 and send the sixth message to the second network element after performing action 1, and may also perform Action 2, so that the third network element obtains more complete second data.

In the case where the first network element sends the sixth message to the second network element so that the third network element obtains the second data, if the second network element cannot provide the second data any more, the first network element may perform action 2, So that the third network element obtains the second data.

Optionally, the method further includes: 31) The second network element sends a fourth message to the first network element, where the fourth message is used to instruct the first network element to delete or update attribute information of the first data. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the fourth message from the second network element. If the first network element has acquired the attribute information of the first data, in the subsequent process, the first network element can delete or delete the information according to the fourth message. Update attribute information of the first data. Subsequently, the first network element may no longer acquire the attribute information of the first data, or may reacquire the attribute information of the first data when necessary after a period of time. If the first network element is acquiring the second data, the first network element sends a ninth message to the second network element. The ninth message is used to request the second network element to cancel the acquisition of the second data. Correspondingly, the second network element Receive a ninth message from the first network element, and determine not to provide the second data to the first network element or the third network element according to the ninth message. In this case, optionally, the method further includes: the first network element sends a tenth message to the third network element, where the tenth message is used to indicate to the third network element that the second network element no longer provides the second data. Correspondingly, the third network element receives the tenth message from the first network element, and determines according to the tenth message that the second network element no longer provides the second data. At this time, the third network element can subsequently obtain the second data from other network elements (eg, the fourth network element). For other descriptions of the optional method, reference may be made to the descriptions of the corresponding steps above, and details are not repeated here.

The second network element may delete or update the attribute information of the first data under the triggering of certain triggering conditions. Trigger conditions for deletion may be: the first data is invalid (for example, the second network element has exceeded the time limit for storing the first data), the storage space of the second network element is insufficient, the second network element learns that the first data has errors, and the second network element has an error. The second network element receives a notification from the data source to delete an instruction to delete the first data, and so on. The triggering condition for the update may be: the sharing capability of the first data changes, and the first data is no longer shared with other network elements; the sharing range of the first data changes, and the first data is no longer shared with the first network element or the third network element. a data, etc.

Specifically, the fourth message is used to inform the first network element and the second network element whether the attribute information of the first data is deleted or the attribute information of the first data is updated. Further, the fourth message can also inform the first network element and the second network element of the reason for deleting or updating the attribute information of the first data, for example, the first data is invalid, the first data has errors, and the first data is no longer relevant to the first data. NE or third NE sharing, etc.

Optionally, if the second network element directly feeds back the second data to the third network element without the first network element, the second network element may also notify the first network element through a fourth message that the feedback has been sent to the third network element. What secondary data is obtained. This will help the first network element request only the second data that has not been acquired when the first network element subsequently requests the second data from other network elements (eg, the fourth network element), thereby saving the amount of acquired data and improving the efficiency of data acquisition.

The beneficial effects of the embodiment shown in FIG. 10 are similar to those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 , which can be understood with reference to the above, and will not be repeated.

In order to make the embodiment shown in FIG. 10 clearer, the embodiment shown in FIG. 10 will be exemplarily described below through Embodiment 3 and Embodiment 4. FIG. In Embodiment 3 and Embodiment 4, the first network element is DCCF, the second network element is NWDAF1, the third network element is NWDAF2, and the fourth network element is NWDAF3 as examples.

Example 3

Referring to Figure 11, the method provided by Embodiment 3 includes:

1101. NWDAF1 acquires first data.

The NWDAF1 can obtain the first data by using the data opening service provided by the NF, AF, terminal or OAM in the existing network.

In the first data acquisition process, the NWDAF1 has not passed through the DCCF, that is, the DCCF may not know which data NWDAF1 has acquired. For example, in one scenario, if the NWDAF1 is co-located with the NF, the NWDAF1 directly obtains the first data from the co-located NF without going through the DCCF. In another scenario, if the operator configures the NWDAF1 to acquire data without going through the DCCF, the process of acquiring the first data by the NWDAF1 also does not go through the DCCF.

1102. NWDAF1 sends a first message to the DCCF, where the first message includes attribute information of the first data. Correspondingly, the DCCF receives the first message from NWDAF1.

The first message is used to register or update the attribute information of the first data acquired by NWDAF1 into the DCCF. Since the DCCF does not know which data NWDAF1 has acquired before, it needs to inform the DCCF that it has acquired or is acquiring the first data through step 1102 .

The first message may further include information of NWDAF1, and the information of NWDAF1 is similar to the information of NWDAF2, which can be understood by referring to the above, and will not be repeated here.

Exemplarily, the first message may be a data configuration file registration/update message or an NF state management message.

1103. The DCCF stores the attribute information of the first data sent by the NWDAF1.

Step 1103 is similar to the process of storing the attribute information of the first data in the NRF in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 , which can be understood with reference and will not be repeated here.

1104. NWDAF2 sends a second message to the DCCF, where the second message includes attribute information of the second data. Correspondingly, the DCCF receives the second message from NWDAF2.

The second message may be a data subscription/request message. The second message is used to request the DCCF to obtain the second data. Specifically, the NWDAF2 may call a data acquisition service (for example, Ndccf_data collection) or a data open (Ndccf_event exposure) service provided by the DCCF to request to acquire the second data.

In addition to the attribute information of the second data, the second message can include the NF ID of NWDAF2, the destination address of data transmission (notification target address or Notification Correlation Id), the subscription association ID (subscription correlation ID), deadline for data reporting, etc. The destination address for data sending is used to indicate to which address the second data is sent, which is the address of NWDAF2 here. The identifier associated with the subscription is the event identifier of each subscription, which is used to identify each subscription event. If there is a subscription change in the future, this identifier is still used to indicate that it is an update to the original subscription event. The deadline for data reporting is used to indicate the deadline for sending the second data.

Optionally, the attribute information of the second data includes data analysis type identification information, for example, analytics ID, which is used to indicate that the purpose of NWDAF2 acquiring the second data is to perform the data analysis task corresponding to the analytics ID.

1105. The DCCF determines that the attribute information of the second data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the first data.

1106. The DCCF sends a sixth message to the NWDAF1, where the sixth message is used to request the NWDAF1 to acquire the second data. Correspondingly, NWDAF1 receives the sixth message from the DCCF.

Exemplarily, the sixth message may be a data subscription/request message. The sixth message may include part or all of the attribute information of the second data to indicate to the NWDAF1 which data needs to be acquired. Specifically, the DCCF can call the data acquisition (for example, Nnwdaf_data collection) service, data exposure (Nnwdaf_event exposure) service, data analysis result subscription (Nnwdaf_analytics subscribe) service or data analysis result request (Nnwdaf_analytics request) service provided by NWDAF1 to request to obtain all or part of the second data.

In addition to including all or part of the attribute information of the second data for indicating which data the DCCF specifically wants to acquire, the sixth message may also include at least one of the following information: DCCF ID, NWDAF2ID, destination address for data transmission, The identifier associated with the subscription, the deadline for data reporting, etc. The destination address for data transmission may be set to the DCCF address or the NWDAF2 address, and the former NWDAF1 feeds back the data to the NWDAF2 via the DCCF. The latter NWDAF1 directly feeds back data to NWDAF2, and the latter is taken as an example in Embodiment 3. The identifier associated with the subscription may or may not be the same as the identifier associated with the subscription in step 1104 .

1107. NWDAF1 sends second data to NWDAF2. Correspondingly, NWDAF2 receives the second data from NWDAF1. The second data here is not necessarily all the second data requested by the NWDAF2, but the part of the data required by the NWDAF2 in the first data.

Before step 1107, NWDAF1 prepares part or all of the corresponding second data.

It should be noted that, if the attribute information of the second data includes data analysis type identification information, and the DCCF determines that the first data contains data corresponding to the data analysis type identification information according to the attribute information of the second data and the attribute information of the first data Analyze the resulting data. Then, what is sent in step 1106 may not be the sixth message, but the seventh message, and the seventh message is used to request the NWDAF2 to obtain the data analysis result data. Assuming that the seventh message includes the identification information or destination address information of NWDAF2, in step 1107, NWDAF1 sends data analysis result data to NWDAF2. For other descriptions about the seventh message, reference may be made to the above, and details are not repeated here.

Optionally, after step 1107, steps 1108 to 1112 are further included.

1108. NWDAF1 deletes or updates the attribute information of the first data.

The NWDAF1 may delete or update the attribute information of the first data under the triggering of certain triggering conditions. For the description of the specific deletion trigger condition and the update trigger condition, reference may be made to the above, and details are not repeated here.

1109. NWDAF1 sends a fourth message to the DCCF, where the fourth message is used to instruct the DCCF to delete or update the attribute information of the first data. Correspondingly, the DCCF receives the fourth message from NWDAF1.

For the relevant description of the fourth message, reference may be made to the above, and details are not repeated here.

1110. The DCCF determines according to the fourth message that NWDAF1 can no longer provide all or part of the original second data to NWDAF2.

1111. If the DCCF is still subscribing to the NWDAF1 for the second data, the DCCF sends a ninth message to the NWDAF1, where the ninth message is used to request the NWDAF1 to cancel the acquisition of the second data. Correspondingly, the NWDAF1 receives the ninth message from the DCCF, and determines according to the ninth message that the second data is no longer provided to the DCCF.

1112. The DCCF sends a tenth message to NWDAF2, where the tenth message is used to indicate to NWDAF2 that NWDAF1 no longer provides the second data. Correspondingly, NWDAF2 receives the tenth message from the DCCF, and determines according to the tenth message that NWDAF1 no longer provides the second data.

Optionally, the DCCF informs the NWDAF2 of the reason why the original NWDAF1 no longer provides data through the tenth message, for example, the first data is invalid, the first data has errors, and the first data is no longer shared with the DCCF or the NWDAF2.

Optionally, after step 1107, the method further includes:

1113. If the attribute information of the third data in the NWDAF3 matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the DCCF sends an eighth message to the NWDAF3, where the eighth message is used to request the NWDAF3 to obtain the second data. Correspondingly, NWDAF3 receives the eighth message from the DCCF.

In the subsequent process, NWDAF3 may send the second data to DCCF or NWDAF2 according to the eighth message.

Optionally, if the DCCF learns from NWDAF1 or NWDAF3 which second data NWDAF2 has acquired from NWDAF1, the DCCF can only subscribe/request to acquire the remaining second data from NWDAF3, skip acquiring the same data again, and improve data acquisition. s efficiency. In this case, optionally, if NWDAF3 can also provide all or part of the second data deleted by NWADF1, the eighth message can be used to obtain all or part of the second data deleted by NWADF1 and the second data originally provided by NWDAF3 all or part of the data. Optionally, the DCCF may notify the NWDAF2 that, for part or all of the second data, the network element providing the second data has changed from NWDAF1 to NWDAF3. Further, the attribute information of the third data and the time information required for obtaining the third data may be correspondingly notified to the NWADF3, so that the NWDAF2 can update the resources.

Before step 1113, the NWDAF3 may store the attribute information of the third data in the DCCF. For details, please refer to steps 1204 to 1206 below.

Example 4

Referring to Figure 12, the method provided by Embodiment 4 includes:

1201. NWDAF1 acquires first data. Same as step 1101.

1202. NWDAF1 sends a first message to the DCCF, where the first message includes attribute information of the first data. Correspondingly, the DCCF receives the first message from NWDAF1. Same as step 1102.

1203. The DCCF stores the attribute information of the first data sent by the NWDAF1. Same as step 1103.

1204. NWDAF3 acquires third data. The implementation process of step 1204 is similar to that of step 1101, which can be understood with reference to step 1101, and will not be repeated here.

1205. NWDAF3 sends a third message to the DCCF, where the third message includes attribute information of the third data. Correspondingly, the DCCF receives the third message from NWDAF3. The implementation process of step 1205 is similar to that of step 1102, which can be understood with reference to step 1102, and will not be repeated here.

1206. The DCCF stores the attribute information of the third data sent by the NWDAF3. The implementation process of step 1206 is similar to that of step 1103, which can be understood with reference to step 1103, and will not be repeated here.

1207. NWDAF2 sends a second message to the DCCF, where the second message includes attribute information of the second data. Correspondingly, the DCCF receives the second message from NWDAF2. Same as step 1104.

1208. The DCCF determines that the attribute information of the second data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the first data, and the attribute information of the second data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the third data.

1209. The DCCF determines the network element that provides the second data from NWDAF1 and NWDAF3.

When step 1209 is specifically implemented, the implementation process is different for different scenarios, which are described separately below.

Scenario 1, NWDAF1 and NWDAF3 can all provide part or all of the second data, and the data provided by both have the same data.

For scenario 1, the DCCF determines the network element providing the second data from NWDAF1 and NWDAF3. For the determination method, refer to action 1 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 . It is assumed that the determined network element that provides the second data is NWDAF1. The only difference is that the DCCF directly initiates a data subscription/request message to NWDAF1 after determining NWDAF1. It is used to request NWDAF1 to obtain the second data.

In scenario 1, assuming that the determined network element providing the second data is NWDAF1, the DCCF may or may not feed back the information of NWDAF1 and/or the attribute information of the first data to NWDAF2. If the feedback is given, NWDAF2 can learn that the network element that provides the second data is specifically NWDAF1, and can also learn which part of the second data is specifically provided by NWDAF1. In addition, if the attribute information of the first data includes the data status information corresponding to the first data (acquisition is in progress or the acquisition is completed) and the time required for data acquisition (optionally, the corresponding data is being acquired), then NWDAF2 can also know the Data status information and time information (optional), so as to evaluate the waiting time required for receiving the second data, and then prepare corresponding resources according to the waiting time. For example, if the data status information indicates that NWDAF1 has completed acquiring part or all of the required second data, then NWDAF2 will evaluate and obtain the second data fed back by NWDAF1 soon, and NWDAF2 may need to immediately prepare corresponding storage resources for receiving corresponding second data. Conversely, if the data status information indicates that NWDAF1 is acquiring part or all of the required second data, and the time required for data acquisition is 48 hours, then NWDAF2 evaluates that it will take at least 48 hours for NWDAF1 to feed back the second data, then NWDAF2 preferably Prepare the corresponding storage resources before the 48-hour arrival. Exemplarily, the DCCF may use the data subscription/request response message to feed back the information of the NWDAF1 and/or the attribute information of the first data to the NWDAF2.

Scenario 2, NWDAF1 and NWDAF3 can all provide part or all of the second data, and there are different data in the data provided by the two.

For scenario 2, the DCCF determines that the network elements providing the second data include NWDAF1 and NWDAF3. For the determination method, refer to Action 1 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 . The only difference is that after DCCF determines NWDAF1 and NWDAF3, it directly initiates a data subscription/request message to NWDAF1 and NWDAF3 respectively, which is used to obtain the first data from NWDAF1 and NWDAF3 respectively. Part of the data in the second data.

In scenario 2, the DCCF may or may not feed back the information of NWDAF1 and the attribute information of the first data and the information of NWDAF3 and the attribute information of the third data to NWDAF2, which is similar to the scenario 1 and will not be repeated.

In addition, if the attribute information of the second data includes data analysis type identification information, the DCCF may determine the network element that provides the second data according to the data analysis type identification information. For example, the network element that can provide the data analysis result data is preferentially determined as the network element that provides the second data.

After step 1209, the DCCF may send a data subscription/request response message to NWDAF2. The data subscription/request response message is used to inform NWDAF2 whether the data subscription/request message is accepted. Optionally, the data subscription/request response message may include the information of NWDAF1 and/or part or all of the attribute information of the first data. Part or all of the attribute information of the first data may further include data status information and data acquisition time information. If it is determined in step 1209 that NWDAF3 is also the network element that provides the second data, the data subscription/request response message may further include the information of NWDAF3 and/or part or all of the attribute information of the third data. Part or all of the attribute information of the third data may further include data status information and data acquisition time information.

Assuming that the determined network element providing the second data is only NWDAF1, the subsequent process includes steps 1210 and 1211:

1210. The DCCF sends a sixth message to the NWDAF1, where the sixth message is used to request the NWDAF1 to acquire the second data. Correspondingly, NWDAF1 receives the sixth message from the DCCF. Same as step 1106.

1211. NWDAF1 sends second data to NWDAF2. Correspondingly, NWDAF2 receives the second data from NWDAF1. The second data here is not necessarily all the second data requested by the NWDAF2, but the part of the data required by the NWDAF2 in the first data. Same as step 1107.

Assuming that the determined network elements that provide the second data include NWDAF1 and NWDAF3, the subsequent process may include steps 1212 and 1213 in addition to the above steps 1210 and 1211:

1212. The DCCF sends an eighth message to the NWDAF3, where the eighth message is used to acquire the second data.

Exemplarily, the eighth message may be a data subscription/request message. The implementation process of step 1212 is similar to that of step 1106, which can be understood with reference to step 1106, and will not be repeated here.

1213. NWDAF3 sends second data to NWDAF2. Correspondingly, NWDAF2 receives the second data from NWDAF3. The second data here is not necessarily all the second data requested by the NWDAF2, but the part of the data required by the NWDAF2 in the third data. The implementation process of step 1213 is similar to that of step 1107, which can be understood with reference to step 1107, and will not be repeated here.

In step 1212 and step 1213, the second data provided by NWDAF3 to NWDAF2 may be the second data that NWDAF1 cannot provide and which can be provided by NWDAF3. Optionally, if the DCCF learns from NWDAF1 or NWDAF3 which second data NWDAF2 has acquired from NWDAF1, the DCCF can only subscribe/request to acquire the remaining second data from NWDAF3, skip acquiring the same data again, and improve data acquisition. s efficiency.

Before step 1212, the above steps 1108 to 1112 may also exist. In this case, if NWDAF3 can also provide all or part of the second data deleted by NWADF1, the eighth message in step 1212 can be used to obtain the data deleted by NWADF1. All or part of the second data and all or part of the second data that NWDAF3 could have provided otherwise. Optionally, the DCCF may notify the NWDAF2 that, for part or all of the second data, the network element providing the second data has changed from NWDAF1 to NWDAF3. Further, the attribute information of the third data and the time information required for obtaining the third data may be correspondingly notified to the NWADF3, so that the NWDAF2 can update the resources.

Similar to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 , in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 , the attribute information of the first data may also include data analysis type identification information. Similarly, the attribute information of other data (eg, second data, third data) in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 may also include data analysis type identification information. In this case, the methods related to the identification information of the data analysis type (for example, the above-mentioned step 11) and step 12)) are also applicable to the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6 .

Similar to the embodiments shown in FIG. 10 to FIG. 12 , in the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6 , the attribute information of the first data may also include the time information required to obtain the data (optionally, the corresponding data is being obtained). condition). Similarly, the attribute information of other data (for example, the third data) in the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6 may also include information on the time required for data acquisition (optionally, corresponding to the data acquisition state), which is the same as the data acquisition time. The methods related to the time information to be acquired are also applicable to the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6 . For example, if the third network element obtains the time information required for data acquisition, it can prepare corresponding resources according to the information. For details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in FIG. 10 to FIG. 12 , which will not be repeated.

The method for determining the second network element (for example, mode 2 or mode 3) in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 is also applicable to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 . For details, please refer to FIGS. The relevant descriptions in FIG. 12 will not be repeated.

Similar to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 , in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 , after receiving the second message, the first network element may directly send the sixth message to the third network element.

Similar to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 , in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 , the network elements that provide the second data determined by the first network element may include both the second network element and the fourth network element. The network element, in this case, the first network element sends the eighth message to the fourth network element in addition to the sixth message to the second network element. Alternatively, when the second network element cannot provide the second data, the first network element may determine that the fourth network element provides the second data. In this case, the second network element needs to send the eighth message to the fourth network element. For details, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions in FIG. 10 to FIG. 12 , which will not be repeated.

In addition, the actions performed by the network elements in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 can be combined as long as they do not conflict with the actions performed by the network elements in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 . , and will not be repeated here.

The foregoing mainly introduces the solutions of the embodiments of the present application from the perspective of interaction between network elements. It can be understood that, in order to implement the above-mentioned functions, each network element includes at least one of a hardware structure and a software module corresponding to executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that the present application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein. Whether a function is performed by hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality using different methods for each particular application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

In this embodiment of the present application, each network element may be divided into functional units according to the foregoing method examples. For example, each functional unit may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing 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. 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.

Exemplarily, FIG. 7 shows a possible schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device (referred to as the communication device 70 ) involved in the above embodiment, where the communication device 70 includes a processing unit 701 and a communication unit 702 . Optionally, a storage unit 703 is also included. The communication apparatus 70 may be used to illustrate the structures of the first network element, the second network element and the third network element in the above embodiments.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 7 is used to illustrate the structure of the first network element involved in the above embodiment, the processing unit 701 is used to control and manage the actions of the first network element, for example, the processing unit 701 is used to execute 402, 403, 404 and 407 in Fig. 4, 501, 502, 504 and 505 in Fig. 5, 601, 602, 604 and 605 in Fig. 6, 1001-1004 and 1006-1008 in Fig. 10, Fig. 11 1102-1106 and 1109-1113 in FIG. 12, 1202, 1203, 1205-1210, and 1212-1213 in FIG. 12, and/or actions performed by the first network element in other processes described in the embodiments of this application. The processing unit 701 may communicate with other network entities through the communication unit 702, for example, communicate with the second network element in FIG. 4 . The storage unit 703 is used for storing program codes and data of the first network element.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 7 is used to illustrate the structure of the second network element involved in the foregoing embodiment, the processing unit 701 is used to control and manage the actions of the second network element, for example, the processing unit 701 is used to execute 401, 402, 405 and 407 in Figure 4, 501 to 504 in Figure 5 (the second network element is NWDAF1 at this time), 1001, 1004, 1005 and 1006 in Figure 10, 1101, 1102, 1106-1109 and 1111 (the second network element is NWDAF1 at this time), 1201, 1202, 1210 and 1211 in FIG. 12 (the second network element is NWDAF1 at this time), and/or others described in the embodiments of this application The action performed by the second network element in the process. The processing unit 701 may communicate with other network entities through the communication unit 702, for example, communicate with the first network element in FIG. 4 . The storage unit 703 is used for storing program codes and data of the second network element.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 7 is used to illustrate the structure of the third network element involved in the above embodiment, the processing unit 701 is used to control and manage the actions of the third network element, for example, the processing unit 701 is used to execute 403 to 406 in Figure 4, 601 to 604 in Figure 6 (the third network element is NWDAF2 at this time), 1002, 1005, 1007 and 1008 in Figure 10, 1104, 1107 and 1112 in Figure 11 (this time The third network element is NWDAF2), 1207, 1211 and 1213 in FIG. 12 (the third network element is NWDAF2 at this time), and/or actions performed by the third network element in other processes described in the embodiments of this application . The processing unit 701 may communicate with other network entities through the communication unit 702, for example, communicate with the first network element in FIG. 4 . The storage unit 703 is used for storing program codes and data of the third network element.

Exemplarily, the communication apparatus 70 may be a device or a chip or a chip system.

When the communication apparatus 70 is a device, the processing unit 701 may be a processor; the communication unit 702 may be a communication interface, a transceiver, or an input interface and/or an output interface. Optionally, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input interface may be an input circuit, and the output interface may be an output circuit.

When the communication device 70 is a chip or a chip system, the communication unit 702 may be a communication interface, input interface and/or output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin or related circuit, etc. on the chip or chip system. The processing unit 701 may be a processor, a processing circuit, a logic circuit, or the like.

The integrated units in FIG. 7 may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium if implemented in the form of software functional modules and sold or used as independent products. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be embodied in the form of software products in essence, or the parts that make contributions to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solutions, and the computer software products are stored in a storage The medium includes several instructions to cause 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. Storage media for storing computer software products include: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk or CD, etc. that can store program codes medium.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a communication apparatus, see FIG. 8 or FIG. 9 , the communication apparatus includes a processor 801 , and optionally, a memory 802 connected to the processor 801 .

The processor 801 may be a CPU, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the programs of the present application. The processor 801 may also include multiple CPUs, and the processor 801 may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, or processing cores for processing data (eg, computer program instructions).

The memory 802 can be a ROM or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a RAM or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory). read-only memory, EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk A storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The memory 802 may exist independently (in this case, the processor may be located outside the communication device, or may be located in the communication device), or may be integrated with the processor 801 . Among them, the memory 802 may contain computer program code. The processor 801 is configured to execute the computer program codes stored in the memory 802, so as to implement the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application.

In a first possible implementation manner, referring to FIG. 8 , the communication apparatus further includes a transceiver 803 . The processor 801, the memory 802 and the transceiver 803 are connected by a bus. The transceiver 803 is used to communicate with other devices or communication networks. Optionally, the transceiver 803 may include a transmitter and a receiver. A device in the transceiver 803 for implementing the receiving function may be regarded as a receiver, and the receiver is configured to perform the receiving steps in the embodiments of the present application. The device in the transceiver 803 for implementing the sending function may be regarded as a transmitter, and the transmitter is used to perform the sending step in the embodiment of the present application.

Based on the first possible implementation manner, the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 8 may be used to illustrate the structures of the first network element, the second network element, and the third network element involved in the foregoing embodiment.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 8 is used to illustrate the structure of the first network element involved in the foregoing embodiment, the processor 801 is used to control and manage the actions of the first network element, for example, the processor 801 is used to execute 402, 403, 404 and 407 in Fig. 4, 501, 502, 504 and 505 in Fig. 5, 601, 602, 604 and 605 in Fig. 6, 1001-1004 and 1006-1008 in Fig. 10, Fig. 11 1102-1106 and 1109-1113 in FIG. 12, 1202, 1203, 1205-1210, and 1212-1213 in FIG. 12, and/or actions performed by the first network element in other processes described in the embodiments of this application. The processor 801 may communicate with other network entities through the transceiver 803, eg, with the second network element in FIG. 4 . The memory 802 is used for storing program codes and data of the first network element.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 8 is used to illustrate the structure of the second network element involved in the above embodiment, the processor 801 is used to control and manage the actions of the second network element, for example, the processor 801 is used to execute 401, 402, 405 and 407 in Figure 4, 501 to 504 in Figure 5 (the second network element is NWDAF1 at this time), 1001, 1004, 1005 and 1006 in Figure 10, 1101, 1102, 1106-1109 and 1111 (the second network element is NWDAF1 at this time), 1201, 1202, 1210 and 1211 in FIG. 12 (the second network element is NWDAF1 at this time), and/or others described in the embodiments of this application The action performed by the second network element in the process. The processor 801 may communicate with other network entities through the transceiver 803, eg, with the first network element in FIG. 4 . The memory 802 is used for storing program codes and data of the second network element.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 8 is used to illustrate the structure of the third network element involved in the foregoing embodiment, the processor 801 is used to control and manage the actions of the third network element, for example, the processor 801 is used to execute 403 to 406 in Figure 4, 601 to 604 in Figure 6 (the third network element is NWDAF2 at this time), 1002, 1005, 1007 and 1008 in Figure 10, 1104, 1107 and 1112 in Figure 11 (this time The third network element is NWDAF2), 1207, 1211 and 1213 in FIG. 12 (the third network element is NWDAF2 at this time), and/or actions performed by the third network element in other processes described in the embodiments of this application . The processor 801 may communicate with other network entities through the transceiver 803, eg, with the first network element in FIG. 4 . The memory 802 is used for storing program codes and data of the third network element.

In a second possible implementation, the processor 801 includes a logic circuit and at least one of an input interface and an output interface. Exemplarily, the output interface is used to perform the action of sending in the corresponding method, and the input interface is used to perform the action of receiving in the corresponding method.

Based on the second possible implementation manner, referring to FIG. 9 , the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 9 may be used to illustrate the structures of the first network element, the second network element, and the third network element involved in the foregoing embodiment.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 9 is used to illustrate the structure of the first network element involved in the foregoing embodiment, the processor 801 is used to control and manage the actions of the first network element, for example, the processor 801 is used to execute 402, 403, 404 and 407 in Fig. 4, 501, 502, 504 and 505 in Fig. 5, 601, 602, 604 and 605 in Fig. 6, 1001-1004 and 1006-1008 in Fig. 10, Fig. 11 1102-1106 and 1109-1113 in FIG. 12, 1202, 1203, 1205-1210, and 1212-1213 in FIG. 12, and/or actions performed by the first network element in other processes described in the embodiments of this application. The processor 801 may communicate with other network entities, eg, communicate with the second network element in FIG. 4 , through at least one of the input interface and the output interface. The memory 802 is used for storing program codes and data of the first network element.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 9 is used to illustrate the structure of the second network element involved in the foregoing embodiment, the processor 801 is used to control and manage the actions of the second network element, for example, the processor 801 is used to execute 401, 402, 405 and 407 in FIG. 4, 501 to 504 in FIG. 5 (the second network element is NWDAF1 at this time), 1001, 1004, 1005 and 1006 in FIG. 1106-1109 and 1111 (the second network element is NWDAF1 at this time), 1201, 1202, 1210 and 1211 in FIG. 12 (the second network element is NWDAF1 at this time), and/or others described in the embodiments of this application The action performed by the second network element in the process. The processor 801 may communicate with other network entities, eg, communicate with the first network element in FIG. 4 , through at least one of an input interface and an output interface. The memory 802 is used for storing program codes and data of the second network element.

When the schematic structural diagram shown in FIG. 9 is used to illustrate the structure of the third network element involved in the above embodiment, the processor 801 is used to control and manage the actions of the third network element, for example, the processor 801 is used to execute 403 to 406 in Figure 4, 601 to 604 in Figure 6 (the third network element is NWDAF2 at this time), 1002, 1005, 1007 and 1008 in Figure 10, 1104, 1107 and 1112 in Figure 11 (this time The third network element is NWDAF2), 1207, 1211 and 1213 in FIG. 12 (the third network element is NWDAF2 at this time), and/or actions performed by the third network element in other processes described in the embodiments of this application . The processor 801 may communicate with other network entities, eg, communicate with the first network element in FIG. 4 , through at least one of an input interface and an output interface. The memory 802 is used for storing program codes and data of the third network element.

In the implementation process, each step in the method provided in this embodiment may be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in a processor or an instruction in the form of software. The steps of the methods disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as executed by a hardware processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium, including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute any of the foregoing methods.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product containing instructions, which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute any of the above methods.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, including: a first network element, a second network element, and a third network element.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip, including: a processor and an interface, the processor is coupled to a memory through the interface, and when the processor executes a computer program or instruction in the memory, any method provided in the above-mentioned embodiments is executed by implement.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on the computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. Computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website site, computer, server, or data center over a wire (e.g. coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (eg infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means to transmit to another website site, computer, server or data center. Computer-readable storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer or data storage devices including one or more servers, data centers, etc., that can be integrated with the media. Useful media may be magnetic media (eg, floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (eg, DVDs), or semiconductor media (eg, solid state disks (SSDs)), and the like.

Although the application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in practicing the claimed application, those skilled in the art can understand and implement the disclosure by reviewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims Other variations of the embodiment. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that these measures cannot be combined to advantage.

Although the application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that various modifications and combinations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, this specification and drawings are merely exemplary illustrations of the application as defined by the appended claims, and are deemed to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents within the scope of this application. Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the spirit and 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 (34)

A communication method, comprising: The first network element receives a first message from the second network element, the first message includes attribute information of the first data, and the first data includes the data being acquired by the second network element and/or acquired The data; The first network element receives a second message from a third network element, where the second message includes attribute information of the second data, and the second message is used to request the first network element to discover that the The network element of the second data; The first network element sends a response message of the second message to the third network element, where the response message includes information of the second network element, wherein the attribute information of the first data is the same as that of the second network element. The attribute information of the second data matches or partially matches. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first data is the data that is being acquired and/or acquired by the second network element to provide data to the network element. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second message further includes information of a requested network element type, and the requested network element type includes a data analysis network element type and/or a database type, The network element type of the second network element belongs to the requested network element type. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the information of the second network element includes any one or more of the following information: information on the data storage validity time of the second network element , the load information of the second network element, the identification information of the second network element, the service area information of the second network element, the information of the network element type of the second network element, the information of the second network element The information of the data storage device corresponding to the element, wherein the second network element saves the first data in the data storage device. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the response message further includes attribute information of the first data. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the method further comprises: The first network element receives a third message from the fourth network element, the third message includes attribute information of third data, and the third data includes the data being acquired by the fourth network element and/or obtained data; If the attribute information of the third data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the first network element determines the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element Yuan. The method according to claim 6, wherein the first network element determines the second network element from the second network element and the fourth network element, comprising: The first network element is based on the service area information, load information, network topology information, network element type information, data sharing capability information, data sharing range information, data storage information corresponding to the second network element and the fourth network element. One or more of the valid time information determines the second network element. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the method further comprises: The first network element receives a third message from the fourth network element, the third message includes attribute information of third data, and the third data includes the data being acquired by the fourth network element and/or obtained data; If the attribute information of the third data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the response message further includes information of the fourth network element. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the method further comprises: The first network element receives a fourth message from the second network element, where the fourth message is used to instruct the first network element to delete attribute information of the first data. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the method further comprises: The first network element receives any one or more of the following information from the second network element: The data sharing capability of the second network element, the data sharing range of the second network element, the data storage validity time information of the second network element, the load information of the second network element, the second network element The information of the data storage device corresponding to the element, wherein the second network element saves the first data in the data storage device. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein the attribute information of the first data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the first data: data filtering information, data Reporting information, data source information, and data status information. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, wherein the attribute information of the second data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the second data: data filtering information, data Reporting information and data status information. The method according to any one of claims 1-12, wherein the first network element is a network storage function NRF network element or a unified data management UDM network element. The method according to any one of claims 1-13, wherein the second network element is a network data analysis function NWDAF network element or a database network element. The method according to any one of claims 1-14, wherein the third network element is an NWDAF network element. A communication device, comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit; The processing unit is configured to receive, through the communication unit, a first message from a second network element, where the first message includes attribute information of first data, and the first data includes the second network element being Accessed Data and/or Accessed Data; The processing unit is further configured to receive, through the communication unit, a second message from a third network element, where the second message includes attribute information of the second data, and the second message is used to request the communication device discovering a network element capable of providing the second data; The processing unit is further configured to send a response message of the second message to the third network element through the communication unit, where the response message includes information of the second network element, wherein the first network element The attribute information of the data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data. The communication device according to claim 16, wherein the first data is the data that the second network element is acquiring and/or the acquired data that the network element provides to the data. The communication device according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the second message further includes information of a requested network element type, and the requested network element type includes a data analysis network element type and/or a database type , the network element type of the second network element belongs to the requested network element type. The communication device according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the information of the second network element includes any one or more of the following information: valid time for data storage of the second network element information, the load information of the second network element, the identification information of the second network element, the service area information of the second network element, the information of the network element type of the second network element, the second network element The information of the data storage device corresponding to the network element, wherein the second network element saves the first data in the data storage device. The communication device according to any one of claims 16-19, wherein the response message further includes attribute information of the first data. The communication device according to any one of claims 16-20, characterized in that: The processing unit is further configured to receive, through the communication unit, a third message from a fourth network element, where the third message includes attribute information of third data, and the third data includes the fourth network element data being acquired and/or acquired; If the attribute information of the third data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the processing unit is further configured to determine the first network element from the second network element and the fourth network element. Two network elements. The communication device according to claim 21, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to: According to one of service area information, load information, network topology information, network element type information, data sharing capability information, data sharing range information, and data storage effective time information corresponding to the second network element and the fourth network element one or more kinds of determining the second network element. The communication device according to any one of claims 16-20, characterized in that: The processing unit is further configured to receive, through the communication unit, a third message from a fourth network element, where the third message includes attribute information of third data, and the third data includes the fourth network element data being acquired and/or acquired; If the attribute information of the third data matches or partially matches the attribute information of the second data, the response message further includes information of the fourth network element. The communication device according to any one of claims 16-23, characterized in that: The processing unit is further configured to receive a fourth message from the second network element through the communication unit, where the fourth message is used to instruct the communication device to delete the attribute information of the first data. The communication device according to any one of claims 16-24, wherein, The processing unit is further configured to receive any one or more of the following information from the second network element through the communication unit: The data sharing capability of the second network element, the data sharing range of the second network element, the data storage validity time information of the second network element, the load information of the second network element, the second network element The information of the data storage device corresponding to the element, wherein the second network element saves the first data in the data storage device. The communication device according to any one of claims 16-25, wherein the attribute information of the first data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the first data: data filtering information, Data reporting information, data source information, and data status information. The communication device according to any one of claims 16-26, wherein the attribute information of the second data includes any one or more of the following information corresponding to the second data: data filtering information, Data reporting information, data status information. The communication device according to any one of claims 16-27, wherein the communication device is a network storage function NRF network element or a unified data management UDM network element. The communication device according to any one of claims 16-28, wherein the second network element is a network data analysis function NWDAF network element or a database network element. The communication device according to any one of claims 16-29, wherein the third network element is an NWDAF network element. A communication device, comprising: a processor; The processor is connected to a memory, the memory is used to store computer-executable instructions, and the processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, so that the communication device implements any one of claims 1-15 method described in item. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized by comprising computer-executable instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-15. A computer program product, characterized by comprising computer-executable instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-15. A communication system, comprising: a first network element for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-15; a second network element, configured to send a first message to the first network element, where the first message includes attribute information of the first data, and the first data includes the data being acquired by the second network element and / or obtained data.

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