CN118870468A

CN118870468A - Communication method and related device

Info

Publication number: CN118870468A
Application number: CN202310481671.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 唐雅茹; 羿丹丹; 徐玲; 胡先鸽; 李紫剑
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-04-27
Filing date: 2023-04-27
Publication date: 2024-10-29

Abstract

In the communication method, when the terminal equipment sends a first registration request message and does not carry a CAG information list, the terminal equipment can request the network equipment to update the CAG information list by sending first information, so that the network equipment can feed back the first CAG information list to the terminal equipment according to the first information, the terminal equipment can update the CAG information list stored by the terminal equipment according to the first CAG information list, the CAG information list between the network equipment and the terminal equipment is ensured, and the communication reliability is improved.

Description

Communication method and related device

Technical Field

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

Background

The closed access group (closed access group, CAG) technology is one of the public network integrated non-public network (PNI-NPN) technologies, and is mainly used for access control, for example, for a specific cell, only a specific group of users is allowed to access, so as to implement access control for the users.

In the related art, an access network device broadcasts identification information (e.g., an ID of a CAG cell) of a CAG cell (which may be simply referred to as a CAG cell hereinafter) supported by the access network device in a broadcast message. The terminal device is configured with a CAG information list (CAG information list) that may include one or more access-allowed CAG cell IDs. When the CAG cell ID (e.g., CAG ID 1) in the broadcast message is included in the CAG information list of the terminal device, the terminal device may request a service through the corresponding CAG cell CAGID. The CAG information list of the terminal device is also stored in the network device (e.g., access and mobility management function (ACCESS AND mobility management function, AMF)), the network device, upon receiving the request from the terminal device, determines that the CAG cell currently accessed by the terminal device is included in the CAG information list of the terminal device stored by the network device, it follows that ensuring synchronization of CAG information lists between network devices and terminal devices is a precondition for improving communication reliability, and that, therefore, how to ensure the synchronization of CAG information lists between a network device and a terminal device is a problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method and a related device, which can ensure the synchronization of CAG information lists between network equipment and terminal equipment, and are beneficial to improving the reliability of communication.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method performed by a communication device, which may be a terminal device or a module in a terminal device. In the method, a first registration request message is sent to a network device, the first registration request message including information indicating that the terminal device supports CAG. A first registration accept message is received from the network device, the first registration accept message not containing a CAG information list. And sending first information to the network equipment, wherein the first information is used for requesting/triggering updating of the CAG information list of the terminal equipment. And receiving a first CAG information list from the network equipment, and updating the CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the first CAG information list.

In the present application, for convenience of description, the CAG information list in the network device may be referred to as a first CAG information list. For example, the first information may be carried in the second registration request message, and the first CAG information list may be carried in the second registration accept message. That is, when the first registration accept message received by the terminal device does not carry the CAG information list, the terminal device may initiate a second registration request message, where the second registration request message carries first information for requesting to update the CAG information list, and after receiving the second registration request message, the network device may send, to the terminal device, a second registration accept message carrying the first CAG information list according to the first information, so that the terminal device updates the CAG information list stored by itself, thereby ensuring the CAG information list between the network device and the terminal device, and being beneficial to improving reliability of communication.

In one possible implementation, the sending the first information to the network device includes:

And when the CAG information list is not stored in a nonvolatile memory (NVM) of the terminal equipment, the first information is sent to the network equipment.

In the implementation manner, when the terminal equipment does not store the CAG information list, the terminal equipment can request the network equipment to update the CAG information list of the terminal equipment so as to realize the synchronization of the CAG information list between the network equipment and the terminal equipment and improve the reliability of communication.

In one possible implementation, the sending the first registration request message to the network device includes:

Transmitting the first registration request message to the network device through a first cell;

the sending the first information to the network device includes:

when the first cell is a CAG cell and the allowed access CAG cell in the CAG information list of the terminal equipment does not contain the first cell, sending the first information to the network equipment; or alternatively

And when the first cell is a non-CAG cell and the CAG information list of the terminal equipment comprises first indication information, the first information is sent to the network equipment, and the first indication information indicates that only access through the CAG cell is allowed.

In this implementation, the sending of the first registration request message by the terminal device to the network device may be specifically understood as the terminal device sending the first registration request message to the network device through the first cell. If the first cell is a CAG cell, and the first cell is not included in the CAG information list of the terminal device and the first registration response message of the network device for the first registration request message is a first registration accept message, the terminal device may determine that the CAG information list of the current terminal device is already out of synchronization with the CAG information list of the network device, and therefore, the terminal device may send first information to the network device to request updating of the CAG information list. Optionally, if the first cell is a non-CAG cell, and the CAG information list of the terminal device includes first indication information only allowed to be accessed through the CAG cell, and the first registration response message of the network device for the first registration request message is a first registration accept message, the terminal device may determine that the CAG information list of the current terminal device is already out of synchronization with the CAG information list of the network device, and therefore, the terminal device may send the first information to the network device to request updating of the CAG information list.

In one possible implementation, the method further comprises:

and storing the updated CAG information list of the terminal equipment into a subscriber identity module (subscriber identity module, SIM) card. Alternatively, the SIM card may also be referred to as a subscriber identity module or subscriber identity module.

In this implementation manner, after the terminal device updates the CAG information list of the terminal device based on the first CAG information list, synchronization of the CAG information list between the network device and the terminal device can be achieved. Further, the terminal device may store the updated CAG information list in the SIM card, so that when the SIM card in the terminal device is replaced in another terminal device, it may be ensured that the CAG information list between the other terminal device and the network device is also synchronized.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method performed by a communication device, which may be a terminal device or a module in a terminal device. In the method, a first registration request message is sent to a network device through a first cell, the first registration request message including information for indicating that a terminal device supports CAG. A first registration accept message is received from the network device, the first registration accept message not containing a CAG information list. And determining a CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the identification information of the first cell.

In the application, when the terminal equipment initiates the first registration request message to the network equipment through the first cell, if the first registration acceptance message fed back by the network equipment does not contain the CAG information list, the terminal equipment can determine the CAG information list based on the identification information of the first cell so as to realize the synchronization of the CAG information list between the network equipment and the terminal equipment, thereby being beneficial to improving the reliability of communication.

In a possible implementation, the determining the CAG information list of the terminal device according to the identification information of the first cell includes:

When the first cell is a CAG cell and the allowed access CAG cell in the CAG information list of the terminal equipment does not contain the first cell, updating the CAG information list of the terminal equipment, wherein the allowed access CAG cell in the updated CAG information list contains the first cell; or alternatively

When the first cell is a non-CAG cell and the CAG information list of the terminal equipment comprises first indication information, the first indication information is cleared or set to be second indication information, the first indication information indicates that access through the CAG cell is allowed only, and the second indication information indicates that access through the non-CAG cell is allowed.

In this implementation manner, when the first cell is a CAG cell and the access allowed CAG cell in the CAG information list of the terminal device does not include the first cell, the terminal device may add the first cell to the access allowed CAG cell in the CAG information list of the terminal device. When the first cell is a non-CAG cell and the CAG information list of the terminal device includes first indication information allowing access through only the CAG cell, the terminal device may set the first indication information to second indication information indicating that access through the non-CAG cell is allowed, that is, the terminal device may remove/clear/remove/delete the first indication information.

And generating a CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the identification information of the first cell.

In this implementation, when the CAG information list is not stored in the NVM of the terminal device, the terminal device may generate the CAG information list of the terminal device according to the identification information of the first cell.

In a possible implementation, the generating the CAG information list of the terminal device according to the identification information of the first cell includes:

when the first cell is a CAG cell, generating a CAG information list of the terminal equipment, wherein the CAG cell allowed to be accessed in the CAG information list of the terminal equipment comprises the first cell; or alternatively

And when the first cell is a non-CAG cell, generating a CAG information list of the terminal equipment, wherein the CAG information list of the terminal equipment comprises second indication information, and the second indication information indicates that the access through the non-CAG cell is allowed.

In this implementation manner, if the first cell is a CAG cell, the terminal device may add the identification information of the first cell to the allowed access CAG cell in the CAG information list of the terminal device. If the first cell is a non-CAG cell, the terminal device may set the CAG information list of the terminal device to include the second indication information.

In one possible implementation, the method further comprises:

and storing the determined CAG information list of the terminal equipment into a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card.

In this implementation manner, the terminal device stores the updated CAG information list in the SIM card, so that when the SIM card in the terminal device is replaced by another terminal device, it can be ensured that the CAG information list between the other terminal device and the network device is also synchronized.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method performed by a communication device, which may be a terminal device or a module in a terminal device. In the method, a CAG information list of a terminal device is determined; and storing the CAG information list of the terminal equipment into a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card.

In this implementation manner, when the terminal device obtains the latest CAG information list, the obtained CAG information list is stored in the SIM card, so that when the SIM card in the terminal device is replaced in another terminal device, it can be ensured that the CAG information list between the other terminal device and the network device is synchronous.

In one possible implementation, the method further comprises:

sending a first registration request message to a network device, wherein the first registration request message comprises information for indicating that terminal equipment supports CAG;

receiving a first registration response message from the network device, the registration response message including a first CAG information list;

The determining the CAG information list of the terminal device includes:

and determining the CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the first CAG information list.

In this implementation, the latest CAG information list may be sent by the network device to the terminal device, so the terminal device may store the CAG information list from the network device into the SIM card.

In one possible implementation, the determining the CAG information list of the terminal device includes:

and generating a CAG information list of the terminal equipment.

In this implementation, the terminal device itself may also generate the latest CAG information list and store it in the SIM card.

In one possible implementation, the storing the CAG information list of the terminal device in a SIM card includes:

And when the terminal equipment enters a deregistration state, storing a CAG information list of the terminal equipment into the SIM card.

In the implementation manner, when the terminal equipment enters the unregistered state, the CAG information list of the terminal equipment is stored in the SIM card, so that the writing times of the SIM card can be reduced.

In one possible implementation, the first registration response is a registration accept message or the first registration response message is a registration reject message.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication method performed by a communication apparatus, which may be a network device, or may be a module in a network device, for example, an access and mobility management function AMF. In the method, a first registration request message from a terminal device is received, the first registration request message including information indicating that the terminal device supports CAG and identification information of a user. Permanent device identification (PERMANENT EQUIPMENT IDENTIFIER, PEI) information of the terminal device is obtained. And if the acquired PEI information is different from PEI information in the subscription information of the user, sending a first registration response message to the terminal equipment, wherein the first registration response message comprises a first CAG information list. The first registration request message may be an initial registration request, and PEI information in subscription information of the user may be understood as PEI information of a terminal device where the SIM card is registered in the terminal device before. Illustratively, the PEI may be an International Mobile Equipment identity (international mobile equipment identity, IMEI) or International Mobile station device identity and software version number (international mobile station equipment IDENTITY AND software version number, IMEISV), and the like, without limitation.

In the application, when the network equipment determines that the PEI information of the terminal equipment initiating the initial registration is different from the PEI information in the subscription information of the user, the SIM card can be identified to replace the terminal equipment, so that the network equipment can carry the first CAG information list in the first registration response message so as to update the CAG information list by the terminal equipment initiating the initial registration, thereby ensuring the CAG information list between the network equipment and the terminal equipment and being beneficial to improving the reliability of communication.

In one possible implementation, the acquiring PEI information of the terminal device includes:

And acquiring PEI information of the terminal equipment from the first registration request message.

In this implementation manner, PEI information of the terminal device that initiates the initial registration may be carried in the first registration request message, which may save signaling overhead.

Sending an identity request to the terminal equipment;

and receiving an identity response from the terminal equipment, wherein the identity response comprises PEI information of the terminal equipment.

Under the implementation mode, the network equipment can acquire PEI information of the terminal equipment initiating initial registration in a mode of sending an identity request and receiving an identity response, forward compatibility of a protocol is facilitated, and applicability is high.

In one possible implementation, the first registration response message is a registration accept message or the first registration response message is a registration reject message.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication method performed by a communication apparatus, which may be a network device, or may be a module in a network device, for example, an access and mobility management function AMF. In the method, a first registration request message is received from a terminal device, the first registration request message including information indicating that the terminal device supports CAG. And sending a first registration acceptance message to the terminal equipment, wherein the first registration acceptance message does not contain a CAG information list. And receiving first information from the terminal equipment, wherein the first information is used for requesting to update the CAG information list of the terminal equipment. And sending a first CAG information list to the terminal equipment, wherein the first CAG information list is used for updating the CAG information list of the terminal equipment.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device or a module in a terminal device. The communication device includes: and a transceiver unit for transmitting a first registration request message to the network device, the first registration request message including information for indicating that the terminal device supports CAG. The transceiver unit is configured to receive a first registration accept message from the network device, where the first registration accept message does not include a CAG information list. The receiving and transmitting unit is configured to send first information to the network device, where the first information is used to request/trigger updating of the CAG information list of the terminal device. The receiving and transmitting unit is used for receiving a first CAG information list from the network equipment; and the processing unit is used for updating the CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the first CAG information list.

In one possible implementation, when the first information is sent to the network device, the transceiver unit is configured to:

and when the CAG information list is not stored in the NVM of the terminal equipment, the first information is sent to the network equipment.

In one possible implementation, when the first registration request message is sent to the network device, the transceiver unit is configured to:

When the first information is sent to the network device, the transceiver unit is configured to:

In a possible implementation, the processing unit is further configured to:

And storing the updated CAG information list of the terminal equipment into a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which may be a terminal device or a module in a terminal device. The communication device includes: a transceiver unit, configured to send a first registration request message to a network device through a first cell, where the first registration request message includes information for indicating that a terminal device supports CAG. The transceiver unit is configured to receive a first registration accept message from the network device, where the first registration accept message does not include a CAG information list. And the processing unit is used for determining the CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the identification information of the first cell.

In a possible implementation, when determining the CAG information list of the terminal device according to the identification information of the first cell, the processing unit is configured to:

In a possible implementation, when the CAG information list of the terminal device is generated according to the identification information of the first cell, the processing unit is configured to:

In a possible implementation, the processing unit is further configured to:

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which may be a terminal device or a module in a terminal device. The communication device includes: the processing unit is used for determining a CAG information list of the terminal equipment; and the processing unit is used for storing the CAG information list of the terminal equipment into a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card.

In a possible implementation, the apparatus further includes a transceiver unit, where the transceiver unit is configured to:

when determining the CAG information list of the terminal device, the processing unit is configured to:

In a possible implementation, when determining the CAG information list of the terminal device, the processing unit is configured to:

and generating a CAG information list of the terminal equipment.

In one possible implementation, when the CAG information list of the terminal device is stored in the SIM card, the processing unit is configured to:

In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which may be a network device, or may be a module in a network device, for example, an access and mobility management function AMF. The communication device includes: and the receiving and transmitting unit is used for receiving a first registration request message from the terminal equipment, wherein the first registration request message comprises information for indicating the terminal equipment to support CAG and identification information of a user. And the processing unit is used for acquiring PEI information of the terminal equipment. The transceiver unit is configured to send a first registration response message to the terminal device if the acquired PEI information is different from PEI information in the subscription information of the user, where the first registration response message includes a first CAG information list. The first registration request message may be an initial registration request, and PEI information in subscription information of the user may be understood as PEI information of a terminal device where the SIM card is registered in the terminal device before.

In one possible implementation, when the PEI information of the terminal device is obtained, the processing unit is configured to:

sending an identity request to the terminal equipment through the transceiver unit;

and receiving an identity response from the terminal equipment through the receiving and transmitting unit, wherein the identity response comprises PEI information of the terminal equipment.

In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which may be a network device, or may be a module in a network device, where the network device may be an AMF, for example. The communication device includes: and the receiving and transmitting unit is used for receiving a first registration request message from the terminal equipment, wherein the first registration request message comprises information for indicating the terminal equipment to support CAG. The receiving and transmitting unit is configured to send a first registration accept message to the terminal device, where the first registration accept message does not include a CAG information list. The receiving and transmitting unit is configured to receive first information from the terminal device, where the first information is used to request updating of a CAG information list of the terminal device. The receiving and transmitting unit is configured to send a first CAG information list to the terminal device, where the first CAG information list is used to update the CAG information list of the terminal device.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communications apparatus comprising a processor, a transceiver, and a memory, the processor, the transceiver and the memory being coupled, the memory having a computer program stored therein; the processor and transceiver are for invoking a computer program in memory to cause the communication device to perform any of the methods as in the first, second or third aspects.

In one possible design, the communication device may be a chip or a device comprising a chip implementing the above method.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a communications apparatus comprising a processor, a transceiver, and a memory, the processor, the transceiver and the memory coupled, the memory having a computer program stored therein; the processor and transceiver are for invoking a computer program in memory to cause the communication device to perform any of the methods as in the fourth or fifth aspects.

In a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving signals from or transmitting signals from a further communication device other than the communication device to the processor, the processor being operable to implement a method as in any of the first, second or third aspects by logic circuitry or executing code instructions.

In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving signals from or transmitting signals from a further communication device other than the communication device to the processor, the processor being operable to implement any of the methods as in the fourth or fifth aspects by logic circuitry or executing code instructions.

In a fifteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a method as in any of the first, second or third aspects.

In a sixteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a method as in any of the fourth or fifth aspects.

In a seventeenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product which, when read and executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform any of the methods of the first, second or third aspects.

In an eighteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product which, when read and executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform any of the methods of the fourth or fifth aspects.

In a nineteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system that may include the terminal device of the sixth aspect, or the seventh aspect, or the eighth aspect, and the network device of the ninth aspect or the tenth aspect.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system to which embodiments of the application are applied;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is another flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is another flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

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

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a possible communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a possible communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

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

The terms first and second and the like in the description, in the claims and in the drawings are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for describing a particular sequential order. Furthermore, the terms "comprise" and "have," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those listed steps or elements but may include other steps or elements not listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Reference herein to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the application. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Those of skill in the art will explicitly and implicitly appreciate that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

In the present application, "at least one (item)" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more, "at least two (items)" means two or three and more, "and/or" for describing an association relationship of an association object, and three kinds of relationships may exist, for example, "a and/or B" may represent: only a, only B and both a and B are present, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the context-dependent object is an "or" relationship. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (one) of a, b or c may represent: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

For a better understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following first describes a system architecture related to the embodiments of the present application:

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system to which an embodiment of the present application is applied. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (radio access network, RAN) 100 and a Core Network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include the internet 300.RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a and 110b, collectively 110 in fig. 1) and at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j, collectively 120 in fig. 1). Other RAN nodes may also be included in the RAN 100, such as wireless relay devices and/or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in fig. 1), and the like. Terminal 120 is connected to RAN node 110 wirelessly. RAN node 110 is connected to core network 200 by wireless or wired means. The core network device in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 may be different physical devices, or may be the same physical device integrated with the core network logic function and the radio access network logic function.

The RAN 100 may be a third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) related cellular system, e.g., a 4G, 5G mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolution system (e.g., a 6G mobile communication system). RAN 100 may also be an open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN, a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WIRELESS FIDELITY, wiFi) system. RAN 100 may also be a communication system in which two or more of the above systems are converged.

RAN node 110, which may also be referred to as an access network device, a RAN entity, or an access node, etc., forms part of a communication system to facilitate wireless access for terminals. The plurality of RAN nodes 110 in communication system 1000 may be the same type of node or different types of nodes. In some scenarios, the roles of RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are relative, e.g., network element 120i in fig. 1 may be a helicopter or drone, which may be configured as a mobile base station, network element 120i being a base station for those terminals 120j that access RAN 100 through network element 120 i; but for base station 110a network element 120i is a terminal. RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices, e.g., base stations 110a and 110b in fig. 1 may be understood as communication devices with base station functionality, and terminals 120a-120j may be understood as communication devices with terminal functionality

In one possible scenario, the RAN node may be a base station (base station), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an Access Point (AP), a transmission and reception point (transmission reception point, TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a sixth generation (6th generation,6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The RAN node may be a macro base station (e.g., 110a in fig. 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (e.g., 110b in fig. 1), a relay node or a donor node, or a radio controller in a CRAN scenario. Alternatively, the RAN node may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an in-vehicle device, etc. For example, the access network device in the vehicle extrapolating (vehicle to everything, V2X) technology may be a Road Side Unit (RSU). All or part of the functionality of the RAN node in the present application may also be implemented by software functions running on hardware or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform, such as a cloud platform. The RAN node in the present application may also be a logical node, a logical module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the RAN node.

In another possible scenario, a plurality of RAN nodes cooperate to assist a terminal in implementing radio access, and different RAN nodes implement part of the functions of a base station, respectively. For example, the RAN node may be a Centralized Unit (CU), a Distributed Unit (DU), a CU-Control Plane (CP), a CU-User Plane (UP), or a Radio Unit (RU), etc. The CUs and DUs may be provided separately or may be included in the same network element, e.g. in a baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or unit, such as in a remote radio unit (remote radio unit, RRU), an active antenna processing unit (ACTIVE ANTENNA unit, AAU), or a remote radio head (remote radio head, RRH).

In different systems, CUs (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DUs or RUs may also have different names, but the meaning will be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, in ORAN systems, a CU may also be referred to as an O-CU (open CU), a DU may also be referred to as an O-DU, a CU-CP may also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, a CU-UP may also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and a RU may also be referred to as an O-RU. For convenience of description, the present application is described by taking CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in the present application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of software and hardware modules.

A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user Equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, mobile Equipment (ME), etc. The terminal may be widely applied to various scenes, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-device (vehicle to everything, V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (internet of things, IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autopilot, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, and the like. The terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a computer with a wireless receiving and transmitting function, a wearable device, a vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, intelligent household equipment and the like. The embodiment of the application does not limit the equipment form of the terminal.

One or more functional entities (or core network elements, entities, etc.) may be included in the core network. Such as a network slice selection function (network slice selection function, NSSF), a network opening function (network exposure function, NEF), a network storage function (network function repository function, NRF), a policy control function (policy control function, PCF), unified data management (unified DATA MANAGEMENT, UDM), access and mobility management function (ACCESS AND mobility management function, AMF), authentication server function (authentication server function, AUSF), session management function (session management function, SMF), etc.

It should be noted that the above functional entity is just a name, and the name itself does not limit the entity. For example, it is also possible that the session management function is replaced with a "session management function entity" or other name. Moreover, the session management function entity may correspond to an entity including other functions in addition to the session management function. It is also possible that the user plane function is replaced by a "user plane function entity" or other name, and that the user plane function entity may correspond to an entity comprising functions other than the user plane function. The description is unified herein, and will not be repeated.

It should be noted that, in the following embodiments of the present application, a name of a message between each network element or a name of each parameter in a message is only an example, and in specific implementations, other names may also be used, which is not limited in particular in the embodiments of the present application.

In the present application, "transmitting information to … (terminal)" is understood as that the destination of the information is a terminal. May include directly or indirectly transmitting information to the terminal. "receiving information from … (a terminal)" is understood to mean that the source of the information is the terminal, and may include receiving information directly or indirectly from the terminal. The information may be subjected to necessary processing, such as format change, etc., between the source and destination of the information transmission, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in the present application can be understood similarly, and will not be described here again.

A non-public network (NPN) is a network that is distinguished from a public network in that it provides services for a particular user. Non-public networks include two types: an independent networking NPN (standalone NPN, SNPN) and a non-independent networking NPN. The non-independent networking NPN is also referred to as a public network integrated NPN (public network integrated-NPN, PNI-NPN) network. SNPN are independent of the public land mobile network (public land mobile network, PLMN), whereas PNI-NPN needs to rely on the PLMN network to provide NPN services, e.g. to implement NPN functions by assigning one or more network slice (network slice) entities to the NPN, or to implement NPN functions by dedicated data network names (data network name, DNN). Since network slicing does not limit terminal devices from attempting to access the network in their unauthorized network slicing areas, an enterprise may require users to access enterprise data only on the enterprise campus and not on the outside of the campus, but the network slicing mechanism does not guarantee such area limitations. A closed access group (closed access group, CAG) technique is therefore proposed.

CAG technology is mainly used for access control, for example, only a specific group of users is allowed to access for a specific cell, so as to realize access control for the users. The CAG cell will broadcast its supported CAG ID in a broadcast message. For example, a CAG cell broadcasts its supported closed access group identity: CAG ID1, CAG ID 5, CAG ID 6. The terminal device is configured with a CAG information list (CAG information list), which mainly comprises two parts of information, one part is an allowed list, the allowed list comprises the identification of the CAG cells allowed to be accessed, and the other part is information for indicating whether only the CAG cells are allowed to be accessed. Optionally, the CAG information list may further include information such as a mobile country code (mobile country code, MCC), a mobile network code (mobile country code, MNC), and the like, which is not limited herein. For example, CAG ID1, CAG ID 2, CAG ID 3, and CAG ID 4 may be included in the permission list. And the terminal equipment determines that the ID of the CAG cell in the broadcast message (namely CAG ID 1) is contained in a CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the broadcast message, and considers that the terminal equipment can acquire network service through the CAG cell access network. The network device (for example, AMF) also stores the CAG information list of the terminal device, and after receiving the registration request of the terminal device, if it is determined that the CAG cell currently accessed by the terminal device is included in the allowed list of the CAG information list of the terminal device stored in the network device, the network device is allowed to access the network service through the cell. However, if the CAG cell currently accessed by the terminal device is not included in the allowed list of the CAG information list of the terminal device stored in the network device, the network device may reject the registration request of the terminal device. It is therefore important how to ensure synchronization of CAG information lists between network devices and terminal devices.

Based on the above, the application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can ensure the synchronization of CAG information lists between network equipment and terminal equipment, and are beneficial to improving the reliability of communication.

The following describes the communication method and the communication device provided by the application in detail:

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the application. As shown in fig. 2, the communication method includes the following steps S201 to S205. The method execution body shown in fig. 2 may be a communication device, or a chip in a communication device. Here, the communication apparatus may specifically be a network device or a terminal device, where the network device may specifically be an AMF. It should be noted that fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a method embodiment of the present application, showing detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples, and other operations or variations of the various operations in fig. 2 may also be performed by the embodiment of the present application. Furthermore, the various steps in fig. 2 may be performed in a different order than presented in fig. 2, respectively, and it is possible that not all of the operations in fig. 2 are to be performed. Wherein:

S201, the terminal equipment sends a first registration request message to the network equipment. Accordingly, the network device receives a first registration request message from the terminal device.

Wherein the first registration request message includes information for indicating that the terminal device supports CAG. Specifically, the terminal device sending the first registration request message to the network device may be understood as: the terminal device sends a first registration request message to the network device through the first cell. Here, the first cell selects an access cell for the terminal device. The first registration request message may be an initial registration request message, or may be a mobility registration update request message, or may be a periodic registration update request message, or may be an emergency registration request message, or the like, as examples, without limitation.

S202, the network equipment sends a first registration acceptance message to the terminal equipment. Accordingly, the terminal device receives a first registration acceptance message from the network device.

Wherein the first registration accept message does not contain a CAG information list. Here, the first registration acceptance message is a response message to the first registration request message.

S203, the terminal equipment sends the first information to the network equipment. Accordingly, the network device receives the first information from the terminal device.

Here, the first information is used to request updating of the CAG information list of the terminal device, or the first information is used to trigger updating of the CAG information list of the terminal device, or the first information is used to indicate updating of the CAG information list of the terminal device.

It should be appreciated that in one implementation, the terminal device may send the first information to the network device when the CAG information list is not stored in the NVM of the terminal device. That is, when the CAG information list does not exist in the terminal device, the CAG information list may be requested from the network device. Optionally, in another implementation, when the first cell is a CAG cell and the allowed access CAG cell in the CAG information list of the terminal device does not include the first cell, the first information is sent to the network device. That is, when the first cell is a CAG cell and the first cell is not included in the permission list in the CAG information list of the terminal device, the first information is transmitted to the network device. Alternatively, in yet another implementation, when the first cell is a non-CAG cell (non-CAG cell), and the CAG information list of the terminal device includes first indication information, the first indication information may be sent to the network device, where the first indication information indicates that access is only allowed through the CAG cell. That is, when the first cell is a non-CAG cell and the CAG information list of the terminal device includes an indication of CAG only, the first information is transmitted to the network device. In the present application, when the value of the bit (bit) corresponding to the first indication information is a first value (for example, 1), it is possible to characterize that access is allowed only through the CAG cell.

Optionally, the first information may be specifically carried in/carried in the second registration request message. That is, the terminal device transmitting the first information to the network device may be understood as: the network device sends a second registration request message to the terminal device, wherein the second registration request message comprises the first information. Here, the network device may specifically send the second registration request message to the terminal device through the first cell.

S204, the network equipment sends a first CAG information list to the terminal equipment. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the first CAG information list from the network device.

It can be understood that, based on the received first information, the network device may feed back the CAG information list stored in the network device to the terminal device. The first CAG information list may be carried in/carried by a second registration response message corresponding to the second registration request message. In general, the second registration response message may be a second registration accept message or a second registration reject message.

S205, the terminal equipment updates the CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the first CAG information list.

It will be appreciated that after the terminal device receives the first CAG information list from the network device, the CAG information list of the terminal device may be updated according to the first CAG information list. Here, updating the CAG information list of the terminal device may be understood as adding contents contained in the first CAG information list but not contained in the CAG information list of the terminal device to the CAG information list of the terminal device or replacing the contents of the CAG information list in the terminal device with the contents included in the first CAG information list entirely. That is, the content in the updated CAG information list of the terminal device is identical/identical to the content in the first CAG information list, so that the synchronization of the CAG information list between the network device and the terminal device is achieved.

It should be noted that, when the CAG information list is not stored in the NVM of the terminal device, updating the CAG information list of the terminal device according to the first CAG information list may also be understood as generating the CAG information list of the terminal device according to the first CAG information list, or as taking/determining the first CAG information list as the CAG information list of the terminal device.

Optionally, the terminal device may store the updated CAG information list in the SIM card, so that when the SIM card in the terminal device is replaced by another terminal device, it may be ensured that the CAG information list between the other terminal device and the network device is also synchronized.

In the embodiment of the application, when the registration acceptance message received by the terminal equipment does not contain the CAG information list, the terminal equipment can request the network equipment to update the CAG information list by sending the first information so as to realize the synchronization of the CAG information list between the network equipment and the terminal equipment, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is another flow chart of the communication method according to the embodiment of the application. As shown in fig. 3, the communication method includes the following steps S301 to S303. The method execution body shown in fig. 3 may be a communication device, or a chip in a communication device. Here, the communication apparatus may specifically be a network device or a terminal device, where the network device may specifically be an AMF. It should be noted that fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a method embodiment of the present application, showing detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples, and other operations or variations of the various operations in fig. 3 may also be performed by the embodiment of the present application. Furthermore, the various steps in fig. 3 may be performed in a different order than presented in fig. 3, respectively, and it is possible that not all of the operations in fig. 3 are to be performed. Wherein:

S301, the terminal equipment sends a first registration request message to the network equipment. Accordingly, the network device receives a first registration request message from the terminal device.

S302, the network equipment sends a first registration acceptance message to the terminal equipment. Accordingly, the terminal device receives a first registration acceptance message from the network device.

S303, the terminal equipment determines a CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the identification information of the first cell.

It may be appreciated that when the terminal device determines that the first registration accept message does not include the CAG information list, the terminal device may determine the CAG information list of the terminal device according to the identification information of the first cell. That is, the latest CAG information list of the terminal device may be determined by the terminal device itself.

In one implementation, the determining the CAG information list of the terminal device according to the identification information of the first cell may be understood as: when the first cell is a CAG cell and the allowed access CAG cell in the CAG information list of the terminal equipment does not contain the first cell, the terminal equipment updates the CAG information list of the terminal equipment, wherein the allowed access CAG cell in the updated CAG information list comprises/contains the first cell. That is, the terminal device may add the first cell to the permission list when it is determined that the first cell is a CAG cell and the permission list in the CAG information list of the terminal device does not include the first cell, so as to update the CAG information list of the terminal device.

Optionally, in another implementation, when the first cell is a non-CAG cell and the CAG information list of the terminal device includes the first indication information, the terminal device clears the first indication information or sets the first indication information to be the second indication information. Here, the first indication information indicates that access is allowed only through the CAG cell, and the second indication information indicates that access is allowed through the non-CAG cell or indicates that access is not allowed only through the CAG cell. That is, the terminal device may remove/delete/remove/clear the first indication information in the CAG information list when it is determined that the first cell is a non-CAG cell and the first indication information is included in the CAG information list of the terminal device. It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, clearing the first indication information may be understood as setting the first indication information to be the second indication information. Illustratively, when the bit corresponding to the first indication information is set to a first value (e.g., 1), the token only allows access through the CAG cell, then setting the first indication information to the second indication information may be understood as setting the value of the corresponding bit to a second value (e.g., 0), which characterizes access through the non-CAG cell. Here, the "updated CAG information list" may be understood as a CAG information list already existing in the terminal device, and the updated CAG information list indicates contents included in the modified/adjusted/set CAG information list.

Optionally, in yet another implementation, determining the CAG information list of the terminal device according to the identification information of the first cell may be further understood as: and the terminal equipment generates/creates a CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the identification information of the first cell. Here, the "create/create CAG information list" may be understood as that there is no CAG information list or no CAG information list is stored in the terminal device, and the create/create CAG information list indicates that one CAG information list is newly created/created. In general, when the first cell is a CAG cell, the access allowed CAG cell in the generated CAG information list of the terminal device includes the first cell. Optionally, when the first cell is a non-CAG cell, the generated CAG information list of the terminal device includes second indication information, where the second indication information indicates that access through the non-CAG cell is allowed.

In the embodiment of the application, when the registration acceptance message received by the terminal equipment does not contain the CAG information list, the terminal equipment can determine the CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the identification information of the first cell so as to realize the synchronization of the CAG information list between the network equipment and the terminal equipment, thereby being beneficial to improving the reliability of communication.

Optionally, to improve the success rate of network selection, the present application further provides a manual network searching method, which may be performed after step S205 or may also be performed after step S303. Specifically, when the terminal device operates in the manual network searching mode, a non-access stratum (NAS) of the terminal device may send third indication information and fourth indication information to an Access Stratum (AS), where the third indication information indicates an identity of the PLMN, and the fourth indication information indicates access through a non-CAG cell. Therefore, after the AS layer receives the third indication information and the fourth indication information, the AS layer may select a non-CAG cell in the PLMN to camp on according to the third indication information and the fourth indication information. Optionally, if the AS layer does not find a non-CAG cell in the PLMN, the AS layer may select a CAG cell in the allowed list of the CAG information list of the terminal device to camp on, and send fifth indication information to the NAS layer, where the fifth indication information indicates that it does not find a non-CAG cell of the PLMN, but a CAG cell of the PLMN is camped on. It is understood that the CAG information list of the terminal device referred to herein does not contain the first indication information allowing only access through the CAG cell, or is understood that the CAG information list of the terminal device includes the second indication information.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is another flow chart of the communication method according to the embodiment of the application. As shown in fig. 4, the communication method includes the following steps S401 to S402. The method execution body shown in fig. 4 may be a communication device, or a chip in a communication device. Here, the communication apparatus may specifically be a network device or a terminal device, where the network device may specifically be an AMF. It should be noted that fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a method embodiment of the present application, showing detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples, and other operations or variations of the various operations in fig. 4 may also be performed by the embodiment of the present application. Furthermore, the various steps in fig. 4 may be performed in a different order than presented in fig. 4, respectively, and it is possible that not all of the operations in fig. 4 are to be performed. Wherein:

S401, the terminal equipment determines a CAG information list of the terminal equipment.

In one implementation, the terminal device determines a CAG information list of the terminal device, which can be understood as: the terminal device sends a first registration request message to the network device, the first registration request message including information for indicating that the terminal device supports CAG. The network device sends a first registration response message to the terminal device, the registration response message including a first CAG information list. And the terminal equipment determines the CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the first CAG information list. That is, the terminal device may request the CAG information list (i.e., the first CAG information list) in the network device from the network device. The first registration request message may be an initial registration request message, or may be a periodic and mobility registration update request message, or may be an emergency registration request message, or the like, as examples, without limitation. The first registration response may be a registration accept message, or the first registration response message may be a registration reject message, which is not limited herein. It may be appreciated that when the first registration response message is a registration rejection message, the rejection cause of the registration rejection message may be a cell currently selected for access by the unlicensed terminal device (i.e., the cell currently selected for access by the terminal device is not included in the allowed list) or only an authorized CAG cell (i.e., the cell currently selected for access by the terminal device is a non-CAG cell), and the rejection cause value may be #76, for example.

Alternatively, in another implementation, the determining the CAG information list of the terminal device may be understood as: the terminal device generates a CAG information list of the terminal device. Here, the implementation manner of the terminal device generating the CAG information list may refer to the description of step S303 in fig. 3, which is not described herein.

S402, the terminal equipment stores the CAG information list of the terminal equipment into the SIM card.

In some possible embodiments, after the terminal device determines the CAG information list of the terminal device, the terminal device may store the determined CAG information list in the SIM card, so that when the SIM card in the terminal device is replaced in another terminal device, it may be ensured that the CAG information list between the other terminal device and the network device is also synchronized.

Optionally, the terminal device may specifically store the CAG information list of the terminal device into the SIM card when the terminal device enters the unregistered state, so that the number of writing times to the SIM card may be reduced.

In the embodiment of the application, when the terminal equipment acquires the latest CAG information list, the acquired CAG information list is stored in the SIM card, so that when the SIM card in the terminal equipment is replaced in another terminal equipment, the CAG information list between the other terminal equipment and the network equipment can be ensured to be synchronous.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is another flow chart of the communication method according to the embodiment of the application. As shown in fig. 5, the communication method includes the following steps S501 to S503. The method execution body shown in fig. 5 may be a communication device, or a chip in a communication device. Here, the communication apparatus may specifically be a network device or a terminal device, where the network device may specifically be an AMF. It should be noted that fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a method embodiment of the present application, showing detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples, and other operations or variations of the various operations in fig. 5 may also be performed by the embodiment of the present application. Furthermore, the various steps in fig. 5 may be performed in a different order than presented in fig. 5, respectively, and it is possible that not all of the operations in fig. 5 are to be performed. Wherein:

S501, the terminal equipment sends a first registration request message to the network equipment. Accordingly, the network device receives a first registration request message from the terminal device.

Wherein the first registration request message includes information for indicating that the terminal device supports CAG and identification information of the user. The first registration request message may be an initial registration request message, and the identification information of the user may specifically be identification information of a SIM card inserted in the terminal device.

S502, the network equipment acquires PEI information of the terminal equipment.

In one implementation, the network device obtains PEI information of the terminal device may be understood as: the network device sends an Identity request (Identity request) to the terminal device, and the terminal device feeds back an Identity response (Identity response) to the network device, wherein the Identity response comprises PEI information of the terminal device. Here, PEI may be specifically IMEI or IMEISV, etc., and is not limited thereto.

Alternatively, in another implementation, acquiring PEI information of the terminal device may be understood as: the terminal equipment acquires PEI information of the terminal equipment from the first registration request message. That is, the first registration request message may include PEI information of the terminal device in addition to information for indicating that the terminal device supports CAG and identification information of the user, so that signaling overhead can be saved compared with a manner of transmitting an identity request to the terminal device to acquire the PEI information.

It should be noted that, in the step S502, the PEI information obtained by the terminal device is PEI information of the terminal device that initiates the first registration request.

S503, if the acquired PEI information is different from PEI information in the subscription information of the user, the network equipment sends a first registration response message to the terminal equipment.

It can be understood that if the PEI information acquired by the terminal device in S502 is different from the PEI information in the subscription information of the user, this means that the SIM card is inserted into another terminal device before the terminal device that initiates the first registration request in step S501 is inserted. Therefore, the network device may include the first CAG information list in the first registration response message fed back in S503, so that the terminal device that initiates the first registration request updates the CAG information list in the terminal device, thereby implementing the synchronization of the CAG information list between the network device and the terminal device. Alternatively, the first registration response message may be a registration accept message, or a registration reject message. When the first registration response message is a registration rejection message, the rejection cause of the registration rejection message may be a cell currently selected for access by the unauthorized terminal device (i.e., the cell currently selected for access by the terminal device is not included in the allowed list) or only an authorized CAG cell (i.e., the cell currently selected for access by the terminal device is a non-CAG cell), and the rejection cause value may be #76, for example.

For example, the PEI information in the subscription information of the user may be acquired by the terminal device from the UDM, where the PEI information in the subscription information of the user may be understood as the PEI information of the terminal device where the SIM card in the terminal device that initiates the first registration request was registered last time. It should be understood that if the PEI information acquired by the terminal device in S502 is different from the PEI information in the subscription information of the user, this means that the terminal device where the SIM card is located is different from the terminal device where the SIM card is located when the terminal device was previously registered. If the PEI information acquired by the terminal device in S502 is the same as the PEI information in the subscription information of the user, it is indicated that the SIM has not been inserted.

For example, assuming that there are a terminal device 1 and a terminal device 2, in which the terminal device that transmitted the first registration request is the terminal device 1, the SIM card inserted in the terminal device 1 is the SIM card 1 of the user 1, if the terminal device in which the SIM card 1 was inserted at the time of the previous registration is the terminal device 2, after the SIM card 1 is inserted from the terminal device 2 to the terminal device 1, the terminal device 1 may transmit the first registration request (for example, may be an initial registration request), and the network device may determine that the SIM card has been inserted by the terminal device (i.e., inserted from the terminal device 2 to the terminal device 1) according to the acquired PEI information of the terminal device 1 and PEI information of the terminal device 2 in the subscription information of the user, so that the network device may carry the first CAG information list in the first registration response message to update the CAG information list in the terminal device 1.

In the embodiment of the application, in the initial registration process, the network equipment can identify the scene of changing the terminal equipment by the SIM card by comparing the acquired PEI information with PEI information in the subscription information of the user, and further carries the CAG information list in the first registration response message to the terminal equipment so as to ensure that the CAG information list between the terminal equipment newly changed by the SIM card and the network equipment is synchronous.

Optionally, in some possible embodiments, the CAG information list (i.e., the first CAG information list) of the network device may also be forced to be necessarily carried in a registration response message (i.e., a registration accept message or a registration reject message) corresponding to the initial registration request. Alternatively, the reject cause value of the registration reject message may be #76.

The communication device provided by the present application will be described in detail with reference to fig. 6 to 7.

It will be appreciated that, in order to implement the functions of the above embodiments, the communication device includes corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules that perform the respective functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and method steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is implemented as hardware or computer software driven hardware depends upon the particular application scenario and design constraints imposed on the solution.

Fig. 6 and fig. 7 are schematic structural diagrams of a possible communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. These communication devices may be used to implement the functions of the terminal device or the network device (such as AMF) in the above-described method embodiments, so that the beneficial effects of the above-described method embodiments may also be implemented. In the embodiment of the application, the communication device may be a terminal device or a network device, and may also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal device or the network device.

As shown in fig. 6, the communication apparatus 600 includes a processing unit 610 and a transceiving unit 620. The communication device 600 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal device in the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 2 described above. Wherein:

The transceiver unit 620 is configured to send a first registration request message to the network device, where the first registration request message includes information indicating that the terminal device supports CAG. The transceiver unit 620 is configured to receive a first registration accept message from the network device, where the first registration accept message does not include a CAG information list. The transceiver unit 620 is configured to send first information to the network device, where the first information is used to request/trigger updating the CAG information list of the terminal device. The transceiver unit 620 is configured to receive a first CAG information list from the network device; and a processing unit 610, configured to update the CAG information list of the terminal device according to the first CAG information list.

The communication device 600 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal device in the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 3. Wherein:

A transceiver unit 620, configured to send a first registration request message to the network device through the first cell, where the first registration request message includes information for indicating that the terminal device supports CAG. The transceiver unit 620 is configured to receive a first registration accept message from the network device, where the first registration accept message does not include a CAG information list. A processing unit 610, configured to determine a CAG information list of the terminal device according to the identification information of the first cell.

The communication device 600 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 4. Wherein:

a processing unit 610, configured to determine a CAG information list of the terminal device; the processing unit 610 is configured to store a CAG information list of the terminal device in a SIM card.

As shown in fig. 6, the communication apparatus 600 includes a processing unit 610 and a transceiving unit 620. The communication device 600 is configured to implement the functions of the network apparatus in the method embodiment shown in fig. 3. Wherein:

A transceiver unit 620, configured to receive a first registration request message from a terminal device, where the first registration request message includes information for indicating that the terminal device supports CAG. The transceiver unit 620 is configured to send a first registration accept message to the terminal device, where the first registration accept message does not include a CAG information list. The transceiver unit 620 is configured to receive first information from the terminal device, where the first information is used to request updating of a CAG information list of the terminal device. The transceiver unit 620 is configured to send a first CAG information list to the terminal device, where the first CAG information list is used to update the CAG information list of the terminal device.

The communication device 600 is configured to implement the functions of the network apparatus in the method embodiment shown in fig. 5. Wherein:

A transceiver unit 620, configured to receive a first registration request message from a terminal device, where the first registration request message includes information for indicating that the terminal device supports CAG and identification information of a user. A processing unit 610, configured to obtain permanent device identification PEI information of the terminal device. The transceiver unit 620 is configured to send a first registration response message to the terminal device if the acquired PEI information is different from PEI information in the subscription information of the user, where the first registration response message includes a first CAG information list. The first registration request message may be an initial registration request, and PEI information in subscription information of the user may be understood as PEI information of a terminal device where the SIM card is registered in the terminal device before.

For more details on the processing unit 610 and the transceiver unit 620, reference is made to the relevant description in the method embodiments shown in fig. 2 to 5.

As shown in fig. 7, the communication device 700 includes a processor 710 and an interface circuit 720. Processor 710 and interface circuit 720 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 720 may be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communication device 700 may further comprise a memory 730 for storing instructions to be executed by the processor 710 or for storing input data required by the processor 710 to execute instructions or for storing data generated after the processor 710 executes instructions.

When the communication device 700 is used to implement the methods shown in fig. 2 to 5, the processor 710 is configured to implement the functions of the processing unit 610, and the interface circuit 720 is configured to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 620.

When the communication device is a chip applied to the terminal equipment, the terminal equipment chip realizes the functions of the terminal equipment in the embodiment of the method. The terminal equipment chip receives the network equipment through other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal equipment and sends the network equipment to the terminal equipment; or the terminal device chip sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the terminal device, which is sent by the terminal device to the network device.

When the communication device is a module applied to the network device, the network device module implements the functions of the network device in the method embodiment. The network device module receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device, the information being sent to the network device by the terminal device; or the network device module transmits information to other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), which is transmitted from the network device to the terminal device.

It is to be appreciated that the Processor in embodiments of the application may be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), but may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (DIGITAL SIGNAL processors, DSPs), application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (Field Programmable GATE ARRAY, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, it may be any conventional processor.

The method steps of the embodiments of the present application may be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions may be comprised of corresponding software modules that may be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, erasable programmable read only memory, electrically erasable programmable read only memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. The storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC may reside in a network device or terminal device. The processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a network device or terminal device.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable apparatus. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer program or instructions may be transmitted from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center by wired or wireless means. The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that integrates one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium, e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, tape; but also optical media such as digital video discs; but also semiconductor media such as solid state disks. The computer readable storage medium may be volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage medium.

In various embodiments of the application, where no special description or logic conflict exists, terms and/or descriptions between the various embodiments are consistent and may reference each other, and features of the various embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logic.

It will be appreciated that the various numerical numbers referred to in the embodiments of the present application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The sequence number of each process does not mean the sequence of the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined according to the function and the internal logic.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

sending a first registration request message to network equipment, wherein the first registration request message comprises information for indicating that terminal equipment supports Closed Access Group (CAG);

Receiving a first registration accept message from the network device, the first registration accept message not containing a CAG information list;

Transmitting first information to the network equipment, wherein the first information is used for requesting to update a CAG information list of the terminal equipment;

receiving a first CAG information list from the network device;

and updating the CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the first CAG information list.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending the first information to the network device comprises:

and when the CAG information list is not stored in the nonvolatile memory NVM of the terminal equipment, the first information is sent to the network equipment.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sending a first registration request message to the network device comprises:

the sending the first information to the network device includes:

4. A method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the method further comprises:

5. A method of communication, comprising:

transmitting a first registration request message to a network device through a first cell, wherein the first registration request message comprises information for indicating that a terminal device supports a Closed Access Group (CAG);

And determining a CAG information list of the terminal equipment according to the identification information of the first cell.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the determining the CAG information list of the terminal device according to the identification information of the first cell includes:

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the determining the CAG information list of the terminal device according to the identification information of the first cell includes:

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the generating the CAG information list of the terminal device according to the identification information of the first cell comprises:

9. The method according to any one of claims 5-8, further comprising:

10. A method of communication, comprising:

Determining a Closed Access Group (CAG) information list of the terminal equipment;

and storing the CAG information list of the terminal equipment into a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

The determining the CAG information list of the terminal device includes:

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the determining the CAG information list of the terminal device comprises:

and generating a CAG information list of the terminal equipment.

13. The method according to any of the claims 10-12, characterized in that said storing the CAG information list of the terminal device in a subscriber identity module, SIM, card comprises:

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the first registration response is a registration accept message or the first registration response message is a registration reject message.

15. A method of communication, comprising:

Receiving a first registration request message from a terminal device, wherein the first registration request message comprises information for indicating that the terminal device supports a Closed Access Group (CAG) and identification information of a user;

Acquiring permanent equipment identification PEI information of the terminal equipment;

And if the acquired PEI information is different from PEI information in the subscription information of the user, sending a first registration response message to the terminal equipment, wherein the first registration response message comprises a first CAG information list.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the obtaining PEI information of the terminal device includes:

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the obtaining PEI information of the terminal device includes:

Sending an identity request to the terminal equipment;

18. The method according to any of claims 15-17, wherein the first registration response message is a registration accept message or the first registration response message is a registration reject message.

19. A method of communication, comprising:

Receiving a first registration request message from a terminal device, wherein the first registration request message comprises information for indicating that the terminal device supports a Closed Access Group (CAG);

Sending a first registration acceptance message to the terminal equipment, wherein the first registration acceptance message does not contain a CAG information list;

Receiving first information from the terminal equipment, wherein the first information is used for requesting to update a CAG information list of the terminal equipment;

and sending a first CAG information list to the terminal equipment, wherein the first CAG information list is used for updating the CAG information list of the terminal equipment.

20. A communication device comprising means or modules for performing the method of any of claims 1-14 or means or modules for performing the method of any of claims 15-19.

21. A communication device comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving signals from other communication devices than the communication device and transmitting to the processor or sending signals from the processor to other communication devices than the communication device, the processor being configured to implement the method of any one of claims 1-14 or to implement the method of any one of claims 15-19 by logic circuitry or execution of code instructions.

22. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the storage medium has stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a communication device, implements the method according to any of claims 1-14 or implements the method according to any of claims 15-19.

23. A computer program product comprising computer program code for implementing the method of any one of claims 1-14 or for implementing the method of any one of claims 15-19 when said computer program code is run on a computer.