CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to People's Republic of China Patent Application No. 201910766123.9 entitled SESSION ESTABLISHMENT METHOD AND MEANS AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM filed Aug. 19, 2019 which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application relates to a field of communication. In particular, the present application relates to a method, device, and system for establishing a session in connection with communication.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Internet of Things technology is often referred to as the third information technology revolution after the computer and Internet revolutions. Internet of Things technology is characterized by real-time performance and interactivity among a plurality of devices. The plurality of devices can be interconnected via the Internet. Internet of Things technology has been widely applied to numerous fields, including urban management, digital homes, positioning and navigation, logistics management, and security systems. Security associated with communication of information in connection with implementing Internet of Things systems has become increasingly important. To safeguard the security of services and private user data, Internet of Things devices can communicate with application servers through a set of security mechanisms.

To solve problems such as problems arising in connection with authentication between application servers and Internet of Things devices and the establishment of secure channels between application servers and Internet of Things devices, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has defined a general authentication mechanism called general bootstrapping architecture (GBA). GBA provides a general mechanism that establishes key sharing between user equipment (UE) (e.g., Internet of Things devices) and servers. GBA is implemented on the basis of the Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) authentication mechanism. The AKA authentication mechanism is a mutual authentication and key agreement mechanism used in 2G/3G networks. GBA uses the strengths of the AKA authentication mechanism to complete the secure bootstrapping process for services.

FIG. 1is an architectural diagram of a general bootstrapping architecture (GBA) according to the related art.

Referring toFIG. 1, GBA architecture100is provided. GBA includes bootstrapping server function (BSF) element110. BSF element110corresponds to a network element that is configured to introduce or invoke the GBA mechanism. BSF110can acquire relevant user data, such as international mobile subscriber identity and an authentication key (Ki), through the Zh interface and a home location register (HLR) or home subscriber server (HSS)120. BSF110can perform two-way authentication with user equipment (UE)130using the AKA protocol through the Ub interface. Moreover, after successful authentication, BSF110generates a shared key, which is used for secure transmission of information between the UE and network application function (NAF)140. BSF110transmits the shared key, relevant key parameters, user data, etc. via the Zn interface to NAF140. BSF110connects to subscription locator function (SLF)150via the Dz interface to obtain information pertaining to the user or UE130. For example, BSF110can obtain a location or identity of HSS120corresponding to UE130.

The authentication and key management for applications based on the 3GPP credential in the 5G Authentication and Key Agreement for Applications (AKMA) project is currently researching how to adapt operator open key capabilities to 5G systems. The 5G project proposes a new anchor function to manage the new key (e.g., AKMA anchor key (KAKMA)) introduced into the 5G key system and uses KAKMA (also referred to herein as KAKMA) as a basis to generate the application-layer end-to-end key KAF.

However, the AKMA scheme merely includes generating a key from the 5G core network key system for application-layer encryption. Some of the network elements of the core network are unable to obtain or identify services or sessions that use AKMA to generate application keys. Therefore, services that can be easily differentiable based on different application-layer keys cannot be provided under related art systems.

Accordingly, there is a need for a method and system for communicating information pertaining to services that can be differentiable based at least in part on application-layer keys.

