Context management method and apparatus

1. A method for managing context of one or more terminals by a first core network device, the method comprising:

storing, by the first core network device, group information corresponding to a terminal and an associated context of the terminal; and

establishing, by the first core network device, a correspondence between the terminal and the group information such that the first core network device is free from storing the associated context of the terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the group information comprises group subscription information, group policy information, or group access information.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining, by the first core network device, a group identifier of a group to which the terminal belongs; and

determining, by the first core network device based on the group identifier, that the first core network device has stored the group information corresponding to the terminal.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining, by the first core network device, an identifier of the terminal; and

determining, by the first core network device based on the identifier of the terminal, that the first core network device has stored the group information corresponding to the terminal.

5. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the group access information is obtained based on the group policy information and the group subscription information.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:

updating, by the first core network device, the group information.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein updating the group information comprises:

when the group information is group policy information or group subscription information, receiving, by the first core network device, update information of the group information, and updating the group information based on the update information of the group information; or

when the group information is group access information, generating, by the first core network device, update information of the group information, and updating the group information based on the update information of the group information.

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

when an access network device accessed by the terminal does not store a first parameter in the group information, sending, by the first core network device, the identifier of the terminal and the first parameter to the access network device, wherein the first parameter is a group security parameter, a group paging parameter, a group quality of service (QoS) parameter, or a group mobility management MM parameter.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

when an access network device accessed by the terminal has stored a second parameter in the group information, sending, by the first core network device, an identifier of the terminal to the access network device, wherein the second parameter is a group security parameter, a group paging parameter, a group (QoS) parameter, or a group MM parameter.

10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

sending, by the first core network device, update information of a third parameter in the group information to an access network device, wherein the third parameter is a group security parameter, a group paging parameter, a group (QoS) parameter, or a group MM parameter.

11. A method for managing context of one or more terminals by a first core network device, the method comprising:

in response to determining that the first core network device does not store group information corresponding to a terminal and an associated context of the terminal, obtaining, by the first core network device, the group information corresponding to the terminal and the associated context; and

creating, by the first core network device, a group context based on the obtained group information, wherein the group context comprises the group information and includes context information for each of a group of terminals including said terminal.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the group information comprises group subscription information, group policy information, or group access information.

13. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

obtaining, by the first core network device, a group identifier of a group to which the terminal belongs; and

determining, by the first core network device based on the group identifier, that the first core network device does not store the group information corresponding to the terminal.

14. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

obtaining, by the first core network device, an identifier of the terminal; and

determining, by the first core network device based on the identifier of the terminal, that the first core network device does not store the group information corresponding to the terminal.

15. The method according to claim 12 , wherein obtaining the group information comprises:

when the group information is the group policy information, receiving, by the first core network device, the group policy information from a second core network device; or

when the group information is the group subscription information, receiving, by the first core network device, the group subscription information from a third core network device; or

when the group information is the group access information, generating, by the first core network device, the group access information.

16. The method according to claim 11 , wherein creating a group context based on the group information comprises:

storing, by the first core network device, the group information in the group context.

17. A context management apparatus operating as a first core network device, comprising:

a processing unit configured to:

store group information corresponding to a first terminal and an associated context of the first terminal, and

establish a correspondence between the first terminal and the group information such that the first core network device is free from storing the associated context of the first terminal.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

when the apparatus does not store group information corresponding to a second terminal, obtain the group information corresponding to the second terminal, and

create a group context based on the group information, wherein the group context comprises the group information and the group context is applicable to a group of terminals including the second terminal and the first terminal.