Communication method and apparatus

A communication method, comprising:

• sending, by a user plane network element, second indication information to a control network element that indicates that a first service data flow needs to be associated with a second service data flow;
• obtaining, by the user plane network element, first indication information from the control network element, wherein the first indication information comprises an indication to the user plane network element to transmit the first service data flow through a same transmission path as the second service data flow;
• obtaining, by the control network element, identification information of the first service data flow, identification information of the second service data flow, and information about a transmission mode of the second service data flow to a target network element;
• and
• responsive to obtaining the first indication information from the control network element, transmitting, by the user plane network element based on the first indication information, the first service data flow through the same transmission path as the second service data flow.

A communication apparatus, comprising:

• a memory that stores program instructions;
• and
• a processor, that is operatively coupled to the memory, to:
• receive second indication information that indicates that a first service data flow needs to be associated with a second service data flow;
• determine whether to use a same transmission path for both the first service data flow and the second service data flow;
• responsive to determine to use the same transmission path for both the first service data flow and the second service data flow, send first indication information to a target network element, wherein the first indication information comprises an indication to the target network element to transmit the first service data flow through the same transmission path as the second service data flow;
• and
• send identification information of the first service data flow and identification information of the second service data flow to the target network element.