The invention discloses a communication method, and according to the method, local
terminal equipment and opposite
terminal equipment mutually notify whether the home
terminal equipment and the opposite terminal equipment have control
word processing capability or not through a BGP message; after receiving the BGP message carrying the control word indication information sent by the local terminaldevice, the opposite terminal device determines that the local terminal device has the control
word processing capability, and when the opposite terminal device also has the control
word processing capability, the opposite terminal device sends a service message to the home terminal device, the opposite terminal device carries the control word. And when the home terminal equipment does not have the control word
processing capability, the BGP message sent to the opposite terminal equipment does not carry the control word indication information, and the opposite terminal equipment does not carrythe control word when sending the service message to the home terminal equipment. Therefore, normal communication between the network equipment with the control word
processing capability and the network equipment without the control word
processing capability is effectively ensured, and the reliability of service transmission is improved.