Optionally, link information (including the first link information or the second link information) in the embodiment of this application may be, for example, an address of a switch or a port number. This is not specifically limited in the embodiment of this application.
Optionally, the network device 101 in the embodiment of this application may be, for example, a mobility management network element, a unified data management network element, or an authentication service function network element. This is not specifically limited in the embodiment of this application.
Optionally, the residential gateway in the embodiment of this application may alternatively be referred to as relay user equipment, a terminal device, or another name. This is not specifically limited in the embodiment of this application.
Optionally, the network device 101 and the wireline access network device 102 in the embodiment of this application may directly communicate with each other, or may communicate with each other through forwarding by using another device. This is not specifically limited in the embodiment of this application.
In the authentication system provided in the embodiment of this application, the network device may obtain the first link information that represents the access location of the home network element and the second link information of the residential gateway, and may verify the validity of the access location of the residential gateway based on the first link information and the second link information. Therefore, according to the authentication system provided in the embodiment of this application, the validity of the access location of the residential gateway can be verified in a fixed-mobile convergence architecture.