Optionally, the transceiver module 1020 is further configured to receive a seventh message sent by the first system, where the seventh message is used to instruct the first network node to release a context of the terminal device.
Optionally, the transceiver module 1020 is a transceiver module of the second network node, the processing module is a processing module of the second network node, and the second network node is a control plane node of the first system.
Optionally, the sixth message includes at least one of identification information of the terminal device, radio link failure indication information, and a cell radio network temporary identifier.
According to the network device in this embodiment of this application, a context of the terminal device can be effectively managed when some functions of a network device are split into different network nodes.