Optionally, the transceiver module 1110 is further configured to: if the timer expires, send an eighth message to a third network node, where the eighth message is used to instruct the third network node to release context information of the terminal device, and the third network node is a user 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.