Method for disposing of package and communication device

Description

1 / 90 METHOD FOR DISPOSING OF PACKAGE AND COMMUNICATION DEVICE TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication and, specifically, to a packet disposal method and a communication device. BACKGROUND

[0002] Extended reality (XR) refers to various environments that combine reality and virtuality and are generated by wearable devices through computing technologies and human-computer interaction. XR includes augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR).

[0003] Packet discard behavior in a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer is specified in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) protocol. Specifically, each time a PDCP entity in the PDCP layer on one side of the transmitter receives a PDCP service data unit (SDU) from a higher layer (for example, a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer), the PDCP entity starts a timer for the PDCP SDU. When the timer expires, the PDCP entity discards the PDCP SDU corresponding to the timer and a PDCP protocol data unit (PDU) corresponding to the SDU.If the PDCP PDU has been delivered to a lower layer (for example, a radio link control (RLC) layer), the PDCP entity further notifies the lower layer of a packet discard indication, and the lower layer performs a corresponding packet discard operation. A network device configures the timer duration for each PDCP entity. The PDCP discards. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 8 / 107 2 / 90 different data packets to be transmitted in the same Quality of Service (QoS) stream after waiting the same amount of time.

[0004] The packet discarding mechanism can reduce the effective capacity of a network in some scenarios. For example, in an XR service, an I-frame data piece (intracoded image) and a P-frame data piece (predictively encoded image) wait to be transmitted in a buffer, and the P-frame data precedes the I-frame data. Congestion is assumed to occur in this case, and consequently, available transmission resources are very limited. In this case, during the transmission of the P-frame data, subsequent I-frame data may be discarded due to a timeout. Consequently, even if the P-frame data that depends on the I-frame is transmitted correctly, the P-frame data cannot be successfully parsed later. As a result, the effective network capacity is reduced, affecting user experience. SUMMARY

[0005] This application provides a packet disposal method and a communication device to increase the effective capacity of a system and improve user experience.

[0006] According to a first aspect, a packet discarding method is provided. The method can be performed by a first communication device (i.e., a data sender), or it can be performed by a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system of chips) of the first communication device, or it can be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first communication device.

[0007] The method includes: receiving initial indication information from a second communication device, where the initial indication information indicates the duration adjustment of Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 9 / 107 3 / 90 a discard timer that is in a PDCP layer and that corresponds to the first data for the second duration, and the first data is a first data packet or first set of data packets of target importance; and adjust the discard timer duration from the first duration to the second duration based on the first indication information.

[0008] It should be understood that the first duration is the discard timer duration before the discard timer duration is adjusted based on the first indication information.

[0009] For example, any set of data packets, for example, the first set of data packets, can be a set of PDUs (set) or it can be a burst of data (data explosion).

[0010] According to the method provided in this application, the first communication device can quickly and flexibly adjust the duration of a discard timer for some data (e.g., the first data) based on an indication from the second communication device, to adapt to different communication environments, increase the effective capacity of a system, and improve user experience. For example, in a scenario where network congestion occurs, the second communication device can instruct the first communication device to shorten the duration of a discard timer for some low-importance data. In this way, the first communication device can preferentially discard low-importance data to alleviate network resource pressure and ensure that high-importance data can be successfully transmitted.For example, when network conditions are good, the second communication device can instruct the first communication device to extend a timer for some highly important data. In this way, the first... Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 10 / 107 4 / 90 communication devices can provide more transmission opportunities for high-importance data, ensuring successful transmission of this data and guaranteeing that other data dependent on it can be successfully decoded later.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the first data is a first low-importance data packet or a first set of low-importance data packets, and the first duration is longer than the second duration.

[0012] According to this solution, the first communication device can preferentially discard the first low-importance data packet / first set of data packets, shortening the discard timer duration for the first low-importance data packet / first set of data packets based on the first indication information, to provide more transmission opportunities for high-importance data packets / sets of data packets. When network congestion occurs, this solution helps alleviate network resource pressure and ensure successful transmission of high-importance data. This helps increase the effective capacity of a network and improve user experience.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the importance of any data packet is determined based on the PDU set importance (PSI) corresponding to the data packet and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the data packet; and / or the importance of any set of data packets is determined based on the PSI corresponding to the set of data packets and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the set of data packets.

[0014] For example, the PSI corresponding to a data packet may be the PSI of a set of PDUs to which the data packet belongs. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 11 / 107 5 / 90 belongs.

[0015] For example, a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to a data packet is a remaining packet delay budget (PDB) for that data packet.

[0016] For example, a remaining transmission delay budget from a set of PDUs could be a remaining PSDB from the set of PDUs.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the first indication information indicates that the second duration is a default value of 0.

[0018] For example, when network congestion occurs, the second communication device expects the first communication device to discard a low-importance data packet / set of data packets. In this case, the second communication device sends the first indication information to the first communication device, to indicate that the first communication device should set the duration of a discard timer for the low-importance data packet / set of data packets to 0.After receiving the first indication information, the first communication device sets the discard timers corresponding to all low-importance data packets / sets of data packets cached in a related PDCP entity to 0, so that the low-importance data packets / sets of data packets are discarded, as the discard timers for low-importance data packets / sets of data packets expire immediately. For a low-importance data packet / set of data packets that subsequently reaches the related PDCP entity, the first communication device starts a discard timer with a duration of 0. In other words, the data packet / set of data packets is discarded immediately upon reaching the PDCP entity. According to the method,... Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 12 / 107 6 / 90 network congestion can be effectively alleviated and the transmission of a high-importance data packet / set of data packets can be guaranteed.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the first indication information includes the second duration.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the first indication information indicates the second duration in a plurality of pre-configured duration pieces.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the first indication information includes information about the target importance and the second duration.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the first indication information includes information about the target importance, and the second duration is associated with the target importance. For example, matches between a plurality of duration and importance information pieces can be pre-configured for the first communication device. In this way, the first communication device can determine the second duration based on the target importance information.

[0023] In a possible implementation, adjusting the discard timer duration from the first duration to the second duration based on the first indication information includes: adjusting the discard timer duration from the first duration to the second duration based on the target importance PSI and a PSI threshold.

[0024] According to this solution, the second duration can be determined based on the target importance PSI and the PSI threshold.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the first indication information also indicates a data radio bearer (DRB) associated with the first data.

[0026] According to this solution, the second communication device can indicate adjusting only timers of Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, p. 13 / 107 7 / 90 discard for related data from PDCP entities corresponding to some DRBs.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the first data is data that has arrived at the PDCP entity. Adjusting the discard timer duration from the first duration to the second duration based on the first indication information includes: restarting the discard timer based on the first indication information and the second duration; or continuing to run the discard timer based on the first indication information and the second duration; or determining, based on the first indication information and the second duration, that the discard timer expires.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the first data is data that has not yet reached the PDCP entity. Adjusting the discard timer duration from the first duration to the second duration based on the first indication information includes: starting the discard timer based on the first indication information and the second duration when the first data arrives at the PDCP entity.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the method also includes: for second data that has not reached the PDCP entity, start a discard timer based on the first duration when the second data reaches the PDCP entity, where the second data is a second data packet or a second set of target importance data packets.

[0030] In a possible implementation, the method also includes: receiving a second indication from the second communication device, where the second indication indicates the adjustment of the discard timer duration from the second duration to the first duration; and adjusting the discard timer duration from the second duration to the first duration.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the method also includes: Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 14 / 107 8 / 90 Start a first timer when the first indication information is received, where the discard timer duration is the second duration during the execution of the first timer; and adjust the discard timer duration from the second duration to the first duration when the first timer expires.

[0032] According to this solution, the first communication device can adjust the discard timer for the first data based on the first indication information during the execution of the first timer and adjust the discard timer duration back to the first duration when the first timer expires.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: sending a buffer status report to the second communication device when the first data is discarded, where the buffer status report is used to report the amount of current data to be transmitted.

[0034] According to this solution, after knowing the amount of data currently being transmitted by the first communication device based on the buffer status report, the second communication device can configure transmission resources for the first communication device that correspond to the amount of data currently being transmitted. This facilitates the successful transmission of a data packet from the first communication device and avoids wasting network resources.

[0035] According to a second aspect, a packet discarding method is provided. The method can be implemented by a second communication device (i.e., a data receiver), or it can be implemented by a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system of chips) of the second communication device, or it can be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 15 / 107 9 / 90 second communication device.

[0036] The method includes: generating first indication information, where the first indication information indicates a first communication device to adjust the duration of a discard timer that is in a PDCP packet data convergence protocol layer and that corresponds to the duration of the first data for the second, and the first data is a first data packet or first set of data packets of target importance; and sending the first indication information to the first communication device.

[0037] According to the method provided in this application, the first communication device can quickly and flexibly adjust the duration of a discard timer for some data (e.g., the first data) based on an indication from the second communication device, to adapt to different communication environments, increase the effective capacity of a system, and improve user experience. For example, in a scenario where network congestion occurs, the second communication device can instruct the first communication device to shorten the duration of a discard timer for some low-importance data. In this way, the first communication device can preferentially discard low-importance data to alleviate network resource pressure and ensure that high-importance data can be successfully transmitted.For example, when network conditions are good, the second communication device can instruct the first communication device to extend a timer for some high-importance data. This way, the first communication device can provide more transmission opportunities for the high-importance data, ensuring successful transmission of that data so that other data that depends on it can be successfully decoded later. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 16 / 107 10 / 90

[0038] In one possible implementation, the first data is a first low-importance data packet or a first set of low-importance data packets, and the second duration is shorter than the current discard timer duration.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the importance of any data packet is determined based on the protocol PDU PSI data unit control importance corresponding to the data packet and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the data packet; and / or the importance of any set of data packets is determined based on the PSI corresponding to the set of data packets and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the set of data packets.

[0040] In a possible implementation, the first indication information indicates that the second duration is a default value of 0; or the first indication information includes the second duration; or the first indication information indicates the second duration in a plurality of pre-configured duration parts; or the first indication information includes information about the target importance and the second duration; or the first indication information includes information about the target importance, and the second duration is associated with the target importance.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the first indication information also indicates a DRB data radio carrier associated with the first data.

[0042] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: sending a second indication to the first communication device, where the second indication tells the first communication device to adjust the discard timer duration from the second duration to the first duration, and the first duration is the discard timer duration before the discard timer duration is adjusted to the second duration. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 17 / 107 11 / 90

[0043] In a possible implementation, the method also includes: receiving a buffer status report from the first communication device, where the buffer status report is used to report an amount of current data to be transmitted from the first communication device.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: sending the duration of a first timer to the first communication device, where the discard timer duration is the second duration during the execution of the first timer, the first communication device needs to adjust the discard timer duration from the second duration to the first duration when the first timer expires, and the first duration is the discard timer duration before the discard timer duration is adjusted to the second duration.

[0045] In a possible implementation, before generating the first indication information, the method also includes: determining that network congestion occurs.

[0046] It should be understood that, for the beneficial effects of the solutions related in the second aspect, refer to the previous descriptions of the corresponding solutions in the first aspect. Details are not described again in this document.

[0047] According to a third aspect, a packet discarding method is provided. The method can be performed by a first communication device (i.e., a data sender), or it can be performed by a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system of chips) of the first communication device, or it can be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first communication device.

[0048] The method includes: receiving a third indication from a second communication device, where the third indication indicates adjusting, to 0, a Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, p. 18 / 107 12 / 90 discard timer for a data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has reached at least one PDCP entity, and / or discard a data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has not reached at least one PDCP entity, or the third indication indicates discarding data packets or sets of data packets of primary importance that have reached and / or have not reached at least one PDCP entity; set, to 0 based on the third indication, the discard timer for the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has reached at least one PDCP entity, and / or discard the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has not reached at least one PDCP entity;or discard, based on the third piece of information indicating the outcome, the data packets or sets of data packets of primary importance that have reached and / or have not reached at least one PDCP entity.

[0049] For example, the first importance may be of low importance.

[0050] For example, any set of data packets can be a set of PDUs or a data burst.

[0051] According to the method provided in this application, the first communication device can quickly and flexibly adjust the duration of a discard timer for some data (e.g., the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance) and / or discard some data based on an indication from the second communication device, to adapt to different communication environments, increase the effective capacity of a system, and improve user experience. For example, in a scenario where network congestion occurs, the first communication device can preferentially discard low-importance data with Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 19 / 107 13 / 90 based on an indication from the second communication device, to alleviate network resource pressure and ensure that high-importance data can be successfully transmitted. Furthermore, the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that did not reach at least one PDCP entity is discarded, so that the processing time of the first communication device can be further reduced.

[0052] In a possible implementation, the importance of any data packet is determined based on the Protocol Data Unit Control (PDU) importance corresponding to the data packet and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the data packet; and / or the importance of any set of data packets is determined based on the PSI corresponding to the set of data packets and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the set of data packets.

[0053] In a possible implementation, the method also includes: receiving a fourth indication from the second communication device, where the fourth indication indicates stopping the discarding of the data packet / set of data packets of primary importance from at least one PDCP entity; and stopping, based on the fourth indication, the discarding of the data packet / set of data packets of primary importance from at least one PDCP entity.

[0054] In a possible implementation, the method also includes: starting a second timer when the second indication information is received; and stopping the disposal of the data packet / set of data packets of primary importance from at least one PDCP entity when the second timer expires.

[0055] In a possible implementation, the method also includes: sending a buffer status report to the second communication device when the data packet / set of packets of Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 20 / 107 14 / 90 primary importance data from at least one PDCP entity is discarded, where the buffer status report is used to report an amount of current data to be transmitted.

[0056] According to this solution, after knowing the amount of data currently being transmitted by the first communication device based on the buffer status report, the second communication device can configure transmission resources for the first communication device that correspond to the amount of data currently being transmitted. This facilitates the successful transmission of a data packet from the first communication device and avoids wasting network resources.

[0057] According to a fourth aspect, a packet discarding method is provided. The method can be performed by a second communication device (i.e., a data sender), or it can be performed by a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system of chips) of the second communication device, or it can be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second communication device.

[0058] The method includes: generating a third indication; and sending the third indication to a first communication device. The third indication indicates that the first communication device should set a discard timer to 0 for a data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has reached at least one PDCP entity, and / or discard a data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has not reached at least one PDCP entity, or the third indication indicates that the first communication device should discard data packets or sets of data packets of primary importance that have reached and / or have not reached at least one Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 21 / 107 15 / 90 PDCP entity.

[0059] According to the method provided in this application, the first communication device can quickly and flexibly adjust the duration of a discard timer for some data (e.g., the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance) and / or discard some data based on an indication from the second communication device, to adapt to different communication environments, increase the effective capacity of a system, and improve user experience. For example, in a scenario where network congestion occurs, the first communication device can preferentially discard low-importance data based on an indication from the second communication device, to alleviate network resource pressure and ensure that high-importance data can be successfully transmitted.Furthermore, the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that did not reach at least one PDCP entity is discarded, so that the processing time of the first communication device can be further reduced.

[0060] In a possible implementation, the importance of any data packet is determined based on the Protocol Data Unit Control (PDU) importance corresponding to the data packet and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the data packet; and / or the importance of any set of data packets is determined based on the PSI corresponding to the set of data packets and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the set of data packets.

[0061] In a possible implementation, the method also includes: Send a fourth indication of information to the first communication device, where the fourth indication of information tells the first communication device to stop discarding the data packet / set of data packets of primary importance. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, p. 22 / 107 16 / 90 at least one PDCP entity.

[0062] According to a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, including a module or unit configured to execute the method in any of the first aspect or possible implementations of the first aspect, or including a module or unit configured to perform the method in any of the third aspect or possible implementations of the third aspect.

[0063] According to a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including a module or a unit configured to perform the method in any of the second aspect or of the possible implementations of the second aspect, or including a module or a unit configured to perform the method in any of the fourth aspect or of the possible implementations of the fourth aspect.

[0064] According to a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including a processor, where the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is configured to store a computer program or instructions, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, to implement the method in any of the first aspect, or to implement the possible implementations of the first aspect, or the method in any of the third aspect, or the possible implementations of the third aspect.

[0065] In a possible implementation, the device additionally includes memory coupled to the processor.

[0066] In a possible implementation, there is one or more processors and / or one or more memories.

[0067] In one possible implementation, the memory and processor can be integrated together, or the memory and processor can be arranged separately.

[0068] In a possible implementation, the device includes Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 23 / 107 17 / 90 additionally a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0069] In one implementation, the device is a primary communication device. For example, the communication interface could be a transceiver or an input / output interface.

[0070] In another implementation, the device is a chip in the first communication device. For example, the communication interface could be an input / output interface.

[0071] According to a tenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including a processor, where the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is configured to store a computer program or instructions, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, to implement the method in any one of the second aspect or possible implementations of the second aspect or to implement the method in any one of the fourth aspect or possible implementations of the fourth aspect.

[0072] In a possible implementation, the device additionally includes memory coupled to the processor.

[0073] In a possible implementation, there is one or more processors and / or one or more memories.

[0074] In one possible implementation, the memory and processor can be integrated together, or the memory and processor can be arranged separately.

[0075] In one possible implementation, the device additionally includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0076] In one implementation, the device is a second communication device. For example, the communication interface could be a transceiver or an input / output interface.

[0077] In another implementation, the device is a chip in the second communication device. For example, the communication interface could be an input / output interface. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 24 / 107 18 / 90

[0078] According to a ninth aspect, a processor is provided and includes an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to: receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit the signal through the output circuit, to enable the processor to perform the method in any of the previous aspects or the possible implementations of any of the previous aspects.

[0079] In a specific implementation, the processor may be a chip, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a drive, various logic circuits, or similar. An input signal received by the input circuit may be received and entered by, for example, but not limited to, a receiver; a signal emitted by the output circuit may be sent to, for example, but not limited to, a transmitter and transmitted by the transmitter; and the input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit, wherein the circuit is used as an input circuit and an output circuit at different times. Specific implementations of the processor and various circuits are not limited in this request.

[0080] According to a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided and includes at least one of the communication devices provided in the third aspect and the communication device provided in the fourth aspect, or includes at least one of the communication devices provided in the fifth aspect and the communication device provided in the sixth aspect.

[0081] According to an eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions). When the computer program is run, a computer is enabled to perform the Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, p. 25 / 107 19 / 90 method in any of the previous aspects or the possible implementations of any of the previous aspects.

[0082] According to a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program (which may also be called code or instructions). When the computer program is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method in any of the preceding aspects or the possible implementations of any of the preceding aspects.

[0083] According to a thirteenth aspect, a chip is provided and includes a processor configured to invoke a computer program from a memory and run the computer program, to enable a communication apparatus on which the chip is mounted to perform the method in any of the preceding aspects or possible implementations of any of the preceding aspects.

[0084] According to a fourteenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus includes an interface and a processor. The interface is used to send and / or receive a signal, to enable the processor to perform the method in any of the preceding aspects or possible implementations of any of the preceding aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0085] FIG. 1 shows a data packet processing procedure at each protocol layer in a user plane on a transmitter side; FIG. 2 is a diagram of a video encoding model; FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a communication system applicable to this application; FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a package disposal method according to one of the order types; FIG. 5 is a diagram of a timer duration adjustment. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, p. 26 / 107 20 / 90 disposal rotating according to one of the modes of this order; FIG. 6 is a diagram of the duration adjustment of a discard timer running according to one of the modes of this request; FIG. 7 is a diagram of the duration adjustment of a discard timer that is not running according to one of the modes of this request; FIG. 8 is a diagram of the duration adjustment of a discard timer according to one embodiment of this application; FIG. 9 is a diagram of the duration adjustment of a discard timer that is not running according to one of the modes of this request; FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart of another method for disposing of packages according to one modality of this request; FIG. 11 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to one modality of this request; FIG. 12 is a diagram of the allocation of a SN by a PDCP entity to a data packet according to a modality of this request; FIG. 13 is a diagram of the delivery of a data packet by a PDCP entity to an RLC entity according to one of the modalities of this request; FIG. 14 is a diagram of the delivery of a data packet by an RLC entity to a MAC entity according to one of the modes of this request; FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a communication device according to one embodiment of this application; FIG. 16 is a block diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of this application; FIG. 17 is a diagram of the structure of a terminal device according to an embodiment of this application; and FIG. 18 is a diagram of a network device structure according to one embodiment of this request. DESCRIPTION OF THE MODALITIES Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, p. 27 / 107 21 / 90

[0086] The following describes the technical solutions in embodiments of this application, with reference to the drawings attached in embodiments of this application.

[0087] In the descriptions of this request, unless otherwise specified, / indicates a relationship between associated objects. For example, A / B may indicate A or B. And / or in this request describes only an association relationship between the associated objects and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may indicate the following three cases: Only A exists, A and B exist, and only B exists, where A and B may be singular or plural. Furthermore, in the descriptions of this request, a plurality of means two or more of two, unless otherwise specified. At least one of the following items (pieces) or a similar expression refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of singular items (pieces) or plural items (pieces). For example, at least one of a, b, or c may indicate: a, b, c, aeb, aec, bec, or a, bec, where a, bec may be singular or plural.Furthermore, to clearly describe the technical solutions in embodiments of this application, terms such as first and second are used in embodiments of this application to distinguish between the same items or similar items that provide essentially the same functions or purposes. A person skilled in the art can understand that terms such as first and second do not limit a quantity or a sequence of execution, and terms such as first and second do not indicate a definite difference. It should be understood that, in this application, descriptions similar to in a case where..., if..., when..., it is assumed that... and the like may be used interchangeably.

[0088] A terminal device in embodiments of this application may be a user equipment (UE), a station, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote station, a terminal Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, p. 28 / 107 22 / 90 remote, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user appliance. The terminal device may alternatively be a mobile phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop station (WLL), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable device with a wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a large screen, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device on a 5G network, a terminal device on a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), or similar. This is not limited in embodiments of this application.

[0089] A network device in embodiments of this application is a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) that connects the terminal device to a wireless network and may also be called a base station. For example, the network device may be an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system or an access point (AP) in a Wi-Fi system, a radio controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, or a network device in another future evolved communication system.

[0090] In one possible scenario, a plurality of RAN nodes coordinate to assist the terminal device in implementing radio access, and different RAN nodes Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 29 / 107 23 / 90 separately implements a portion of the functions of a base station. For example, the RAN node (i.e., the network device in this application) can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a control plane (CP) of CU, a user plane of CU (UP), a radio unit (RU), or similar. The CU and DU can be arranged separately or can be included in the same network element, for example, a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or in a radio frequency unit, for example, in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may alternatively have different names, but a person skilled in the art can understand the meaning of the names. For example, in an open radio access network (ORAN) system, the CU may alternatively be called O-CU (open CU), the DU may alternatively be called O-DU, the CU-CP may alternatively be called O-CU-CP, the CU-UP may alternatively be called O-CU-UP, and the RU may alternatively be called O-RU. Any of the CU (or CU-CP or CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application may be implemented using a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. It should be understood that a specific technology and a specific device form factor used by the network device are not limited in this application.

[0091] In embodiments of this application, the terminal device or network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer above the hardware layer, and an application layer above the operating system layer. A Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 30 / 107 The 24 / 90 hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also referred to as main memory). The operating system can be any one or more types of computer operating systems that implement service processing through a process, for example, a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a Windows operating system. The application layer includes applications such as a web browser, an address book, word processing software, and instant messaging software.Furthermore, a specific structure of a method execution body provided in the modalities of this application is not specifically limited in the modalities of this application, provided that communication can be carried out in accordance with the method provided in the modalities of this application, by implementing a program that records the code of the method provided in the modalities of this application.

[0092] In addition, aspects or features of this application may be implemented as a method, device, or product that utilizes standard programming and / or engineering technologies. The term "product" as used in this application encompasses a computer program that can be accessed from any computer-readable component, carrier, or medium. For example, a computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to: a magnetic storage component (e.g., a hard disk, a floppy disk, or a magnetic tape), an optical disc (e.g., a compact disc (CD) or a digital versatile disc (DVD)), a smart card, and a flash memory component (e.g., an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a card, a flash drive, or Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 31 / 107 25 / 90 a key unit). Furthermore, the various storage media described in this descriptive report may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media configured to store information. The term machine-readable media may include, but is not limited to, radio channels and various other media that can store, contain, and / or carry instructions and / or data.

[0093] In this application, the following first describes concepts related to this application. 1. Data package

[0094] A user plane (UP) protocol stack of a 5th generation (5G) system includes a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a top-down physical layer (PHY).

[0095] FIG. 1 shows a data packet processing procedure at each protocol layer in a user plane on the transmitter side. See FIG. 1. On the transmitter side, a data packet first reaches a layer of SDAP, and the SDAP layer delivers, according to a QoS flow mapping rule to a DRB, the data packet to a PDCP entity corresponding to a corresponding DRB (where each DRB corresponds to a PDCP entity). A PDCP layer performs operations such as compression and encryption on the data packet and then delivers a processed data packet to an RLC layer. The RLC layer may or may not perform processing, such as segmentation, on the data packet and then delivers a processed data packet to a MAC layer. The MAC layer assembles one or more data packets into a Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 32 / 107 26 / 90 MAC PDU and delivers the MAC PDU to a PHY layer.

[0096] The data packet received by the SDAP layer is an IP data packet, and in the SDAP layer, the IP data packet is referred to as an SDAP SDU. After obtaining an SDAP PDU by performing processes such as adding a header to the SDAP SDU, the SDAP layer delivers the SDAP PDU to the PDCP entity. That is, the data packet delivered by the SDAP layer to the PDCP entity is the SDAP PDU.

[0097] In the PDCP layer, the SDAP PDU is called a PDCP SDU. After obtaining a PDCP PDU by performing related processing, such as adding a header to the PDCP SDU, the PDCP layer delivers the PDCP PDU to the RLC layer. That is, the data packet delivered by the PDCP layer to the RLC layer is the PDCP PDU.

[0098] In the RLC layer, the PDCP PDU is called an RLC SDU. The RLC layer may or may not perform segmentation processing on the RLC SDU. When the RLC SDU is segmented, each segment is called an RLC SDU segment. After obtaining an RLC PDU by performing related processing, such as adding a header to the RLC SDU segment or to the RLC SDU itself, the RLC PDU is delivered to the MAC layer. That is, the data packet delivered by the RLC layer to the MAC layer is the RLC PDU.

[0099] In the MAC layer, the RLC PDU is called a MAC SDU. After the MAC layer obtains a MAC subPDU by performing related processing, such as adding a MAC subheader to the MAC SDU, one or more MAC subPDUs form a MAC PDU, and the MAC PDU is delivered to the PHY layer. That is, the data packet delivered by the MAC layer to the PHY layer is the MAC PDU.

[00100] The PHY layer modulates and encodes the MAC PDU to generate a transport block (TB) and transmits the transport block using an air interface resource. 2. PDU Set (set)

[00101] The PDU set is a set that includes a Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 33 / 107 27 / 90 plurality of data packets in a transport layer and corresponds to a minimum granularity for data processing in an application layer. In some application scenarios, the application layer can correctly parse a corresponding data unit only after correctly receiving all data packets in the PDU set. In some other application scenarios, the application layer can parse a corresponding data unit after correctly receiving a specific proportion of data packets in the PDU set. 3. Data burst

[00102] A data burst refers to a group of data PDUs, for example, an XR service frame, generated and transmitted by an application in an extremely short period of time. A data burst may include one or more sets of PDUs. 4. Set of data packets

[00103] For example, the set of data packets (for example, a first set of data packets or a second set of data packets) in this request could be a set of PDUs or a burst of data. 5. Packet Delay Budget (PDB)

[00104] On an uplink, the PDB is the upper limit of the transmission delay from the arrival of a data packet at an access stratum of a terminal device until the arrival of the data packet at an N6 interface of a user plane function (UPF). The opposite is true on a downlink. If the data packet is not successfully transmitted within the time required by the PDB, the data packet is considered to have timed out (or is called expired) and is invalid. 6. Packet Set Delay Budget (PSDB)

[00105] PSDB has a similar meaning to PDB and defines Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 34 / 107 28 / 90 is an upper limit for the transmission delay of a group of data packets (a set of PDUs). On the uplink, the PSDB is an upper bound of a transmission delay from the arrival of the first data packet in the PDU set on the terminal device's access layer to the arrival of the last data packet in the PDU set on the N6 interface of the UPF. The opposite is true on the downlink. 7. PDU Set Importance (PSI)

[00106] A single QoS flow can include sets of PDUs of different importance, and PSI is used to identify the importance of the PDU set.

[00107] For example, in downlink communication, PSI for each set of PDUs can be provided by a core network to a network device. In uplink or sidelink (SL) communication, PSI can be identified by the terminal device.

[00108] XR is one of the 5th generation (5G) multimedia applications currently prioritized in the industrial sector. Generally, an XR service generates data periodically. An AR service with a frame rate of 60 frames per second (fps) is used as an example. 60 video image frames are generated per second, a video frame appears approximately every 16.66 ms, and a video frame can be transmitted using a plurality of data packets. The plurality of data packets forms one or more sets of PDUs.

[00109] The video frame can be encoded based on a group of pictures (GOP), and a GOP includes several consecutive video frames. The first frame is called the I-frame (intra-frame coding), uses intra-frame coding, includes complete picture information, and can be encoded and decoded independently. The other frames are called P-frames (prediction-coded pictures), use coding Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 35 / 107 29 / 90 predictive encoding includes only a portion of photo information and can be encoded and decoded using only a previous frame. In another encoding model, a video frame can alternatively be divided into a plurality of video slices. One portion of the slices uses intra-frame encoding and is called I-slices; and one portion of the slices uses predictive encoding and is called P-slices.

[00110] For example, FIG. 2 is a diagram of a video coding model. (a) in FIG. 2 is a diagram of a GOP-based coding model. See (a) in FIG. 2. Three P frames in GOP no. n can be decoded depending on an I frame in GOP no. n, and two P frames in GOP no. (n+1) can be decoded depending on an I frame in GOP no. (n+1). (b) in FIG. 2 is a diagram of a slice-based encoding model. See (b) in FIG. 2. Slice P no. 1 and slice P no. 2 in video frame no. n can be decoded depending on a slice I in a video frame prior to video frame no. n. Slice P #1 in video frame #(n+1) can be decoded depending on slice I #1 in video frame #n, and slice P #2 in video frame #(n+1) and slice P #2 in video frame #n depend on the same slice I. Slice P #1 in video frame #(n+2) can be decoded depending on slice I #1 in video frame #n, slice P #2 in video frame #(n+2) can be decoded depending on slice I #1 in video frame #(n+1), and slice P #1 in a video frame after video frame #(n+2) depends on slice I #2 in video frame #(n+2).

[00111] The 3GPP protocol specifies packet discard behavior in a PDCP layer. Specifically, each time a PDCP entity on the transmitter side receives a PDCP SDU from a higher layer (e.g., an SDAP layer), the PDCP entity starts a timer for the PDCP SDU, and the timer is called the discard timer. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 36 / 107 30 / 90 (discardTimer). When the discard timer expires, the PDCP entity discards the PDCP SDU corresponding to the timer and a PDCP PDU corresponding to the SDU. If the PDCP PDU has been delivered to a lower layer (for example, an RLC layer), the PDCP entity further notifies the lower layer of a packet discard indication, and the lower layer performs a corresponding packet discard operation.

[00112] The discard timer duration is configured by a network device. Specifically, the network device configures the duration using PDCP-config signaling. Each PDCP entity configures a duration piece. For all data packets processed by the PDCP entity, a discard timer has the same duration. Generally, the network device can configure the discard timer based on a data PDB or PSDB.

[00113] In a current PDCP packet discarding mechanism, a data timeout is considered. For different data packets to be transmitted in the same QoS stream, PDCP discards the data packets after waiting the same amount of time. This packet discarding mechanism can reduce the effective capacity of a network in some scenarios. For example, in a PDCP entity buffer, a piece of I-frame data and a piece of P-frame data are waiting to be transmitted, and the P-frame data precedes the I-frame data. Congestion is assumed to occur in this case, and the available transmission resources are very limited. In a P-frame data transmission process, subsequent I-frame data may be discarded due to a timeout.Consequently, even if the P-frame data that depends on the I-frame is transmitted correctly, the P-frame data cannot be successfully analyzed subsequently. As a result, the user experience deteriorates. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, p. 37 / 107 31 / 90

[00114] In view of this, according to a packet discarding method provided in this application, the discard timer in the PDCP layer is flexibly adjusted based on data importance, so that a first communication device (i.e., the transmitter side) can perform packet discard processing flexibly in different scenarios in order to increase the effective network capacity and improve user experience. For example, in a congestion or similar scenario, the first communication device can preferentially discard a low-importance data packet, shortening the discard timer duration for the low-importance data packet (e.g., P-frame data), to ensure transmission of a high-importance data packet (e.g., I-frame data).

[00115] The technical solutions in the modalities of this application can be used in an uplink communication scenario or in a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication scenario. For example, V2X can include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication, vehicle-to-network (V2N) service, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, or similar.

[00116] Uplink communication or V2X communication can be implemented using Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5th Generation (5G), New Radio (NR), other communication technology that may emerge in the future, or something similar.

[00117] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a communication system applicable to this application. See FIG. 3. The system includes two types of communication interfaces: one interface PC5 is a Uu interface. The PC5 interface is a direct communication interface between two terminal devices (by Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 38 / 107 32 / 90 example, a terminal device 310 and a terminal device 320 shown in the figure). A direct communication link between terminal devices is also defined as a sidelink or a side link (SL). The Uu interface is an interface for communication between a terminal device (e.g., terminal device 310 or terminal device 320) and a network device 330. It should be understood that the communication system shown in FIG. 3 may include even more network nodes, e.g., more terminal devices or network devices, which are not shown one by one in the figure in embodiments of this application.

[00118] The method provided in this application can be applied to a scenario in which terminal device 310 (or terminal device 320) sends data to network device 330. In this scenario, a first communication device in this application can be terminal device 310 (or terminal device 320), and a second communication device can be network device 330. Alternatively, the method provided in this application can be applied to an SL communication scenario. For example, in a scenario where terminal device 310 needs to send data to terminal device 320, the first communication device can be terminal device 310 and the second communication device can be terminal device 320.Alternatively, in a scenario where terminal device 320 needs to send data to terminal device 310, the first communication device could be terminal device 320 and the second communication device could be terminal device 310. In an SL scenario, the first communication device and the second communication device could be of the same type or different types. For example, both communication devices could be cell phones, or one could be a cell phone and the other a notebook computer.

[00119] The following describes the solutions in detail. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 39 / 107 33 / 90 provided in this application with reference to the corresponding flowcharts. In the method described below, the first communication device is a data transmitter and the second communication device is a data receiver. It may be understood that in the schematic flowcharts provided in this application, an example in which different communication devices are used as implementing bodies of the interaction illustration is primarily used to illustrate the method. However, the implementing bodies of the interaction illustration are not limited in this application. For example, the first communication device in the schematic flowchart may alternatively be a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the first communication device in the implementation of the method, or it may be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first communication device.The second communication device in the schematic flowchart may alternatively be a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the second communication device in the method implementation, or it may be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second communication device.

[00120] FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a package disposal method according to this application. Method 400 may include S410 to S430. Each step is described in detail below.

[00121] S410: A second communication device generates initial indication information.

[00122] For example, the first indication information may be a MAC CE or downlink control information (DCI). For example, the first indication information may be a MAC CE in a specific format (for example, a MAC CE whose Logical Channel Identifier (LCID) is 35) or a DCI in a specific format.

[00123] S420: The second communication device sends the Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 40 / 107 34 / 90 first indication information for a first communication device. Correspondingly, the first communication device receives the first indication information.

[00124] The first indication information indicates the first communication device to adjust the duration of a discard timer that is in a PDCP layer and that corresponds to the first data for the second duration, and the first data is a first data packet or first set of target importance data packets.

[00125] In one example, the first target-important data packet could be a target-important data packet that reached the PDCP layer when the first indication information takes effect (i.e., at a time when the first indication information begins to take effect). Alternatively, the first target-important data packet could be a target-important data packet that did not reach the PDCP layer when the first indication information takes effect. Alternatively, the first target-important data packet could be target-important data packets that both reached and did not reach the PDCP layer when the first indication information takes effect.

[00126] Similarly, the first set of target-important data packets may be a set of target-important data packets that reached the PDCP layer when the first indication information takes effect. Alternatively, the first set of target-important data packets may be a set of target-important data packets that did not reach the PDCP layer when the first indication information takes effect. Alternatively, the first set of target-important data packets may be a set of target-important data packets that both reached and did not reach the PDCP layer when the first indication information takes effect. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, p. 41 / 107 35 / 90

[00127] It should be understood that, in this example, the first indication information applies to all PDCP entities. To be more specific, the first data packet / first set of data packets are the target importance data packets / sets of data packets that reached and / or did not reach all PDCP entities when the first indication information came into effect.

[00128] In another example, the first indication information may still indicate at least one DRB. For example, the first indication information may include an identifier of at least one DRB. The first target data packet may be a target data packet that has reached a PDCP entity corresponding to at least one DRB when the first indication information takes effect. Alternatively, the first target data packet may be a target data packet that has not reached the PDCP entity corresponding to at least one DRB when the first indication information takes effect. Alternatively, the first target data packet may be target data packets that have both reached and not reached the PDCP entity corresponding to at least one DRB when the first indication information takes effect.

[00129] Similarly, the first set of target importance data packets may be a set of target importance data packets that reached the PDCP entity corresponding to at least one DRB when the first indication information comes into effect. Alternatively, the first set of target importance data packets may be a set of target importance data packets that did not reach the PDCP entity corresponding to at least one DRB when the first indication information comes into effect. Alternatively, the first set of target importance data packets may be sets of data packets of Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, p. 42 / 107 36 / 90 target importance that they reached and did not reach the corresponding PDCP entity for at least one DRB when the first indication information comes into effect.

[00130] It should be understood that, in this example, the first indication information refers to the PDCP entity corresponding to at least one DRB. Specifically, the first data packet / first set of data packets are the target importance data packets / sets of data packets that have reached and / or have not reached the PDCP entity corresponding to at least one DRB when the first indication information came into effect.

[00131] It should be noted that, for ease of description below, the PDCP entity corresponding to at least one DRB is called the specified PDCP entity.

[00132] The moment when the first indication information comes into effect may be the moment when the first indication information reaches the first communication device or the moment when the first communication device receives (or has received) or correctly decodes the first indication information. Alternatively, the first indication information may indicate the moment when the first indication information comes into effect. For example, the first indication information may indicate that the first indication information comes into effect 10 ms after the first communication device receives the first indication information.

[00133] S430: The first communication device adjusts, based on the first indication information, the discard timer duration that is in the PDCP layer and that corresponds to the first duration data for the second duration.

[00134] It can be understood that the first duration is the duration of the discard timer before adjustment, and the second duration is the duration of the discard timer after adjustment. When the Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 43 / 107 37 / 90 timer expires, the first communication device discards the first data corresponding to the discard timer.

[00135] According to the method provided in this application, the first communication device can flexibly perform packet discard processing in different scenarios by quickly and flexibly adjusting the duration of a discard timer for some data (e.g., the first data) based on an indication from the second communication device, to help increase the effective capacity of a network and improve user experience.

[00136] For example, in a possible implementation, the target importance is low importance (or low significance), that is, the first data is a first low-importance data packet or a first set of low-importance data packets. Furthermore, the second duration is shorter than the first duration. For example, when the first indication information is a MAC CE or DCI in a specific format, the target importance indicated by the first indication information is considered, by default, to be low importance.

[00137] According to this solution, the first communication device can preferentially discard the first low-importance data packet / first set of data packets, shortening the duration of a discard timer for the first low-importance data packet / first set of data packets based on the first indication information, to provide more transmission opportunities for high-importance data packets / sets of data packets. When network congestion occurs, this solution helps alleviate network resource pressure and ensure successful transmission of high-importance data. This helps increase the effective network capacity and improve user experience.

[00138] For example, in a scenario where the second device Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 44 / 107 Communication 38 / 90 determines that if network congestion occurs, the second communication device can generate the first indication information and send the first indication information to the first communication device.

[00139] For example, the second communication device can determine, using an algorithm of the second communication device, whether network congestion occurs. For example, the second communication device can determine, by comparing the amount of transmission resources available from the second communication device with the amount of data to be transmitted from all users on the network, whether network congestion occurs. When the amount of data to be transmitted is greater than the amount of transmission resources available from the second communication device in a given period, network congestion is considered to occur. It should be understood that the way the second communication device determines whether network congestion occurs is not specifically limited in this application.

[00140] For example, the importance of a data packet can be determined based on the PSI corresponding to the data packet and / or on a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the data packet. Similarly, the importance of a set of data packets is determined based on the PSI corresponding to the set of data packets and / or on a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the set of data packets. For example, the PSI corresponding to the data packet may be the PSI of a PDU set to which the data packet belongs. For example, the remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the data packet may be a remaining PDB of the data packet, and a remaining transmission delay budget of the PDU set may be a remaining PSDB of the PDU set.

[00141] For example, if a PSI value can only be Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 45 / 107 39 / 90 high and low: a PDU set with a low PSI is a low-importance PDU set, and all data packets belonging to the PDU set are low-importance data packets; and a PDU set with a high PSI is a high-importance PDU set, and all data packets belonging to the PDU set are high-importance data packets. For example, in an XR video stream, the PSI of a PDU set corresponding to an I / frame slice I is high, and the PSI of a set of PDUs corresponding to a P frame / P slice is low.

[00142] For example, if the PSI can have more than two values, a set of PDUs whose PSI reaches a specific threshold can be defined as a high-importance PDU set, and a set of PDUs whose PSI is less than the threshold can be defined as a low-importance PDU set. For example, a PSI value can be 1, 2, 3, or 4; a higher PSI value indicates greater importance of a PDU set corresponding to that PSI, and a defined threshold is 3. In this case, sets of PDUs whose PSI is 3 and 4 are high-importance PDU sets, and all data packets belonging to those sets are high-importance data packets; and sets of PDUs whose PSI is 1 and 2 are low-importance PDU sets, and all data packets belonging to those sets are low-importance data packets.For example, when the method is applied to an uplink scenario, the threshold can be pre-specified in a protocol, pre-configured by the second communication device, or carried in the first indication information. For example, when the method is applied to an SL communication scenario, the threshold can be pre-specified in a protocol, pre-configured by the network device or the second communication device, or carried in the first indication information. It should be understood that a lower PSI value indicates greater importance of a set. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 46 / 107 40 / 90 of PDU corresponding to PSI, which can be defined alternatively.

[00143] For example, when a remaining PDB / PSDB of a data packet / set of data packets is low (e.g., less than a specific threshold, where the threshold may be pre-specified in a protocol, pre-configured by the network device, or carried over in the first indication information), i.e., the data packet / set of data packets is about to expire, the data packet / set of data packets is considered to be of low importance, and a data packet / set of data packets with a high remaining PDB / PSDB is considered to be of high importance. In a congestion scenario, transmission resources are limited, and transmission of the data packet / set of data packets with the low remaining PDB / PSDB may not be completed within a transmission delay budget.In this case, the duration of a discard timer for the data packet / set of data packets is reduced, and transmission resources can be reserved for the data packet / set of data packets with the remaining high PDB / PSDB. This helps ensure transmission of the data packet / set of data packets with the remaining high PDB / PSDB.

[00144] For example, the importance of a data packet / set of data packets can be measured based on the PSI and the remaining PDB / PSDB. For example, a data packet / set of data packets with a low remaining PDB / PSDB (e.g., less than a specific threshold) and a low PSI (e.g., the PSI is low or less than a specific threshold) can be considered to be of low importance.

[00145] In another possible implementation, the target importance is high importance (or high significance), that is, the first data is a first high-importance data packet or a first set of high-importance data packets. Furthermore, the second duration is longer than the first duration. By Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 47 / 107 41 / 90 For example, when the first indication information is a MAC CE or DCI in a specific format, the target importance indicated by the first indication information is considered, by default, to be of high importance.

[00146] To learn how to define or measure the importance of the data packet and the set of data packets, see the previous descriptions. Details are not described again in this document.

[00147] According to this solution, when the network condition is good, the second communication device can instruct the first communication device to extend a timer for some high-importance data. In this way, the first communication device can provide more transmission opportunities for the high-importance data (e.g., an I-frame), to ensure the successful transmission of the high-importance data, so as to guarantee that other data (e.g., a P-frame) that depend on the data can be successfully decoded later.

[00148] In another possible implementation, the first indication information may include information about the target importance. According to this solution, the first communication device adjusts, based on the first indication information, a discard timer for a data packet / set of data packets whose importance is the target importance, to implement flexible discarding of packets from the data packet / set of data packets. For example, if the importance indicated by the target importance information is low, low-importance data may be preferentially discarded, to reserve more transmission opportunities for a high-importance data packet. When network congestion occurs, this solution helps alleviate network resource pressure and ensure successful transmission of high-importance data. This helps increase the Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 48 / 107 42 / 90 effective network capacity and improve user experience.

[00149] For example, target importance information may include one or more of the following: at least one PSI piece (e.g., PSI #1), at least one remaining transmission delay budget (e.g., remaining transmission delay budget #1), or at least one remaining transmission delay budget range (e.g., remaining transmission delay budget range #1, where remaining transmission delay budget range #1 = [a, b]). For example, a first data packet / first set of data packets whose PSI is PSI #1 is the first data. For example, the target importance information is PSI = 3 (i.e., PSI #1 is 3). A first data packet / set of data packets that has reached and / or has not reached the PDCP layer (all PDCP entities or specified PDCP entities) when the first indication information takes effect is the first data.For another example, a first data packet / first set of data packets whose remaining transmission delay budget is less than remaining transmission delay budget #1 is the first data packet. For another example, a first data packet / first set of data packets whose remaining transmission delay budget is in the range [a, b] are the first data packets.

[00150] It should be noted that, for different PDCP entities, the importance of the data packets / sets of data packets whose discard timers need to be adjusted may be the same or different. In other words, the target importance corresponding to (or associated with) different PDCP entities may be the same or different. It is assumed that the specified PDCP entities are PDCP entity #1 and PDCP entity #2. For example, the data packets / sets of data packets whose discard timers need to be adjusted Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, p. 49 / 107 43 / 90 are data packets / sets of data packets of low importance that have met and / or have not met PDCP entity #1 and PDCP entity #2 when the first indication information came into effect. In other words, PDCP entity #1 and PDCP entity #2 correspond to the same target importance, i.e., low importance. As another example, the data packets / sets of data packets whose disposal timers need to be adjusted are: data packets / sets of data packets whose PSI is less than 2 and that have met and / or have not met PDCP entity #1 when the first indication information came into effect, and data packets / sets of data packets whose PSI is less than 3 and that have met and / or have not met PDCP entity #2 when the first indication information came into effect. In other words, PDCP entity #1 and PDCP entity #2 correspond to different target importances.

[00151] Next, we describe how to determine the duration of seconds using an example.

[00152] Example 1: The first indication information indicates that the second duration is a default value, and the default value is 0. For example, when the first indication information is a MAC CE in a specific format or DCI in a specific format, the second duration is 0 by default.

[00153] For example, when network congestion occurs, the second communication device expects the first communication device to discard a low-importance data packet / set of data packets. In this case, the second communication device sends the first indication information to the first communication device, to indicate that the first communication device should set the duration of a discard timer for the low-importance data packet / set of data packets to 0. After receiving the first indication information, the first communication device sets it to 0. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 50 / 107 44 / 90 discard timers correspond to all low-importance data packets / sets of data packets cached in a related PDCP entity, so that low-importance data packets / sets of data packets are discarded as the discard timers for low-importance data packets / sets of data packets expire immediately. For a low-importance data packet / set of data packets that subsequently reaches the related PDCP entity, the first communication device initiates a discard timer with a duration of 0. In other words, the data packet / set of data packets is discarded immediately upon reaching the PDCP entity. According to the method, network congestion can be effectively alleviated and the transmission of a high-importance data packet / set of data packets can be guaranteed.

[00154] Example 2: The first indication information includes the second duration. For example, the second duration could be 0, 10 ms, 20 ms, or similar.

[00155] For example, when network congestion occurs, the second communication device does not expect the first to directly discard all low-importance data packets / sets of data packets, but instead tells the first communication device to adjust the discard timer durations for low-importance data packets / sets of data packets to a value shorter than the originally configured value. In this way, a portion of transmission opportunities is still reserved for low-importance data packets / sets of data packets. However, because the discard timers are shorter compared to a high-importance data packet / set of data packets, the low-importance data packet / set of data packets is more likely to be discarded. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 51 / 107 45 / 90 was discarded due to a timeout. Therefore, more transmission opportunities are reserved for the high-importance data packet / set of data packets.

[00156] Example 3: The first indication information may indicate the second duration in a plurality of pre-configured duration pieces.

[00157] In other words, a plurality of duration parts can be pre-configured. For example, in an uplink scenario, the second communication device can configure a plurality of duration parts using a PDCP configuration information element. Alternatively, in an SL scenario, the network device or the second communication device can configure (e.g., using an RRC message) a plurality of duration parts. For example, the plurality of duration parts is {0 ms, 5 ms, 10 ms, 15 ms}. Then, the second communication device sends the first indication information to the first communication device. The first indication information can indicate one of the pre-configured plurality of duration parts. For example, a 2-bit field is used to indicate four pre-configured duration parts; for example, 01 corresponds to 5 ms in the four duration parts.If the initial indication information still indicates at least one DRB, a plurality of duration parts can be pre-configured for at least one DRB.

[00158] Example 4: The second duration is associated with the target importance, and the second communication device can determine the second duration based on the target importance.

[00159] In one way, a correspondence between the importance of a data packet / set of data packets and the duration of a discard timer can be specified in a protocol or pre-configured by the network device (the second communication device in the uplink scenario). Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 52 / 107 46 / 90 After discovering the target importance, the second communication device can determine the second duration based on the correspondence.

[00160] For example, Table 1 shows the correspondence between the importance of the data packet / set of data packets and the discard timer duration. It is assumed that the first indication information indicates that the target importance is low. In this case, it can be determined that the second duration is 10 ms. Table 1 Importance of a data packet / set of data packets: High Low Duration of a discard timer: 2 0 ms 10 ms

[00161] For example, Table 2 shows the correspondence between the importance of the data packet / set of data packets and the discard timer duration. A higher PSI value indicates greater importance of the data packet / set of data packets. It is assumed that the first indication information includes information about the target importance, and that the information about the target importance is PSI = 1. In this case, it can be determined that the second duration is 10 ms. Table 2 Importance of a data packet / set of data packets PSI=1 PSI=2 PSI=3 PSI=4 Duration of a discard timer 10 ms 15 ms 20 ms 25 ms

[00162] It should be noted that, for different PDCP entities, the corresponding second duration may be the same or different. It is assumed that the specified PDCP entities are PDCP entity no. 1 and PDCP entity no. 2. For example, second indication information may indicate that the second duration corresponding to PDCP entity no. 1 is 10 ms and the second duration corresponding to PDCP entity no. 2 is 15 ms. For Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, p. 53 / 107 47 / 90 to be specific, the first indication information indicates that the first communication device must set a discard timer for a first data packet / first set of target data packets corresponding to PDCP entity #1 at 10 ms, and indicates that the first communication device must set a discard timer for a first data packet / first set of target data packets corresponding to PDCP entity #2 at 15 ms.

[00163] For example, S430 can be implemented specifically in the following ways. Method 1

[00164] First data is data that has arrived at the PDCP entity. More specifically, first data is a target-important data packet / set of data packets that has arrived at some or all PDCP entities (i.e., the specified PDCP entities or all PDCP entities) when the first indication information takes effect. In this scenario, the first communication device can reset a discard timer based on the first indication information and the second duration. Alternatively, the first communication device can continue running the discard timer or determine that the discard timer expires based on the first indication information and the second duration.

[00165] In other words, for the target data packet / set of data packets that has reached some or all of the PDCP entities when the first indication information comes into effect, the first communication device adjusts, when the first indication information comes into effect, the discard timer corresponding to the data packet / set of data packets.

[00166] In one example, when the first indication information comes into effect, the first communication device Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 54 / 107 48 / 90 can restart, based on the second duration, a disposal timer running for the target important data packet / set of data packets in part or all PDCP entities.

[00167] For example, FIG. 5 is a diagram of adjusting the duration of a running discard timer. See FIG. 5. Data packet #1 is a low-importance data packet, data packet #2 is a high-importance data packet, and the discard timer duration before adjustment is the first duration t1. The first indication information indicates the adjustment of the duration of a running discard timer for the low-importance data packet to the second duration t2. The first communication device receives the first indication information at time T0, and the first indication information takes effect at time T0. The first communication device resets the discard timer at time T0 based on the second duration t2. When the discard timer expires, i.e., at time T1, the first communication device discards data packet #1.

[00168] In another example, when the first indication information comes into effect, the first communication device can determine if the running duration of the discard timer running for the target data packet / set of data packets in part or in all PDCP entities is greater than the second duration. If the running duration of a discard timer is greater than or equal to the second duration, the discard timer is considered to expire, and the first communication device can discard a data packet / set of data packets corresponding to the discard timer. Otherwise, the first communication device can continue running the discard timer based on the second duration. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, p. 55 / 107 49 / 90

[00169] For example, FIG. 6 is a diagram of adjusting the duration of a running discard timer. See FIG. 6. Data packet #1 and data packet #2 are low-importance data packets, data packet #3 is a high-importance data packet, and the duration of a discard timer before adjustment is the first duration t1. The first indication information indicates the adjustment of the duration of a running discard timer for the low-importance data packets to the second duration t2. The first communication device receives the first indication information at time T0, and the first indication information takes effect at time T0.For a discard timer corresponding to data packet #1, the first communication device determines, based on the fact that the initial time of the discard timer is T2 and the duration is the second time t2, that the discard timer expires at time T0 and discards data packet #1. For a discard timer corresponding to data packet #2, the first communication device determines, based on the fact that the initial time of the discard timer is T3 and the duration of the second time is t2, that the discard timer does not expire at time T0 and continues to run. Then, at time T4, that is, when the discard timer expires, data packet #2 is discarded.

[00170] Optionally, for second data that has not reached the PDCP entity, the first communication device starts the discard timer based on the first duration when the second data reaches the PDCP entity, where the second data is a second data packet or a second set of target importance data packets.

[00171] In other words, for the target data packet / set of data packets of importance that reached some or all of the PDCP entities when the first information of Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 56 / 107 50 / 90 indication takes effect, the first communication device adjusts the discard timer for the data packet / set of data packets to the second duration. For a target importance data packet / set of data packets that reaches some or all PDCP entities after the first indication information takes effect, the first communication device does not adjust a discard timer for the data packet / set of data packets, i.e., it starts and maintains the discard timer for the data packet / set of data packets based on the first duration. Method 2

[00172] The first data is data that has not yet reached the PDCP entity. In this scenario, the first communication device can start and maintain a discard timer based on the first indication information and the second duration when the first data reaches the PDCP entity.

[00173] In other words, for the target important data packet / set of data packets that reaches some or all of the PDCP entities after the first indication information comes into effect, the first communication device may start and maintain the discard timer for the data packet / set of data packets based on the second duration.

[00174] For example, FIG. 7 is a diagram of the duration adjustment of a discard timer that is not running. See FIG. 7. Data packet #1 and data packet #3 are low-importance data packets, data packet #2 is a high-importance data packet, and the duration of a discard timer before adjustment is the first duration t1. The first indication information indicates the adjustment of the duration of a discard timer that is not running for the low-importance data packets to the second duration t2. The first communication device receives the first indication information at time T0. Data packet #1 arrives at Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 57 / 107 51 / 90 PDCP entity at time T1, the first communication device starts a discard timer corresponding to data packet #1 at time T1, and the discard timer duration is the second duration t2. Data packet #2 arrives at the PDCP entity at time T2, and the first communication device starts a discard timer corresponding to data packet #2 at time T2. Since data packet #2 is the high-importance data packet, the discard timer duration is the first duration t1. Data packet #3 arrives at the PDCP entity at time T3, the first communication device starts a discard timer corresponding to data packet #3 at time T3, and the discard timer duration is the second duration t2.

[00175] Optionally, for second data that has reached the PDCP entity, the first communication device starts the discard timer based on the first duration, where the second data is a second data packet or a second set of target importance data packets.

[00176] In other words, for the target important data packet / set of data packets that has reached some or all of the PDCP entities when the first indication information comes into effect, the first communication device does not adjust the discard timer for the data packet / set of data packets, i.e., it maintains the discard timer for the data packet / set of data packets based on the first duration. For the target important data packet / set of data packets that has reached some or all of the PDCP entities after the first indication information comes into effect, the first communication device adjusts the discard timer for the data packet / set of data packets to the second duration. Method 3

[00177] The first data includes data that they achieved and the Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 58 / 107 52 / 90 that did not reach the PDCP entity. In other words, the first data includes the target data package / set of target data packages that reached some or all of the PDCP entities when the first indication information comes into effect and the target data package / set of target data packages that reached some or all of the PDCP entities after the first indication information comes into effect.

[00178] For the target important data packet / set of data packets that has reached some or all PDCP entities when the first indication information comes into effect, the first communication device can adjust the discard timer in Method 1. For the target important data packet / set of data packets that reaches some or all PDCP entities after the first indication information comes into effect, the first communication device can adjust the discard timer in Method 2.

[00179] For example, when network congestion occurs, the second communication device expects the first communication device to discard a low-importance data packet / set of data packets. In this case, the second communication device sends the first indication information to the first communication device, to indicate that the first communication device should set the duration of a discard timer for the low-importance data packet / set of data packets to 0.After receiving the first indication information, the first communication device sets the discard timers corresponding to all low-importance data packets / sets of data packets cached in a related PDCP entity to 0, so that the low-importance data packets / sets of data packets are discarded, as the discard timers for low-importance data packets / sets of data packets expire immediately. For a packet of... Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 59 / 107 53 / 90 data / set of low-importance data packets that subsequently reaches the related PDCP entity, the first communication device starts a discard timer with a duration of 0, meaning the data packet / set of data packets is discarded immediately after reaching the PDCP entity.

[00180] In a possible implementation, method 400 may also include the following steps.

[00181] S440: The second communication device sends the second indication message to the first communication device. Correspondingly, the first communication device receives the second indication message. The second indication message instructs the first communication device to adjust the discard timer duration for the first data from the second duration to the first duration.

[00182] S450: The first communication device adjusts the discard timer duration for the first data from the second duration to the first duration.

[00183] For example, based on Method 2, for the target importance data packet / set of data packets that reaches some or all PDCP entities after the first indication information comes into effect, the first communication device starts and maintains the discard timer for the data packet / set of data packets based on the second duration. After a period of time, the second communication device sends the second indication information to the first communication device. For a target importance data packet / set of data packets that reaches some or all PDCP entities after the second indication information comes into effect, the first communication device starts and maintains a discard timer for the data packet / set of data packets based on the first duration.

[00184] For example, the first piece of information is Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 60 / 107 54 / 90 is sent by the second communication device when network congestion occurs. After the network congestion is relieved, the second communication device can send the second indication information to the first communication device. In this way, the first communication device adjusts the timer duration for discarding the first data to the first duration based on the second indication information, so that the first data has a long opportunity to transmit.

[00185] For example, FIG. 8 is a diagram of the adjustment of the duration of a discard timer. Based on FIG. 7, data packet no. 4 is added to FIG. 8. Specific content of discard timers related to data packets no. 1, no. 2 and no. 3 in FIG. 8 is the same as in FIG. 7. For details, see the previous descriptions of FIG. 7. With reference to FIG. 8. The second communication device receives the second indication information at time T4, and the low-importance data packet no. 4 arrives at the first communication device at time T5. The first communication device starts and maintains a discard timer for data packet no. 4 at time T5 based on the second indication information and the first duration t1.

[00186] In one possible implementation, when the first indication information comes into effect, the first communication device may start a timer (e.g., denoted as the first timer). The discard timer duration for the first data is the second duration during the execution of the first timer, and the first communication device may adjust the discard timer duration for the first data from the second duration to the first duration when the first timer expires.

[00187] For example, based on Method 2, when the first indication information comes into effect, the first communication device can start the first timer. For a packet Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, page 61 / 107 For a target-important data packet / set of data packets that reaches some or all PDCP entities during the execution of the first timer, the first communication device initiates and maintains a discard timer for the data packet / set of data packets based on the second duration. For a target-important data packet / set of data packets that reaches some or all PDCP entities after the first timer expires, the first communication device initiates and maintains a discard timer for the data packet / set of data packets based on the first duration.

[00188] For example, the duration of the first timer can be predefined, for example, specified in the 3GPP protocol, or it can be preconfigured by the network device for the first communication device, for example, configured using a PDCP-config RRC information element, or it can be indicated in a first indication message.

[00189] For example, FIG. 9 is a diagram of the duration adjustment of a discard timer that is not running. Based on FIG. 7, data packet #4 is added to FIG. 9. Specific content of discard timers related to data packets #1, #2 and #3 in FIG. 9 is the same as in FIG. 7. For details, see the previous descriptions of FIG. 7. With reference to FIG. 9. At time T0, the first communication device starts a first timer, and the first timer expires at time T4. Low-importance data packet #4 arrives at the first communication device at time T5. The first communication device starts and maintains a discard timer for data packet #4 at time T5 based on the second indication information and the first duration t1.

[00190] In a possible implementation, the method may additionally include: The first communication device sends a Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 62 / 107 56 / 90 buffer status report for the second communication device when the first data is discarded, where the buffer status report is used to report the amount of current data to be transmitted.

[00191] After learning the amount of data currently being transmitted by the first communication device based on the buffer status report, the second communication device can configure transmission resources for the first communication device to match the amount of data currently being transmitted. This facilitates the successful transmission of a data packet from the first communication device and can prevent the waste of network resources.

[00192] In a possible implementation, the method may additionally include: The first communication device sends, when the first data is discarded, specific packet discard information, for example, a SN of the first data, to the second communication device.

[00193] After discovering, based on packet discard information, that the first data has been discarded, the second communication device can adjust a receive window. For example, the PDCP entity can set, for a later SN than the SN of the first data, an SN (an RX_DELIV variable in the 3GPP 38.323 protocol) of a subsequent data packet to be delivered to a higher layer. In this way, the PDCP entity of the second communication device does not continue waiting for the first data, but directly processes the data whose SN is later than the SN of the first data, thus preventing the received data from not being delivered to an application layer on time due to the long wait for the discarded data.

[00194] In a scenario where the second duration is 0 and the first data is data that did not reach the PDCP entity, as an alternative to the S430, the first device of Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 63 / 107 57 / 90 communication discards the initial data in an SDAP layer based on the first indication information.

[00195] In a scenario where the second duration is 0 and the first data includes data that reached the PDCP entity and data that did not reach the PDCP entity, in an alternative way to the S430, the first communication device adjusts, based on the first indication information, a discard timer for the data that reached the PDCP entity to 0 and discards the data that did not reach the PDCP entity in an SDAP layer.

[00196] Optionally, this method can be combined with the previous solution related to the second indication information or the first timer.

[00197] For example, the first indication message is sent by the second communication device when network congestion occurs. After the network congestion is relieved, the second communication device can send the second indication message to the first communication device, to indicate to the first communication device to adjust the data packet / low-importance data packet set discard timer back to the first duration.

[00198] A person skilled in the art can understand, based on the above solution, that in a downlink communication scenario, the network device can also adjust the duration of a discard timer located in the PDCP layer that corresponds to some data. For example, when network congestion occurs, the network device can adjust the discard timers for low-importance data packets that have reached and / or failed to reach all or certain PDCP entities.

[00199] In conclusion, according to the above package disposal method provided in this application, package disposal processing can be carried out flexibly in Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 64 / 107 58 / 90 different scenarios, quickly and flexibly adjusting the duration of a discard timer for some data (e.g., the first data) in order to help increase the effective network capacity and improve user experience. For example, in a scenario where network congestion occurs, the duration of a discard timer for a low-importance data packet / set of data packets is adjusted so that the low-importance data packet / set of data packets can be discarded directly or preferentially in order to relieve network resource pressure and ensure the successful transmission of a high-importance data packet / set of data packets.

[00200] FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart of a package disposal method according to this application. Method 500 may include S510 to S530. Each step is described in detail below.

[00201] S510: A second communication device generates a third indication information.

[00202] For example, the third piece of information could be a MAC CE or DCI. For example, the third piece of information could be a MAC CE in a specific format or a DCI in a specific format.

[00203] For example, the second communication device may perform S510 when it determines that network congestion is occurring. To learn how to determine if there is network congestion, see the related descriptions above. Details are not described again in this document.

[00204] S520: The second communication device sends the third indication information to a first communication device. Correspondingly, the first communication device receives the third indication information.

[00205] In an initial implementation, the third indication information indicates to the first communication device to Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 65 / 107 59 / 90 Set a discard timer to 0 for a data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has reached at least one PDCP entity, and / or discard a data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has not reached at least one PDCP entity.

[00206] In a second implementation, the third indication information tells the first communication device to discard data packets or sets of data packets of primary importance that have reached and / or have not reached at least one PDCP entity.

[00207] In one example, at least one PDCP entity may be all PDCP entities. In another example, at least one PDCP entity may be one or more specified PDCP entities. In this scenario, the third piece of information may also include information about at least one PDCP entity, for example, including an identifier of a DRB corresponding to at least one PDCP entity.

[00208] To learn how to determine or measure the importance of a data packet / set of data packets, see the method for determining or measuring the importance of a data packet / set of data packets in method 400. Details are not described again in this document.

[00209] In one example, the first importance may be low. For example, the PSI corresponding to the data packet / set of data packets is low or less than a specific threshold.

[00210] In another example, the third indication information may include information about the first importance, for example, including PSI corresponding to the first importance.

[00211] It should be understood that the first indication information stating that the second duration is 0 in method 400 can be considered as a possible form of the third indication information.

[00212] S530: The first communication device performs Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 66 / 107 60 / 90 processing related based on third-party indication information.

[00213] Specifically, corresponding to the first implementation described in S520, the first communication device can set, to 0 based on the third indication information, a discard timer for the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has reached at least one PDCP entity, and / or discard the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has not reached at least one PDCP entity.

[00214] For example, after receiving the third indication, the first communication device can indicate to a protocol layer (e.g., an SDAP layer) above a PDCP layer to discard the first data, i.e., discard data packets / sets of data packets of primary importance that must be delivered to at least one PDCP entity, instead of transferring these data packets / sets of data packets to the PDCP layer. In this way, the processing time of the first communication device can be further reduced.

[00215] In another example, after receiving the third indication information, the first communication device can set the discard timer to 0 for the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has reached at least one PDCP entity.

[00216] In another example, after receiving the third indication information, the first communication device can set the discard timer to 0 for the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has reached at least one PDCP entity, and discard, at the SDAP layer, the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has not reached at least one PDCP entity. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 67 / 107 61 / 90

[00217] Corresponding to the second implementation described in S520, after receiving the third indication information, the first communication device can discard the data packets or sets of data packets of primary importance that have reached and / or have not reached at least one PDCP entity.

[00218] For example, in one scenario, in a scenario where the third indication indicates the discarding of the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has reached at least one PDCP entity, after receiving the third indication, the first communication device may directly discard the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that has reached at least one PDCP entity, regardless of whether the discard timer expires.

[00219] In another example, in a scenario where the third indication indicates the discarding of the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that did not reach at least one PDCP entity, after the first communication device receives the third indication, the PDCP entity does not initiate a discard timer upon receiving a data packet or set of data packets of primary importance that reaches at least one PDCP entity after the third indication takes effect and, optionally, does not perform processing such as SN allocation on the data packet or set of data packets, but directly discards the data packet or set of data packets. Alternatively, the discard operation on the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance of at least one PDCP entity can be performed at the SDAP layer.

[00220] In another example, in a scenario where the third indication information indicates the discarding of data packets or sets of data packets of primary importance that do not Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 68 / 107 62 / 90 reached and reached at least one PDCP entity, after receiving the third indication information, the first communication device directly discards the data packet or set of data packets of first importance that reached at least one PDCP entity, regardless of whether the discard timer expires. The PDCP entity does not initiate a discard timer upon receiving a data packet or set of data packets of first importance that reaches at least one PDCP entity after the third indication information takes effect and, optionally, does not perform processing such as SN allocation on the data packet or set of data packets, but directly discards the data packet or set of data packets. Alternatively, the discard operation on the data packet or set of data packets of first importance from at least one PDCP entity can be performed at the SDAP layer.

[00221] In this way, the first communication device directly discards the data packet or set of data packets of primary importance from at least one PDCP entity and does not need to initiate and maintain a discard timer for the data packet or set of data packets. This can further reduce processing complexity for the first communication device.

[00222] The definition of when the third indication information takes effect is similar to the definition of when the first indication information takes effect in method 400. For more details, see the previous description of when the first indication information takes effect. Details are not described again in this document.

[00223] In conclusion, according to the packet discarding method provided in this application, the duration of a discard timer for some data (e.g., low-importance data) is set to 0 or some data is discarded. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 69 / 107 63 / 90 directly. Therefore, when network congestion occurs, the pressure on network resources can be relieved and the successful transmission of other data (e.g., high-importance data) can be ensured.

[00224] In a possible implementation, method 500 can also be combined with a similar solution related to the second indication information or the first timer in method 400.

[00225] For example, after network congestion relief, the second communication device may send a fourth indication to the first communication device, to indicate to at least one PDCP entity of the first communication device to stop discarding the data packet / set of data packets of primary importance. In another example, when the third indication takes effect, a timer (e.g., called the second timer) may also be started. When the second timer expires, the first communication device stops discarding the data packet / set of data packets of primary importance.

[00226] In a possible implementation, when discarding a related data packet / set of data packets, the first communication device can still report an amount of current data to be transmitted to the second communication device. The second communication device can configure, for the first communication device, based on the amount of current data to be transmitted from the first communication device, transmission resources that correspond to the amount of current data to be transmitted. This facilitates the successful transmission of a data packet from the first communication device.

[00227] In a possible implementation, the method may additionally include: The first communication device may send, Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 70 / 107 64 / 90 when the related data packet / set of data packets is discarded, specific packet discard information, for example, an SN of the discarded data packet / set of data packets, is sent to the second communication device. After discovering, based on the packet discard information, that the related data packet / set of data packets has been discarded, the second communication device can adjust a receive window. For example, the PDCP entity can define, for an SN subsequent to the SN of the discarded data packet / set of data packets, an SN (an RX_DELIV variable in the 3GPP protocol 38.323) of a subsequent data packet / set of data packets to be delivered to a higher layer.In this way, the PDCP entity of the second communication device does not continue waiting for the discarded data packet / set of data packets, but directly processes the data whose SN is later than the SN of the discarded data packet / set of data packets, to avoid a case where the received data cannot be delivered to an application layer on time due to the long wait for the discarded data.

[00228] A person skilled in the art can understand, based on the previous solution, that in a downlink communication scenario, a network device can also adjust the duration of a discard timer that is in the PDCP layer and that corresponds to some data, or directly discard some data.

[00229] This application also provides a communication method. In the method, a sequence of data packet transmission is flexibly adjusted to match different network conditions. This helps to increase the effective capacity of a network and improve the user experience. The method is described in detail below.

[00230] FIG. 11 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to this request; Method 600 can Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 71 / 107 65 / 90 includes S610 and S620. Each step is described below.

[00231] S610: A first communication device generates at least one TB in descending order of importance of the target data packets.

[00232] The target data packet may be a data packet associated with a specific DRB, an LCH, or a PDCP, or the target data packet may be data packets associated with all of them. DRBs, LCHs or PDCPs.

[00233] For example, S610 can be implemented in the following various ways. Method 1

[00234] When target data packets arrive at a PDCP entity, it sequentially allocates sequence numbers (SNs) in descending order of importance of the target data packets. In other words, the PDCP entity first allocates an SN to a high-importance data packet and then allocates an SN to a low-importance data packet. In this way, the SN of the high-importance data packet is ranked before the SN of the low-importance data packet. Therefore, the high-importance data packet is first processed and delivered to a lower layer and then sits at the forefront when mapped to a TB.

[00235] For example, FIG. 12 is a diagram of the allocation of an SN by a PDCP entity to a data packet. See the FIG. 12. Data packet #1 is a high-importance data packet, data packet #2 and data packet #3 are low-importance data packets, and data packet #2, data packet #3, and data packet #1 successively reach a PDCP entity. The PDCP entity first allocates a SN (i.e., SN #1) to data packet #1, then allocates a SN (i.e., SN #2) to data packet #2, and finally allocates a SN (i.e., SN #3) to data packet #3. The PDCP entity delivers data packets to an entity of Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 72 / 107 66 / 90 RLC is generated based on a sequence of data packet #1, data packet #2, and data packet #3. The RLC entity then delivers the data packets to a MAC entity based on the sequence of data packet #1, data packet #2, and data packet #3. The MAC entity assembles a MAC PDU based on the sequence of data packet #1, data packet #2, and data packet #3, and then delivers the MAC PDU to a PHY layer. Method 2

[00236] The target data packets are still processed in a reach sequence in a PDCP entity, and the PDCP entity sequentially delivers the target data packets to an RLC entity in descending order of data packet importance. In other words, the PDCP entity first delivers a high-importance data packet to the RLC entity and then delivers a low-importance data packet to the RLC entity. In this way, the RLC entity first receives and processes the high-importance data packet, so that the high-importance data packet is in a front position when being mapped to a TB.

[00237] For example, FIG. 13 is a diagram of the delivery of a data packet by a PDCP entity to an RLC entity. See FIG. 13. Data packet #1 is a high-importance data packet, data packet #2 and data packet #3 are low-importance data packets, and data packet #2, data packet #3, and data packet #1 successively reach a PDCP entity. The PDCP entity sequentially allocates SNs, namely SN #1, SN #2, and SN #3, to data packet #2, data packet #3, and data packet #1. The PDCP entity sequentially delivers data packet #1, data packet #2, and data packet #3 to an RLC entity in descending order of data packet importance. Next, the RLC entity delivers the packages of Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 73 / 107 67 / 90 data is sent to a MAC entity based on data packet sequence #1, data packet #2, and data packet #3. The MAC entity assembles a MAC PDU based on data packet sequence #1, data packet #2, and data packet #3, and then delivers the MAC PDU to a PHY layer.

[00238] Method 3

[00239] The target data packets are still processed in a reach sequence in a PDCP entity and an RLC entity, and the RLC entity sequentially delivers the target data packets to a MAC entity in descending order of data packet importance. In other words, the RLC entity first delivers a high-importance data packet to the MAC entity and then delivers a low-importance data packet to the MAC entity. In this way, the high-importance data packet can be mapped to a TB first.

[00240] For example, FIG. 14 is a diagram of the delivery of a data packet by an RLC entity to a MAC entity. See FIG. 14. Data packet #1 is a high-importance data packet, data packet #2 and data packet #3 are low-importance data packets, and data packet #2, data packet #3, and data packet #1 successively reach a PDCP entity. The PDCP entity sequentially allocates SNs, namely SN #1, SN #2, and SN #3, to data packet #2, data packet #3, and data packet #1. The PDCP entity sequentially delivers data packet #2, data packet #3, and data packet #1 to an RLC entity in ascending order of SNs. Next, the RLC entity sequentially delivers data packets #1, #2, and #3 to a MAC entity in descending order of data packet importance.The MAC entity assembles a MAC PDU based on a sequence of data packet #1, data packet #2, and data packet #3, and then delivers the MAC PDU to a... Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 74 / 107 68 / 90 PHY layer.

[00241] It should be understood that FIG. 12 to FIG. 12 to 14 only briefly describe a sequence of delivery / assembly of data packets by a related protocol layer or a sequence of allocation of SNs to data packets by a related protocol layer. For other processing that needs to be performed on the data packet by each layer, refer to conventional technology. Details are not described in this application.

[00242] S620: The first communication device sends at least one TB to the second communication device. Correspondingly, the second communication device receives at least one TB.

[00243] According to the method provided in this application, the first communication device preferentially maps the high-importance data packet to ensure that the transmission of the high-importance data packet is prioritized when resources are limited. The low-importance data packet is not directly discarded but is transmitted over the remaining resources in the most efficient way possible. The data packet is only discarded after the delay budget is exhausted. In this way, transmission of the high-importance data packet is guaranteed, and a portion of the low-importance data packets is reserved in the most efficient way possible, so that the user experience is better.

[00244] Method 600 can be applied to an uplink communication scenario, a downlink communication scenario, and an SL communication scenario. When the method is applied to the uplink communication scenario or the SL communication scenario, method 600 can also include the following optional modes.

[00245] In one example, the second communication device Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 75 / 107 69 / 90 can indicate to the first communication device a DRB, LCH, or PDCP entity corresponding to the target data packet. For example, the second communication device can indicate, using an RRC message, a CE or DCI MAC address, the DRB, LCH, or PDCP entity corresponding to the target data packet.

[00246] In one example, the second communication device may send the first indication information to the first communication device, where the first indication information may indicate that the first communication device should generate at least one TB in descending order of importance of the target data packets. For example, the first indication information may be a CE or DCI MAC address.

[00247] For example, when network congestion occurs, the second communication device can send the first indication information to the first communication device.

[00248] Optionally, the second communication device may send a second indication to the first communication device after a period of time, where the second indication may instruct the first communication device to generate the TB based on a sequence in which the target data packets reach the protocol layers.

[00249] For example, after network congestion is relieved or disappears, the second communication device can send the second indication information to the first communication device.

[00250] Optionally, upon receiving the first indication information, the first communication device may start a timer (for example, called the first timer). The first communication device generates the TB in descending order of importance of the target data packets during the execution of the first timer and, after the first timer ends, generates the TB based on the sequence in which the target data packets reach the protocol layers. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 76 / 107 70 / 90

[00251] The foregoing describes the method embodiments provided in this application, and the following describes apparatus embodiments provided in this application. It should be understood that the descriptions of the apparatus embodiments correspond to the descriptions of the method embodiments. Therefore, for content not described in detail, please refer to the previous method embodiments. For the sake of brevity, details are not described again in this document.

[00252] FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 15, the communication device 2000 may include a communication unit 2100 and a processing unit 2200. The communication unit 2100 may implement a corresponding communication function. This communication may be internal communication of the communication device 2000, or it may be communication between the communication device 2000 and another device. The processing unit 2200 may implement a corresponding processing function. The communication unit 2100 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a transceiver unit. Optionally, the communication device 2000 may additionally include a storage unit. The storage unit may be configured to store instructions and / or data.The 2200 processing unit can read instructions and / or data from the storage unit, enabling the device to implement the prior method modes.

[00253] In a possible design, communication device 2000 could be the first communication device in method 400, or it could be a module or chip used in the first communication device. Communication device 2000 could be configured to perform steps or procedures performed by the first communication device in previous modes.

[00254] Specifically, communication unit 2100 is Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 77 / 107 71 / 90 is configured to receive first indication information from a second communication device, where the first indication information indicates the adjustment of the discard timer duration that is in a PDCP packet data convergence protocol layer and that corresponds to the first data for the second duration, and the first data is a first data packet or first set of target importance data packets; and processing unit 2200 is configured to adjust the discard timer duration from the first duration to the second duration based on the first indication information.

[00255] Optionally, the first data is a first low-importance data packet or a first set of low-importance data packets, and the first duration is longer than the second duration.

[00256] Optionally, the importance of any data packet is determined based on the importance defined in the PSI of the protocol data unit (PDU) corresponding to the data packet and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the data packet; and / or the importance of any set of data packets is determined based on the PSI corresponding to the set of data packets and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the set of data packets.

[00257] Optionally, the first indication information indicates that the second duration is a default value of 0; or the first indication information includes the second duration; or the first indication information indicates the second duration in a plurality of pre-configured duration parts; or the first indication information includes information about the target importance and the second duration; or the first indication information includes information about the target importance, and the second duration is associated with the target importance. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 78 / 107 72 / 90

[00258] Optionally, the 2200 processing unit is specifically configured to adjust the discard timer duration from the first duration to the second duration based on the target importance PSI and a PSI threshold.

[00259] Optionally, the first indication information also indicates a DRB data radio carrier associated with the first data.

[00260] Optionally, the first data is data that has reached a PDCP entity, and processing unit 2200 is specifically configured to: restart the discard timer based on the first indication information and the second duration; or continue to run the discard timer based on the first indication information and the second duration, or determine, based on the first indication information and the second duration, that the discard timer expires.

[00261] Optionally, the first data is data that has not reached the PDCP entity, and processing unit 2200 is specifically configured to start the discard timer based on the first indication information and the second duration when the first data reaches the PDCP entity.

[00262] Optionally, processing unit 2200 is further configured to: for second data that has not reached the PDCP entity, start the discard timer based on the first duration when the second data reaches the PDCP entity, where the second data is a second data packet or a second set of target importance data packets.

[00263] Optionally, communication unit 2100 is further configured to receive second indication information from the second communication device, where the second indication information indicates the adjustment of the duration of Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 79 / 107 73 / 90 discard timer from the second duration to the first duration; and processing unit 2200 is additionally configured to adjust the discard timer duration from the second duration to the first duration.

[00264] Optionally, the 2200 processing unit is further configured to: start a first timer when the first indication information is received, where the discard timer duration is the second duration during the execution of the first timer; and adjust the discard timer duration from the second duration to the first duration when the first timer expires.

[00265] Optionally, communication unit 2100 is further configured to send a buffer status report to the second communication device when the first data is discarded, where the buffer status report is used to report an amount of current data to be transmitted.

[00266] In another possible design, communication device 2000 could be the second communication device in the previous method, or it could be a module or chip used in the second communication device. Communication device 2000 could be configured to perform steps or procedures performed by the second communication device in the modalities of the previous method.

[00267] Specifically, processing unit 2200 is configured to generate first indication information, where the first indication information indicates to the first communication device to adjust the duration of a discard timer that is in a PDCP packet data convergence protocol layer and that corresponds to the first data for the second duration, and the first data is a first data packet or first set of target importance data packets; and communication unit 2100 is configured to send the first indication information to the first communication device. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 80 / 107 74 / 90

[00268] Optionally, the first data is a first low-importance data packet or a first set of low-importance data packets, and the second duration is shorter than the current discard timer duration.

[00269] Optionally, the importance of any data packet is determined based on the importance defined in the PSI of the protocol data unit (PDU) corresponding to the data packet and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the data packet; and / or the importance of any set of data packets is determined based on the PSI corresponding to the set of data packets and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the set of data packets.

[00270] Optionally, the first indication information indicates that the second duration is a default value of 0; or the first indication information includes the second duration; or the first indication information indicates the second duration in a plurality of pre-configured duration parts; or the first indication information includes information about the target importance and the second duration; or the first indication information includes information about the target importance, and the second duration is associated with the target importance.

[00271] Optionally, the first indication information also indicates a DRB data radio carrier associated with the first data.

[00272] Optionally, communication unit 2100 is further configured to send a second indication message to the first communication device, where the second indication message tells the first communication device to adjust the discard timer duration from the second duration to the first duration, and the first duration is the discard timer duration before the discard timer duration is adjusted to the second duration. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 81 / 107 75 / 90

[00273] Optionally, communication unit 2100 is further configured to receive a buffer status report from the first communication device, where the buffer status report is used to report an amount of current data to be transmitted from the first communication device.

[00274] Optionally, communication unit 2100 is further configured to send the duration of a first timer to the first communication device, where the discard timer duration is the second duration during the execution of the first timer, the first communication device needs to adjust the discard timer duration from the second duration to the first duration when the first timer expires, and the first duration is the discard timer duration before the discard timer duration is adjusted to the second duration.

[00275] Optionally, before generating the first indication information, the communication device is also configured to determine if network congestion occurs.

[00276] For details of steps or procedures performed by the units on the 2000 communication device, see method 400. Details are not described again in this document.

[00277] It should be understood that the 2000 communication device can still perform operations performed by the first or second communication device in method 500 or method 600. For details on steps or procedures performed by the units in the 2000 communication device, refer to method 500 or method 600. Details are not described again in this document.

[00278] It should be understood that the unit in the 2000 communication device may be implemented by hardware, or it may be implemented by software, or it may be implemented by hardware running corresponding software. For example, the unit Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 82 / 107 76 / 90 may refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared processor, a dedicated processor, or a group processor) configured to execute one or more software or firmware programs, a memory, a merged logic circuit, and / or other appropriate component that supports the described function. In another example, communication unit 2100 may be replaced by a transceiver or a transceiver circuit (which may include, for example, a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit), and processing unit 2200 may be replaced by a processor or a processing circuit.

[00279] FIG. 16 is a block diagram of another communication device 3000 according to an embodiment of this application. The device 3000 may be a first communication device or a second communication device, or it may be a chip, a system of chips, a processor or similar that supports the first communication device or the second communication device in the implementation of the previous method. The device may be configured to implement the methods described in the previous method embodiments. For details, see the descriptions in the previous method embodiments.

[00280] The 3000 device may include one or more 3100 processors. The 3100 processor may also be called a processing unit and may implement a specific control function. The 3100 processor may be a general-purpose processor, a dedicated processor, or similar; for example, it may be a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be configured to process a communication protocol and communication data. The central processing unit may be configured to: control a communication device (for example, a base station, a baseband chip, a user chip, a DU, or a Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 83 / 107 77 / 90 CU), execute a software program and process data from the software program.

[00281] In an optional design, the 3100 processor can also store instructions and / or data, and the instructions and / or data can be executed by the 3100 processor, to allow the 3000 device to perform the methods described in the previous method embodiments.

[00282] In another optional design, the 3000 device may include a 3200 communication interface configured to implement receive and transmit functions. For example, the 3200 communication interface may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, an interface circuit, or a transceiver. The transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver configured to implement receive and transmit functions may be separate or integrated. The transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver may be configured to read and write code / data, or the transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver may be configured to transmit or transfer a signal.

[00283] Optionally, the 3000 device may include one or more 3300 memories. The 3300 memory may store instructions. The instructions may be run on the 3100 processor to enable the 3000 device to perform the method described in the previous method embodiments. Optionally, the 3300 memory may additionally store data. Optionally, the 3100 processor may also store instructions and / or data. The 3100 processor and the 3300 memory may be arranged separately, or they may be integrated together.

[00284] FIG. 17 is a diagram of the structure of a terminal device 4000 according to this application. The communication device 2000 or the communication device 3000 can be configured on the terminal device 4000. Alternatively, the Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 84 / 107 The 78 / 90 communication device 2000 or the communication device 3000 can be the terminal device 4000. In other words, the terminal device 4000 can perform actions performed by the terminal device in the previous method embodiments. Optionally, for ease of description, FIG. 17 shows only the main components of the terminal device. As shown in FIG. 17, the terminal device 4000 includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and an input / output device.

[00285] The processor is primarily configured to process a communication protocol and communication data, control the entire terminal device, execute a software program, and process data from the software program, for example, configured to support the terminal device in performing actions described in the previous method embodiments. The memory is primarily configured to store the software program and data. The control circuit is primarily configured to convert a baseband signal and a radio frequency signal and process the radio frequency signal. The control circuit and the antenna can be collectively called a transceiver and are primarily configured to receive and transmit a radio frequency signal in the form of an electromagnetic wave.The input / output device, such as a touchscreen, display, or keyboard, is primarily configured to: receive data entered by a user and output data to the user.

[00286] After the terminal device is powered on, the processor can read a software program from a storage unit, interpret and execute instructions from the software program, and process data from the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and then sends a baseband signal to a circuit. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 85 / 107 79 / 90 radio frequency. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then sends, through the antenna, a radio frequency signal in the form of an electromagnetic wave. When data is sent to the terminal device, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and sends the baseband signal to the processor. The processor converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[00287] A person skilled in the art may understand that, for ease of description, FIG. 17 shows only one memory and one processor. A real terminal device may include a plurality of processors and memories. Memory may also be referred to as a storage medium, a storage device, or the like. This is not limited to embodiments of this application.

[00288] For example, the processor may include a baseband processor and a central processing unit. The baseband processor is primarily configured to process the communication protocol and communication data. The central processing unit is primarily configured to control the entire terminal device, execute the software program, and process the software program data. The processor in FIG. 9 17 integrates functions of the baseband processor and the central processing unit. A person skilled in the art may understand that the baseband processor and the central processing unit may alternatively be processors independent of each other and interconnected via a bus or through other technology. A person skilled in the art may understand that the terminal device may include a plurality of baseband processors to adapt to different network standards, and the terminal device. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 86 / 107 80 / 90 processing can include a plurality of central processing units to enhance the processing capabilities of the terminal device, and the terminal device components can be connected via multiple buses. The baseband processor can also be expressed as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The central processing unit can also be expressed as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. A processing function for the communication protocol and communication data can be built into the processor, or it can be stored in the storage unit in the form of a software program, and the processor executes the software program to implement a baseband processing function.

[00289] For example, in this embodiment of this application, the antenna and control circuit that have receiving and transmitting functions can be considered as a 4100 transceiver unit of terminal 4000, and the processor that has a processing function can be considered as a 4200 processing unit of terminal 4000. As shown in FIG. 17, terminal device 4000 includes the 4100 transceiver unit and the 4200 processing unit. The transceiver unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver machine, a transceiver apparatus, or similar. Optionally, a component configured to implement a receiving function in the 4100 transceiver unit can be considered as a receiving unit, and a component configured to implement a transmitting function in the 4100 transceiver unit can be considered as a transmitting unit. That is, the 4100 transceiver unit includes the receiving unit and the transmitting unit.For example, the receiving unit may also be called a receiver, receiving machine, receiving circuit, or similar, and the transmitting unit may also be called... Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 87 / 107 81 / 90 transmitter, transmitting machine, transmitting circuit or similar.

[00290] FIG. 18 is a diagram of a network device 5000 structure according to one embodiment of this application; Communication device 2000 or Communication device 3000 can be configured on Network device 5000. Alternatively, Communication device 2000 or Communication device 3000 can be Network device 5000. Alternatively, Network device 5000 can perform an action performed by Network device (for example, when the previous method is applied to an uplink scenario, the second communication device is the Network device) in the previous method embodiments.

[00291] As shown in FIG. 18, the 5000 network device may include one or more 5010 DUs and one or more 5020 CUs. The 5020 CU may communicate with an NG (next-generation core network, NC) core. The 5010 DU may include at least one 5011 antenna, at least one 5012 radio frequency unit, at least one 5013 processor, and at least one 5014 memory. The 5010 DU is primarily configured to: receive and transmit a radio frequency signal, convert a radio frequency signal to a baseband signal, and perform partial baseband processing. The 5020 CU may include at least one 5022 processor and at least one 5021 memory. The 5020 CU and the 5010 DU may communicate with each other via an interface. A control plane (CP) interface can be Fs-C, for example, F1-C, and a user plane (UP) interface can be Fs-U, for example, F1-U.

[00292] The CU 5020 is primarily configured to perform baseband processing, control the 5000 network device, and similar tasks. The DU 5010 and the CU 5020 can be physically located together or physically separated, i.e., in a distributed base station. The CU 5020 is a control center for Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 88 / 107 The 82 / 90 network device 5000, also known as a processing unit, is primarily configured to perform a baseband processing function. For example, the CU 5020 can be configured to control the network device 5000 to perform an operational procedure related to the first or second device in the previous method modes.

[00293] Specifically, the baseband processing of the CU and DU can be divided based on a protocol layer of a wireless network. For example, functions of a PDCP layer and a protocol layer above the PDCP layer are defined in the CU, and functions of protocol layers below PDCP, such as an RLC layer and a MAC layer, are defined in the DU. In another example, the CU implements functions of an RRC layer and a PDCP layer, and the DU implements functions of an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer.

[00294] In addition, optionally, the 5000 network device may include one or more radio frequency units (RUs), one or more DUs, and one or more CUs. The DU may include at least one 5013 processor and at least one 5014 memory, the RU may include at least one 5011 antenna and at least one 5012 radio frequency unit, and the CU may include at least one 5022 processor and at least one 5021 memory.

[00295] In one example, the CU 5020 may include one or more boards. A plurality of boards may jointly support a radio access network (e.g., a 5G network) of a single access standard, or may separately support radio access networks (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or another network) of different access standards. The 5021 memory and processor 5022 chips can serve one or more boards. In other words, one memory chip and one processor can be placed on each board. Alternatively, a plurality of boards can share the same memory and the same processor. Furthermore, a circuit... Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 89 / 107 The required 83 / 90 can be further arranged on each board. The DU 5010 can include one or more boards. A plurality of boards can jointly support a radio access network (e.g., a 5G network) of a single access standard, or can separately support radio access networks (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or another network) of different access standards. The 5014 memory and the 5013 processor can serve one or more boards. In other words, one memory and one processor can be arranged on each board. Alternatively, a plurality of boards can share the same memory and the same processor. Furthermore, a required circuit can be further arranged on each board.

[00296] It should be understood that the network device 5000 shown in FIG. 18 can implement processes related to the actions performed by the second communication device in the previous method embodiments. Operations and / or functions of the modules in the network device 5000 are respectively to implement corresponding procedures in the previous method embodiment. For details, refer to the descriptions in the previous method embodiment. To avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are omitted in this document.

[00297] It should be understood that the 5000 network device shown in FIG. 18 is merely one possible network device architecture and should not constitute any limitation to this application. The method provided in this application is applicable to a network device in another architecture, for example, a network device including a CU, a DU, and an AAU. A specific network device architecture is not limited in this application.

[00298] It should be understood that, in a possible project, the steps in the method embodiments provided in this application may be accomplished using a hardware integrated logic circuit in a processor or instructions in a software form. The method steps disclosed with reference to the embodiments of this Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 90 / 107 84 / 90 requests can be performed directly by a hardware processor or can be performed using a combination of hardware in the processor and a software module. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, or a register. The storage medium is located in memory, and a processor reads the information in memory and completes the steps of the previous methods in combination with the processor hardware. To avoid repetition, details are not described again in this document.

[00299] It should be noted that the processor, in embodiments of this application, may be an integrated circuit chip and possess a signal processing capability. During implementation, steps in the preceding method embodiments may be accomplished using a hardware integrated logic circuit in the processor or using instructions in a software form. The processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate, or a transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The processor may implement or realize the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams that are disclosed in embodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional or similar processor.The steps in the methods disclosed with reference to the embodiments of this application may be performed and completed directly by a hardware decoding processor, or may be performed and completed using a combination of hardware in the decoding processor and a software module. The software module may be located... Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 91 / 107 85 / 90 in a mature storage medium in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, or a register. The storage medium is located in memory, and a processor reads the information from memory and completes the steps of the previous methods in combination with the processor hardware.

[00300] It may be understood that the memory in the embodiments of this application may be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. Non-volatile memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM), used as an external cache.Through an example, but not limited to descriptions, many forms of RAM can be used, for example, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchlink dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus random access memory (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described in this descriptive report includes, but is not limited to, these and any other appropriate memory type.

[00301] This request also provides a program product of Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 92-107 86 / 90 computer. The computer program product includes computer program code. When the computer program code is executed on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the steps or procedures performed by the first communication device or the second communication device in any of the previous method modalities.

[00302] This application further provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores program code. When the computer code runs on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the steps or procedures performed by the first communication device or the second communication device in any of the previous method embodiments.

[00303] This application also provides a communication device, including a processor and an interface. The interface is configured to send and / or receive a signal, so that the processor performs the steps or procedures performed by the first communication device or the second communication device in any of the above method modalities.

[00304] This application also provides a communication system, including at least one first communication device and one second communication device.

[00305] The previous device modes correspond completely to the method modes, and the corresponding modules or units perform the corresponding steps. For example, a communication unit or a communication interface performs a receiving step or a sending step in the method mode, and a processing unit or a processor may perform a step other than the sending step and the receiving step.

[00306] In the provisions of this application, the English terms and abbreviations are all examples given for ease of description and shall not constitute any limitation hereof. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 93-107 87 / 90 request. This request does not preclude the possibility of defining another term that may implement an equal or similar function in an existing or future protocol.

[00307] Terms such as component, module, and system used in this descriptive report indicate entities related to computers, hardware, firmware, combinations of hardware and software, software, or running software. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program, and / or a computer. As shown in the figures, both a computing device and an application running on the computing device can be components. One or more components may reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and a component may be located on a computer and / or distributed among two or more computers. Furthermore, these components may run from various computer-readable storage media that store various data structures.For example, components can communicate through a local and / or remote process and based on a signal containing one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component in a local system, a distributed system, and / or a network, such as the internet, interacting with another system through the signal).

[00308] A person skilled in the art may be aware that, in combination with illustrative logical blocks and steps described in the embodiments disclosed in this descriptive report, the functions may be implemented by electronic hardware or by a combination of software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or software depends on the specific applications and design constraints of the technical solutions. A person skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 94 / 107 88 / 90 functions are described for each particular application, but the implementation should not be considered to go beyond the scope of this request.

[00309] It may be clearly understood by a person skilled in the art that, for the purposes of convenient and brief description, for a detailed working process of the aforementioned system, apparatus and unit, refer to a corresponding process in the aforementioned method modalities. Details are not described again in this document.

[00310] In the various embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the system, apparatus, and method disclosed may be implemented in other ways. For example, the embodiment of the apparatus described is merely an example. For example, the division into units is merely a logical function division, and may be another division during actual implementation. For example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not implemented. Furthermore, the mutual couplings, direct couplings, or communication connections shown or discussed may be implemented through some interfaces. Indirect couplings or communication connections between the apparatuses or units may be implemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

[00311] The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and the parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one position, or may be distributed across a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected based on the actual requirements to achieve the objectives of the modal solutions.

[00312] In addition, the functional units in the modalities of this application may be integrated into a processing unit, each of the units may exist physically alone, or two Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 95 / 107 89 / 90 or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[00313] In the preceding embodiments, all or part of the functions of the functional units may be implemented by means of software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When software is used to implement the embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions (programs). When the computer program instructions (programs) are loaded and executed on a computer, the procedures or functions according to the embodiments of this application are generated wholly or partially. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, or other programmable device.Computer instructions can be stored on a computer-readable storage medium, or they can be transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, computer instructions can be transmitted from one site, computer, server, or data center to another site, computer, server, or data center in a wired manner (e.g., a coaxial cable, a fiber optic cable, or a digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wirelessly (e.g., infrared, radio, or microwave). The computer-readable storage medium can be any usable medium accessible by the computer or a data storage device, for example, a server or a data center, integrating one or more usable media.The usable medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, or magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state disk (SSD)), or similar.

[00314] When functions are implemented in the form of a software function unit and sold or used as a Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 96 / 107 90 / 90 standalone product, the functions can be stored on a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of this application essentially, or the part that contributes to conventional technology, or a part of the technical solutions, can be implemented in the form of a software product. The software product is stored on a storage medium and includes various instructions to instruct a computing device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes any medium that can store program code, for example, a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[00315] The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementations of this application, but are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any variation or substitution readily understood by a person skilled in the art, within the technical scope disclosed in this application, shall be covered by the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application shall be subject to the scope of protection of the claims. Petition 870250099558, dated 10 / 30 / 2025, pp. 97 / 107

Claims

1 / 4 CLAIMS 1. A packet discard method, applied to a first communication device, characterized in that the method comprises: receiving first indication information from a second communication device, wherein the first indication information indicates that the duration of a discard timer that is in a packet data convergence protocol layer, PDCP, and that the first data is the second duration, the second duration is one among a plurality of pre-configured duration pieces, and the first data is a first data packet or first set of target importance data packets; and initiating, for the first data based on the first indication information, the discard timer whose duration is the second duration.

2. Method, according to claim 1, characterized in that the first data is a first packet of low-importance data or a first set of low-importance data packets.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the importance of any data packet is determined based on the protocol data unit (PDU) or PSI-defined importance corresponding to the data packet and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the data packet; and / or the importance of any set of data packets is determined based on the PSI corresponding to the set of data packets and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the set of data packets.

4. Method, according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the first indication information further indicates a data radio carrier, DRB, Petition 870250090141, dated 03 / 10 / 2025, page 19 / 28 2 / 4 associated with the first data.

5. A method, according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the first data is data that has not reached a PDCP entity, and the start, for the first data based on the first indication information, of the discard timer whose duration is the second duration comprises: starting, for the first data based on the first indication information when the first data reaches the PDCP entity, the discard timer whose duration is the second duration.

6. A method, according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the method further comprises: for second data that has not reached the PDCP entity, when the second data reaches the PDCP entity, starting, for the second data, a discard timer whose duration is the first duration, wherein the second data is a second data packet or a second set of data packets of other target importance.

7. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the method further comprises: receiving second indication information from the second communication device, wherein the second indication information indicates to start, for the first data, the discard timer whose duration is the first duration; and starting, for the first data based on the second indication information, the discard timer whose duration is the first duration.

8. Method, according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the first duration is longer than the second duration. Petition 870250090141, dated 03 / 10 / 2025, page 20 / 28 3 / 4 9. Packet discard method, applied to a second communication device, characterized in that the method comprises: generating first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates that the duration of a discard timer that is in a packet data convergence protocol layer, PDCP, and that corresponds to the first data is the second duration, and the first data is a first data packet or first set of target importance data packets; and sending the first indication information to a first communication device.

10. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that the first data is a first packet of low-importance data or a first set of low-importance data packets, and the second duration is shorter than the current discard timer duration.

11. A method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the importance of any data packet is determined based on the protocol data unit (PDU) or PSI-defined importance corresponding to the data packet and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the data packet; and / or the importance of any set of data packets is determined based on the PSI corresponding to the set of data packets and / or a remaining transmission delay budget corresponding to the set of data packets.

12. Method, according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that the first indication information further indicates a data radio carrier, DRB, associated with the first data.

13. Method, according to any one of claims 9 to 12, characterized in that it further comprises: Petition 870250090141, dated 03 / 10 / 2025, page 21 / 28 4 / 4 sending a second indication information to the first communication device, wherein the second indication information indicates that the discard timer duration for the first data is the first duration.

14. Method according to claim 13, characterized in that the first duration is longer than the second duration.

15. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that before generating the first indication information, the method further comprises: determining that network congestion occurs.

16. Communication apparatus, characterized in that it comprises units configured to perform steps of the method as defined in any one of claims 1 to 8, or comprising units configured to perform steps of the method as defined in any one of claims 9 to 15.

17. Computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions and, when the computer program or instructions are executed, a computer is enabled to perform the method as defined in any one of claims 1 to 8 or the method as defined in any one of claims 9 to 15. Petition 870250090141, dated 10 / 03 / 2025, pp. 22 / 28

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