Communication method and device

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and discloses a communication method and apparatus. The method includes: a network device receives QoS parameters of a first QoS flow, the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow are used to indicate the upper limit of packet loss counted according to a first time length and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to a second time length, and then the network device can process the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. With this method, the network device processes the QoS flow based on the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the two time lengths. Compared with the existing solution in which the network device processes the QoS flow based on the packet error rate counted according to the average window, the network device more comprehensively considers the transmission reliability requirements of the service carried by the first QoS flow, thereby being able to more effectively ensure the transmission reliability of the service and avoid the interruption of the service of the terminal device at the application layer.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0002] In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 15 (R15), the air interface specification for ultra-reliable and low latency communication (URLLC) services is set as a user plane latency of 1 millisecond plus a reliability requirement of 99.999%.

[0003] For URLLC services, to prevent accidental communication errors at the network layer from significantly impacting the application layer, the application layer of the terminal device and the application server can set a survival time. This survival time means that if the application layer does not receive a packet within the expected arrival time range, it will start a survival timer. If an expected application layer packet arrives while the timer is running, the timer will stop. If the timer continues to run until it times out, that is, if no expected application layer packet arrives during the period when the survival timer is active, an application layer interruption will occur, which may affect the service. Therefore, how to prevent service interruptions at the application layer of terminal devices requires further research. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for preventing interruption of services of terminal devices at the application layer.

[0005] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method that can be applied to a first network device, or can also be applied to a chip within the first network device. Taking the application of this method to the first network device as an example, in this method, the first network device receives QoS parameters for a first QoS flow, where the QoS parameters are used to indicate a packet loss upper limit value calculated based on a first duration and a packet loss upper limit value calculated based on a second duration; and transmits data packets of the first QoS flow based on the QoS parameters.

[0006] Using this method, the network device processes the QoS flow based on the packet loss upper limit value calculated according to at least two time periods. Compared with the existing solution in which the network device processes the QoS flow according to the packet error rate calculated according to the average window, this method more comprehensively considers the transmission reliability requirements of the service carried by the first QoS flow, thereby more effectively ensuring the transmission reliability of the service and avoiding interruption of the terminal device's service at the application layer.

[0007] In one possible design, the first QoS flow is used to carry the first service, and the first duration is the lifetime of the first service.

[0008] In one possible design, the service carried by the first QoS flow is a service transmitted according to a transmission cycle, and the first duration includes N transmission cycles.

[0009] In one possible design, the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time length includes: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to the first time length; or the maximum packet loss amount counted according to the first time length; or the maximum number of packet losses counted according to the first time length; or the packet error rate counted according to the first time length.

[0010] In one possible design, the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first time length includes: the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to each transmission period of the first time length.

[0011] In one possible design, the upper limit of packet loss counted according to each transmission period of the first duration includes: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to each transmission period of the first duration; or, the maximum packet loss amount counted according to each transmission period of the first duration; or, the maximum number of packet losses counted according to each transmission period of the first duration; or, the packet error rate counted according to each transmission period of the first duration.

[0012] In one possible design, the service carried by the first QoS flow is a service transmitted according to a transmission cycle; the method also includes: obtaining the number of data packets or the amount of data in each transmission cycle from the core network device.

[0013] In one possible design, the QoS parameters include a first duration and an upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first duration; or, the QoS parameters include a 5G service quality identifier 5QI, and the 5QI is associated with the first duration and the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first duration.

[0014] This method predefines the relationship between the 5QI, the first duration, and the upper limit of packet loss calculated based on the first duration. This means that in addition to corresponding to the six 5G QoS characteristics, such as resource type and priority level, the 5QI can also correspond to the first duration and the upper limit of packet loss calculated based on the first duration. This allows QoS parameters to include the 5QI without the need to additionally include the first duration and the upper limit of packet loss calculated based on the first duration, effectively saving transmission resources.

[0015] In one possible design, the first network device can receive the QoS parameters from the core network device; wherein the QoS parameters are carried in a PDU session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message; or, the QoS parameters are carried in a switching request message, and the first network device is the target network device for the terminal device to switch.

[0016] In one possible design, the first network device can receive the QoS parameters from the second network device; wherein, the second network device is the main network device of the terminal device, the first network device is the auxiliary network device of the terminal device, and the QoS parameters are carried in a PDU session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message; or, the second network device is the source network device of the terminal device, the first network device is the target network device of the terminal device, and the QoS parameters are carried in a switching request message.

[0017] Using this method, in a dual-connection scenario, the primary network device can send the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the secondary network device, so that both the primary network device and the secondary network device can process the first QoS flow based on the upper limit of packet loss calculated according to the two time periods, thereby more effectively ensuring the transmission reliability of the service and avoiding interruptions at the application layer. In a switching scenario, the target network device can obtain the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, so that after the terminal device switches to the target network device, the target network device can process the QoS flow based on the upper limit of packet loss calculated according to the two time periods, effectively avoiding interruptions in the terminal device's service at the application layer due to the switching of the terminal device.

[0018] In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method that can be applied to a core network device, or can also be applied to a chip within the core network device. Taking the application of this method to a core network device as an example, the core network device obtains QoS parameters for a first QoS flow, where the QoS parameters are used to indicate a packet loss upper limit value calculated based on a first duration and a packet loss upper limit value calculated based on a second duration; and sends the QoS parameters to a network device.

[0019] In one possible design, the first QoS flow is used to carry the first service, and the first duration is the lifetime of the first service.

[0020] In one possible design, the service carried by the first QoS flow is a service transmitted according to a transmission cycle, and the first duration includes N transmission cycles.

[0021] In one possible design, the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time length includes: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to the first time length; or the maximum packet loss amount counted according to the first time length; or the maximum number of packet losses counted according to the first time length; or the packet error rate counted according to the first time length.

[0022] In one possible design, the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first time length includes: the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to each transmission period of the first time length.

[0023] In one possible design, the upper limit of packet loss counted according to each transmission period of the first duration includes: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to each transmission period of the first duration; or, the maximum packet loss amount counted according to each transmission period of the first duration; or, the maximum number of packet losses counted according to each transmission period of the first duration; or, the packet error rate counted according to each transmission period of the first duration.

[0024] In one possible design, the service carried by the first QoS flow is a service transmitted according to a transmission period;

[0025] The method further includes: sending the number of data packets or the amount of data in each transmission cycle to the network device.

[0026] In one possible design, the QoS parameters include a first duration and an upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first duration; or, the QoS parameters include 5QI, and the 5QI is associated with the first duration and an upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first duration.

[0027] In one possible design, the QoS parameters are carried in a PDU session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message; or, the QoS parameters are carried in a switching request message, and the network device is the target network device to which the terminal device switches.

[0028] It should be noted that the method described in the above-mentioned second aspect corresponds to that described in the first aspect. Therefore, the beneficial effects of the relevant technical features of the second aspect can refer to the description of the first aspect and will not be repeated in detail.

[0029] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method that can be applied to a CU or a chip within a CU. Taking the application of this method to a CU as an example, in this method, the CU obtains QoS parameters for a first QoS flow, where the QoS parameters are used to indicate a packet loss upper limit value calculated according to a first duration and a packet loss upper limit value calculated according to a second duration; and the CU sends the QoS parameters to the DU.

[0030] In one possible design, the CU sends the QoS parameters to the DU, including: the CU sends a context establishment request message of the terminal device to the DU, and the context establishment request message includes the QoS parameters.

[0031] Fourthly, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method that can be applied to a DU or a chip within the DU. Taking the application of this method to a DU as an example, in this method, the DU receives QoS parameters for a first QoS flow from the CU, where the QoS parameters are used to indicate a packet loss upper limit value calculated based on a first duration and a packet loss upper limit value calculated based on a second duration; and transmits data packets of the first QoS flow based on the QoS parameters.

[0032] In one possible design, the method also includes: the DU determines the configuration information of the DRB or the configuration information of the logical channel corresponding to the first QoS flow based on the QoS parameters, and sends the configuration information of the DRB or the logical channel to the CU, which then sends it to the terminal device.

[0033] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method that can be applied to a CU-CP entity, or can also be applied to a chip within a CU-CP entity. Taking the application of this method to a CU-CP entity as an example, in this method, the CU-CP entity obtains QoS parameters for a first QoS flow, where the QoS parameters are used to indicate a packet loss upper limit value calculated according to a first duration and a packet loss upper limit value calculated according to a second duration; and sends the QoS parameters to a CU-UP entity.

[0034] In one possible design, the CU-CP entity sends the QoS parameters to the CU-UP entity, including: the CU-CP entity sends a bearer context establishment request message to the CU-UP entity, and the bearer context establishment request message includes the QoS parameters.

[0035] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a CU-UP entity, or can also be applied to a chip inside a CU-UP entity. Taking the application of this method to a CU-UP entity as an example, in this method, the CU-UP entity receives QoS parameters of a first QoS flow from a CU-CP entity, where the QoS parameters are used to indicate a packet loss upper limit value calculated according to a first duration and a packet loss upper limit value calculated according to a second duration; and transmits data packets of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters.

[0036] In one possible design, the method also includes: the CU-UP entity determines the configuration information of the DRB or logical channel corresponding to the first QoS flow based on the QoS parameters, and sends the configuration information of the DRB or logical channel to the CU-CP entity.

[0037] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a network device (such as a first network device) or a chip arranged inside the network device. Exemplarily, the network device may include a CU and a DU, and further, the CU may include a CU-CP entity and a CU-UP entity. The communication device has the functions of implementing the above-mentioned first aspect, third aspect to sixth aspect. For example, the communication device includes a module or unit or means corresponding to the steps involved in the above-mentioned first aspect, third aspect to sixth aspect. The function or unit or means may be implemented by software, or by hardware, or the corresponding software may be implemented by hardware.

[0038] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit. The communication unit can be used to send and receive signals to enable communication between the communication device and other devices, for example, the communication unit is used to receive configuration information from a network device; and the processing unit can be used to perform certain internal operations of the communication device. The functions performed by the processing unit and the communication unit can correspond to the steps involved in the first, third, through sixth aspects described above.

[0039] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and may also include a transceiver, the transceiver is used to send and receive signals, and the processor executes program instructions to complete the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect, and the third aspect to the sixth aspect. The communication device may also include one or more memories, and the memory is used to couple with the processor. The one or more memories may be integrated with the processor or may be set separately from the processor, which is not limited in this application. The memory may store the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the first aspect, and the third aspect to the sixth aspect. The processor may execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect, and the third aspect to the sixth aspect.

[0040] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and a memory, and the memory may store the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the first, third, through sixth aspects described above. The processor may execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the first, third, through sixth aspects described above.

[0041] In one possible design, the communication device includes at least one processor and an interface circuit, wherein at least one processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the method in any possible design or implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect and third aspect to sixth aspect.

[0042] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a core network device or a chip disposed within the core network device. The communication device is capable of implementing the functions involved in the second aspect above. For example, the communication device includes modules, units, or means corresponding to executing the steps involved in the second aspect above. The functions, units, or means may be implemented through software or hardware, or may be implemented through hardware executing the corresponding software implementation.

[0043] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit. The communication unit can be used to send and receive signals to enable communication between the communication device and other devices, for example, the communication unit is used to send system information to a terminal device; and the processing unit can be used to perform certain internal operations of the communication device. The functions performed by the processing unit and the communication unit can correspond to the steps involved in the second aspect described above.

[0044] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and may also include a transceiver, the transceiver is used to send and receive signals, and the processor executes program instructions to complete the method in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect above. The communication device may also include one or more memories, and the memory is used to couple with the processor. The one or more memories may be integrated with the processor or may be set separately from the processor, which is not limited in this application. The memory may store the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the second aspect above. The processor may execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect above.

[0045] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and a memory, and the memory may store the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the second aspect. The processor may execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect.

[0046] In one possible design, the communication device includes at least one processor and an interface circuit, wherein the at least one processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the method in any possible design or implementation of the above-mentioned second aspect.

[0047] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which may include a first network device and a core network device. For example, the first network device may include a CU and a DU, and further, the CU may include a CU-CP entity and a CU-UP entity. The first network device may be used to perform the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect, and the third to sixth aspects, and the core network device may be used to perform the method in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect.

[0048] In one embodiment, the core network device is used to obtain QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, where the QoS parameters are used to indicate the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time length and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the second time length; and to send the QoS parameters to the first network device; the first network device is used to receive the QoS parameters from the core network device and transmit data packets of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters.

[0049] In a possible design of this embodiment, the communication system also includes a second network device; the first network device is further used to send the QoS parameters to the second network device; the second network device is used to receive the QoS parameters from the first network device and transmit data packets of the second QoS flow according to the QoS parameters; wherein the first network device is the main network device of the terminal device, the second network device is the auxiliary network device of the terminal device, and the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow are the same QoS flow; or, the first network device is the source network device of the terminal device, and the second network device is the target network device of the terminal device.

[0050] In a possible design of this embodiment, the communication system also includes a second network device; the core network device is also used to send the QoS parameters to the second network device; the second network device is used to receive the QoS parameters from the core network device and transmit data packets of a second QoS flow according to the QoS parameters; wherein the first network device is the source network device of the terminal device, and the second network device is the target network device of the terminal device.

[0051] In the tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer-readable instructions. When a computer reads and executes the computer-readable instructions, the computer executes the method in any possible design of the first to sixth aspects above.

[0052] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which, when read and executed by a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in any possible design of the first to sixth aspects above.

[0053] In the twelfth aspect, the present application provides a chip, which includes a processor, and the processor is coupled to a memory, and is used to read and execute a software program stored in the memory to implement the method in any possible design of the first to sixth aspects above.

[0054] These and other aspects of the present application will become more readily apparent from the description of the following embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0055] Figure 1a A schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] Figure 1b A schematic diagram of the PDU session establishment process provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] Figure 1cThis is another network architecture diagram applicable to the embodiments of the present application;

[0058] Figure 1d A schematic diagram of the survival time provided in the embodiment of this application;

[0059] Figure 2 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 1 of the present application;

[0060] Figures 3a to 3f Several data transmission schematic diagrams provided in the embodiments of the present application;

[0061] Figure 4 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 2 of the present application;

[0062] Figure 5 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 3 of the present application;

[0063] Figure 6a This is another network architecture diagram applicable to the embodiments of the present application;

[0064] Figure 6b This is another network architecture diagram applicable to the embodiments of the present application;

[0065] Figure 6c Based on Figure 6b A schematic diagram of an air interface protocol stack distribution;

[0066] Figure 6d A schematic diagram of the user plane protocol layer provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] Figure 7 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 4 of the present application;

[0068] Figure 8 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 5 of the present application;

[0069] Figure 9 A possible exemplary block diagram of the apparatus involved in the embodiments of the present application;

[0070] Figure 10 A schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] Figure 11 A schematic diagram of the structure of a core network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0072] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0073] Figure 1a This is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to the embodiment of this application. Figure 1a As shown, the terminal device 130 can access a wireless network to obtain services from an external network (such as the Internet) through the wireless network, or communicate with other devices through the wireless network, such as other terminal devices. The wireless network includes a radio access network (RAN) and a core network (CN). The RAN is used to connect terminal devices (such as terminal device 1301 or terminal device 1302) to the wireless network, and the CN is used to manage the terminal devices and provide a gateway for communicating with the external network.

[0074] Among them, (1) terminal equipment (also known as user equipment (UE)) is a device with wireless transceiver function, which can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface (such as ships, etc.); can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites, etc.). The terminal equipment can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, etc.

[0075] The above-mentioned terminal device can establish a connection with the operator network through the interface provided by the operator network (such as N1, etc.) and use the data and / or voice services provided by the operator network. The terminal device can also access the data network through the operator network, use the operator services deployed on the data network, and / or services provided by a third party. Among them, the above-mentioned third party may be a service provider other than the operator network and the terminal device, and may provide other data and / or voice services to the terminal device. Among them, the specific form of the above-mentioned third party can be determined according to the actual application scenario and is not limited here.

[0076] (2) RAN may include one or more RAN devices, which are nodes or devices that connect terminal devices to the wireless network. RAN devices can also be called network devices or base stations. RAN devices include, but are not limited to: generation Node B (gNodeB), evolved node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved node B, or home node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), mobile switching center, etc. in 5G communication systems.

[0077] (3) CN may include one or more CN devices. Taking the 5G communication system as an example, CN may include access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, session management function (SMF) network element, user plane function (UPF) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, unified data management (UDM) network element, application function (AF) network element, etc.

[0078] The AMF network element is a control plane network element provided by the operator network, responsible for access control and mobility management of terminal devices accessing the operator network, such as mobility status management, allocation of user temporary identities, authentication and authorization of users, etc.

[0079] The SMF network element is a control plane network element provided by the operator network, responsible for managing the protocol data unit (PDU) session of the terminal device. A PDU session is a channel for transmitting PDUs. The terminal device needs to transmit PDUs to and from the DN through the PDU session. The SMF network element is responsible for establishing, maintaining, and deleting PDU sessions. The SMF network element includes session management (such as session establishment, modification, and release, including tunnel maintenance between the UPF and RAN), selection and control of UPF network elements, service and session continuity (SSC) mode selection, roaming, and other session-related functions.

[0080] The UPF network element is a gateway provided by the operator and serves as the gateway for communication between the operator network and the DN. The UPF network element includes user-plane-related functions such as packet routing and transmission, packet inspection, service usage reporting, Quality of Service (QoS) processing, lawful interception, uplink packet inspection, and downlink packet storage.

[0081] The PCF network element is a control plane function provided by the operator, which is used to provide PDU session policies to the SMF network element. Policies may include billing-related policies, QoS-related policies, and authorization-related policies.

[0082] The UDM network element is a control plane network element provided by the operator, responsible for storing information such as the subscriber permanent identifier (SUPI), security context, and subscription data of subscribers in the operator's network.

[0083] The AF network element is a functional network element that provides various business services. It can interact with the core network through other network elements and can interact with the policy management framework to perform policy management.

[0084] (4) Data network (DN), also known as packet data network (PDN), is a network located outside the operator network. The operator network can access multiple DNs, and various services can be deployed on the DN, providing data and / or voice services to terminal devices.

[0085] In addition, although not shown, the CN may also include other possible network elements, such as the network exposure function (NEF) and the unified data repository (UDR) network element. The NEF network element is used to provide the framework, authentication and interface related to network capability exposure, and to transmit information between the 5G system network function and other network functions; the UDR network element is mainly used to store user-related contract data, policy data, structured data for openness, and application data.

[0086] Figure 1a Npcf, Nudm, Naf, Namf, Nsmf, N1, N2, N3, N4, and N6 are interface serial numbers. The meanings of these interface serial numbers can be found in the definitions of relevant standard protocols and are not limited here.

[0087] It is understandable that Figure 1a The 5G communication system is used as an example for illustration, and the solutions in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to other possible communication systems, such as the future sixth generation (6G) communication system. The above-mentioned network elements or functions can be network elements in hardware devices, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform). Optionally, the above-mentioned network elements or functions can be implemented by one device, or by multiple devices together, or can be a functional module within a device, and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0088] In the above Figure 1a In the network architecture shown, data can be transmitted between terminal devices and data networks via PDU sessions. Terminal devices can establish multiple PDU sessions to connect to the same data network or different data networks. Each PDU session can transmit multiple data streams with different QoS requirements, referred to as QoS flows. During the establishment or modification of a PDU session, network devices can configure air interface resources for the QoS flows in the PDU session based on the QoS parameters corresponding to the QoS flows in the PDU session and transmit data packets in the QoS flows based on the QoS parameters.

[0089] The following describes the PDU session establishment process as an example. Figure 1b For a diagram of the PDU session establishment process, see Figure 1b As shown, the process includes:

[0090] Step 101: The AF network element sends QoS requirement information of a service (eg, service 1) to the PCF network element.

[0091] In step 102, the PCF network element receives the QoS requirement information of service 1 and determines the policy and charging control (PCC) rule corresponding to service 1 based on the QoS requirement information of service 1, where the PCC rule may include the service data flow (SDF) template and QoS parameters corresponding to service 1.

[0092] Step 103: The PCF network element sends the PCC rules to the SMF network element.

[0093] Here, for example, after the SMF network element receives a PDU session establishment request from the terminal device, it can send a request message to the PCF network element. The request message is used to obtain the PCC rules. After the PCF network element receives the request message, it can send the PCC rules to the SMF network element.

[0094] In step 104, the SMF network element determines the QoS parameters of each QoS flow in one or more QoS flows included in the PDU session to be established. For example, the one or more QoS flows include a first QoS flow, which is used to carry service 1. The QoS parameters of the first QoS flow are the QoS parameters corresponding to service 1.

[0095] Step 105: The SMF network element sends the PDU session establishment request to the network device through the AMF network element, and the AMF network element transparently transmits the request of the SMF network element; wherein, the PDU session establishment request includes the QoS parameters of each QoS flow in one or more QoS flows that need to be established in the PDU session.

[0096] Step 106: The network device receives the PDU session establishment request and configures air interface resources according to the QoS parameters of each QoS flow in the PDU session establishment request.

[0097] Step 107: The network device sends a response message indicating that the PDU session is successfully established to the SMF network element through the AMF network element.

[0098] The QoS parameters of the QoS flows involved above are introduced below.

[0099] For example, QoS flows may include guaranteed bit rate (GBR) QoS flows and non-guaranteed bit rate (Non-GBR) QoS flows. GBR QoS flows carry services with stricter latency requirements and can tolerate higher packet loss rates, such as conversational video services. Non-GBR QoS flows carry services with stricter information integrity requirements and cannot tolerate higher packet loss rates, such as web browsing and file downloading services.

[0100] Taking GBR QoS flow as an example, QoS parameters may include 5G QoS identifier (5QI), guaranteed flow bit rate (GFBR), and maximum flow bit rate (MFBR).

[0101] The GFBR represents the bit rate guaranteed by the network to be provided to the QoS flow over an averaging window; the MFBR is used to limit the bit rate to the maximum bit rate expected by the QoS flow (for example, packets exceeding the MFBR may be dropped by the UE / RAN / UPF). The GFBR value can be the same in the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL), and the MFBR value can also be the same in the UL and DL.

[0102] 5QI is a scalar that indexes the corresponding 5G QoS characteristics. 5QI is divided into standardized 5QI, pre-configured 5QI, and dynamically assigned 5QI. Standardized 5QI corresponds one-to-one with a set of standardized 5G QoS characteristics; the 5G QoS characteristic values corresponding to pre-configured 5QI can be pre-configured on network devices; and the 5G QoS characteristics corresponding to dynamically assigned 5QI are sent from the core network equipment to the network devices.

[0103] Taking the standardized 5QI as an example, its corresponding 5G QoS features may include:

[0104] (1) Resource type, including GBR, delay-critical GBR, and Non-GBR. Among them, Non-GBR QoS flows can use the Non-GBR resource type. GBR QoS flows can use the GBR resource type or the delay-sensitive GBR resource type; for the GBR resource type and the delay-sensitive GBR resource type, the definitions of packet delay budget and packet error rate are different, and the default maximum data burst size only applies to the delay-sensitive GBR resource type. The embodiments of this application will mainly describe the delay-sensitive GBR resource type.

[0105] (2) Priority level: This parameter indicates the resource scheduling priority between 5G QoS flows. This parameter is used to distinguish between QoS flows of a terminal device, and can also be used to distinguish between QoS flows of different terminal devices. The smaller the value of this parameter, the higher the priority.

[0106] (3) Packet delay budget (PDB): This defines the upper limit of the delay for data packet transmission between the terminal device and the anchor UPF network element. For a given 5QI, the PDB value is the same in both UL and DL.

[0107] (4) Packet Error Rate (PER) defines an upper limit, that is, the upper limit of the ratio of data packets that have been processed by the link layer (such as the RLC layer) of the sender but have not been submitted to the upper layer (such as the PDCP layer) by the corresponding receiver. The packet error rate can also be called the packet error rate, and the two can be used interchangeably. It should be noted that for GBR QoS flows using delay-sensitive GBR resource types, if the data burst sent within the PDB period is less than the default maximum data burst size and the QoS flow does not exceed the guaranteed flow bit rate, then the data packets with a delay greater than the PDB are counted as lost.

[0108] (5) Averaging window is defined for GBR QoS flows and is used by related network elements to calculate GFBR and MFBR.

[0109] (6) Maximum data burst volume (MDBV), which indicates the maximum amount of data that the 5G access network needs to serve during a 5G access network PDB; each QoS flow of the resource type delay-sensitive GBR should be associated with an MDBV.

[0110] For example, the standardized 5QI value is 82, and the corresponding resource type is delay-sensitive GBR, the priority level is 19, the PDB is 10ms, and the PER is 10. -4, MDBV is 255 bytes, and the average window is 2000ms.

[0111] Currently, 3GPP is discussing a solution for 5G communication systems to support time-sensitive networks (TSN) for industrial network applications. That is, TSN can treat the 5G communication system as a TSN bridge device, and data packets of various industrial applications can be sent uplink / downlink through the 5G communication system.

[0112] Figure 1c This is another network architecture diagram applicable to the embodiment of this application, which combines the 5G communication system and the TSN system. Figure 1c As shown in the figure, the TSN system can include centralized network configuration (CNC) network elements, centralized user configuration (CUC) network elements, and data terminals (end stations). Among them, CNC network elements and CUC network elements are configuration network elements in the TSN system, used to implement TSN configuration. Data terminals can be divided into senders (talkers) and receivers (listeners). The sender of TSN services is called the sender (talker), and the receiver of TSN services is called the receiver (listener).

[0113] Furthermore, by adding a control plane with TSN adaptation function on the AF network element, adding a user plane (UP) 1 with TSN adaptation function on the UPF network element, and adding UP2 with TSN adaptation function on the terminal device, these three together with the 5G communication system form a logical bridge device as a bridge device in TSN. Among them, the AF network element serves as the connection node between the 5G communication system and TSN, and the AF network element can interact with the CNC network element in TSN. Although Figure 1b The UPF and UP1, and the terminal device and UP2, are drawn separately. However, UP1 and UP2 are actually the logical functions of the user plane TSN adaptation function. UP1 can be deployed on the UPF network element, or UP1 can be an internal functional module of the UPF network element; similarly, UP2 can be deployed on the terminal device, or UP2 can be an internal functional module of the terminal device. The TSN adaptation function adapts the characteristics and information of the 5G network to the information required by TSN, and communicates with the network elements in TSN through the interfaces defined by TSN.

[0114] based on Figure 1cIn the network architecture shown in the figure, when TSN services are transmitted through the 5G communication system, the CNC network element in the TSN system can send the QoS requirement information of the TSN service to the AF network element, which then converts or translates the QoS requirement information of the TSN service and sends the translated QoS requirement information of the TSN service to the PCF network element. The PCF network element determines the PCC rules based on the translated QoS requirement information of the TSN service, and then adopts Figure 1b The illustrated process establishes a QoS flow to carry TSN services.

[0115] Exemplarily, the QoS flow used to carry the TSN service may be a GBR QoS flow, and the GBR QoS flow may adopt a delay-sensitive GBR resource type.

[0116] Furthermore, for TSN services, the application layer can set a lifetime at the application layer. The lifetime means that if the application layer does not receive a data packet within the expected arrival time range of a data packet, the lifetime timer will be started. If an expected application layer data packet arrives during the timer running, the timer will stop; if the timer continues to run until it times out, that is, no expected application layer data packet arrives during the period when the lifetime timer is active, an interruption will occur in the application layer. At this time, after the interruption, the application layer will enter a predefined state, such as business interruption, downtime, etc., which will have an impact on normal business. For services that periodically generate data packets, the lifetime can usually be defined as the number of consecutive packet losses. If the number of consecutive packet losses exceeds the lifetime threshold, the service will fail.

[0117] Figure 1d This is an example of an interruption at the application layer. Figure 1d As shown, one data packet can be transmitted in one transmission cycle, and the survival time is the length of one transmission cycle. That is, when two consecutive data packets fail to be transmitted, the service of the terminal device is interrupted at the application layer.

[0118] However, the existing QoS parameters of GBR QoS flows can represent the link quality requirements within the averaging window (e.g. 2000ms), but cannot represent the transmission reliability requirements corresponding to the lifetime. For example, PER allows 2 packets to be lost per averaging window, but if these 2 packets are consecutive (e.g. Figure 1d As shown in the figure), the transmission reliability requirement of the lifetime cannot be met, which may cause the service of the terminal device to be interrupted at the application layer.

[0119] Based on this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method and apparatus for preventing service interruption of a terminal device at the application layer.

[0120] Exemplarily, the communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application may include: a network device receives QoS parameters of a first QoS flow, the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow are used to indicate the upper limit of packet loss counted according to a first time length and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to a second time length, and then the network device can process the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0121] Using this method, the network device processes the QoS flow based on the packet loss upper limit value calculated according to at least two time periods. Compared with the existing solution in which the network device processes the QoS flow according to the packet error rate calculated according to the average window, this method more comprehensively considers the transmission reliability requirements of the service carried by the first QoS flow, thereby more effectively ensuring the transmission reliability of the service and avoiding interruptions at the application layer.

[0122] In one possible solution, the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration may be determined based on the transmission reliability requirement corresponding to the lifetime of the service carried by the first QoS flow, and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the second duration may refer to the packet error rate counted according to the average window. In other words, in this embodiment of the present application, the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, based on the QoS parameters of the existing QoS flow, also take into account the transmission reliability requirement corresponding to the lifetime of the service carried by the first QoS flow, thereby resolving the problem that the QoS parameters of the existing QoS flow cannot meet the transmission reliability requirement corresponding to the lifetime.

[0123] The method in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a variety of possible scenarios. In different scenarios, the network device can receive the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from different devices to process the first QoS flow. The method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with Example 1, Example 2, and Example 3.

[0124] Example 1

[0125] In the first embodiment, the method in the embodiment of the present application is described as being applicable to a scenario where a terminal device is connected to a network device. In this scenario, the network device may receive QoS parameters of a first QoS flow from a core network device.

[0126] Figure 2 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 1 of this application, such as Figure 2 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0127] In step 201, the SMF network element obtains the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. The first QoS flow is used to carry service 2, which may be a TSN service.

[0128] Here, the QoS parameter of the first QoS flow is used to indicate the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the second duration. The upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration may be determined based on the transmission reliability requirement corresponding to the lifetime of service 2, and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the second duration may refer to the packet error rate counted according to the averaging window.

[0129] Illustratively, there are multiple ways for the SMF network element to obtain the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. For example, the SMF network element can obtain the PCC rules corresponding to service 2 from the PCF network element, and then use the QoS parameters corresponding to service 2 as the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. For example, the SMF network element can send a request message to the PCF network element, and then the PCF network element sends the PCC rules corresponding to one or more services to the SMF network element based on the request message, where the one or more services include service 2.

[0130] In the embodiment of the present application, there is no limitation on the implementation of the PCC rule corresponding to the PCF network element generating service 2. For example, see Figure 1c As shown, the AF network element can obtain the QoS requirement information of service 2 from the CNC network element. The QoS requirement information of service 2 includes the transmission reliability requirement corresponding to the lifetime of service 2; the AF network element translates the QoS requirement information of the service and sends the translated QoS requirement information to the PCF network element. Then, the PCF network element can determine the PCC rules corresponding to service 2 based on the translated QoS requirement information of service 2.

[0131] Exemplarily, there may be multiple events (or scenarios) in which the SMF network element obtains the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. The following describes three possible events: (1) Event 1: The terminal device has a downlink service reception requirement or an uplink service transmission requirement. In this case, the terminal device will initiate a PDU session establishment request. Then, the SMF network element can obtain the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from the PCF network element after receiving the PDU session establishment request. (2) Event 2: The terminal device side needs to modify the first QoS flow in the established PDU session. In this case, the terminal device will initiate a PDU session modification request. Then, the SMF network element can obtain the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from the PCF network element after receiving the PDU session modification request. (3) Event 3: The network side needs to modify the first QoS flow in the established PDU session. For example, when the original QoS parameters of the first QoS flow in the established PDU session cannot meet the QoS requirements of the service, the UDM network element sends the changed contract information to the SMF network element, triggering the SMF network element to determine (or obtain) the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow based on the changed contract information, so as to modify the original QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0132] Step 202: The SMF network element sends the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the network device through the AMF network element.

[0133] Accordingly, in step 203, the network device receives QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0134] Here, the implementation of the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the second duration can refer to the prior art. In the embodiment of the present application, the relevant features of the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration will be described.

[0135] 1. Explain the upper limit of packet loss calculated based on the first duration.

[0136] The first duration may be the lifetime of service 2. For example, service 2 may be a service that is transmitted according to a transmission cycle, and one or more data packets may be transmitted in each transmission cycle. In this case, the first duration may include N transmission cycles, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0137] Implementation method a1, the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time length may include: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to the first time length; or the maximum packet loss amount counted according to the first time length; or the maximum number of packet loss counted according to the first time length; or the packet error rate counted according to the first time length. Among them, (1) the maximum packet loss rate counted according to the first time length may refer to the ratio between the maximum number of data packets allowed to be lost in the first time length and the number of data packets to be transmitted; or the ratio between the maximum amount of data (such as the number of bytes) allowed to be lost in the first time length and the amount of data to be transmitted. (2) The maximum packet loss amount counted according to the first time length may refer to the maximum amount of data (such as the number of bytes) allowed to be lost in the first time length. (3) The maximum number of packet loss counted according to the first time length may refer to the maximum number of data packets allowed to be lost in the first time length. (4) The packet error rate calculated according to the first time period may refer to the upper limit of the ratio of data packets that have been processed by the link layer (such as the RLC layer) of the transmitting end but have not been submitted to the upper layer (such as the PDCP layer) by the corresponding receiving end within the first time period.

[0138] In implementation a2, the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration may refer to the upper limit of packet loss counted according to each transmission cycle of the first duration. The upper limit of packet loss counted according to each transmission cycle of the first duration includes: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to each transmission cycle of the first duration; or the maximum packet loss amount counted according to each transmission cycle of the first duration; or the maximum number of packet losses counted according to each transmission cycle of the first duration; or the packet error rate counted according to each transmission cycle of the first duration. For specific meanings, please refer to the description in implementation a1 above.

[0139] 2. Some possible indication methods of the QoS parameter indication of the first QoS flow and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration are described.

[0140] Indication mode 1, the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow may include a first duration and a packet loss upper limit calculated based on the first duration, wherein the first duration may be in units of ms or seconds, or may be in units of a transmission period.

[0141] Indication method 2, the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow may include 5QI, and 5QI is associated with the first duration and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration. For example, the correspondence between 5QI, the first duration, and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration can be defined in advance. That is to say, in addition to corresponding to the six 5G QoS characteristics such as resource type and priority level described above, 5QI can also correspond to the first duration and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration. In this way, the QoS parameters can include 5QI without the need to additionally include the first duration and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration, thereby effectively saving transmission resources.

[0142] It should be noted that the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration can be the same in the uplink and downlink. In a specific implementation, the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow can respectively indicate the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration for the uplink and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration for the downlink. To simplify the description, in the embodiment of the present application, the description will be given by taking the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow indicating the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration (the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration is shared by the uplink and downlink) as an example.

[0143] 3. Describe the implementation method of the SMF network element sending the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the network device.

[0144] Exemplarily, when the triggering event described in the above step 201 is event 1, the SMF network element may send a PDU session setup request (PDU session setup request) to the network device through the AMF network element, and the PDU session setup request includes the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. When the triggering event described in the above step 201 is event 2 or event 3, the SMF network element may send a PDU session modification request (PDU session modification request) to the network device through the AMF network element, and the PDU session modification request includes the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0145] Taking the PDU session establishment request as an example, some possible implementation methods of the PDU session establishment request carrying the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow (using indication method 1 as an example) are described below.

[0146] In implementation b1, the PDU session establishment request includes GBR QoS flow information (GBR QoS Flow Information), and the GBR QoS flow information includes downlink MFBR, uplink MFBR, downlink GFBR, uplink GFBR, notification control, downlink maximum packet loss rate, and uplink maximum packet loss rate. In an embodiment of the present application, the GBR QoS flow information may further include a first duration and a packet loss upper limit value calculated based on the first duration. In other words, the GBR QoS flow information may include two information elements (IEs), namely, information element 1 and information element 2, wherein information element 1 is used to indicate the first duration, and information element 2 is used to indicate the packet loss upper limit value calculated based on the first duration.

[0147] Implementation method b2, taking into account that the uplink maximum packet loss rate and the downlink maximum packet loss rate in the GBR QoS flow information are only used on the GBR QoS flow belonging to the voice media, and the service 2 carried by the first QoS flow in the embodiment of the present application is a TSN service, therefore, the cell used to carry the uplink maximum packet loss rate can be used to indicate the uplink packet loss upper limit value counted according to the first time length, and the cell used to carry the downlink maximum packet loss rate can be used to indicate the downlink packet loss upper limit value counted according to the first time length. Furthermore, the GBR QoS flow information can also include a cell that is used to carry the first time length. In this way, by multiplexing the cell used to carry the uplink maximum packet loss rate and the cell used to carry the downlink maximum packet loss rate, transmission resources can be effectively saved.

[0148] In implementation b3, the PDU session establishment request includes traffic characteristics, which include downlink assistance information and uplink assistance information. In this embodiment of the present application, the traffic characteristics may further include a first duration and an upper limit on packet loss calculated based on the first duration. In other words, the traffic characteristics may include two information elements, namely, information element 1 and information element 2, where information element 1 is used to indicate the first duration, and information element 2 is used to indicate the upper limit on packet loss calculated based on the first duration.

[0149] Implementation method b4, as described above, the service characteristics in the PDU session establishment request include downlink auxiliary information and uplink auxiliary information; in an embodiment of the present application, the downlink auxiliary information or the uplink auxiliary information may include two information elements, namely information element 1 and information element 2, wherein information element 1 is used to indicate the first duration, and information element 2 is used to indicate the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration; or, the downlink auxiliary information may include two information elements, respectively used to indicate the first duration and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration for the downlink, and the uplink auxiliary information includes two information elements, respectively used to indicate the first duration and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration for the uplink.

[0150] Step 204: The network device processes the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0151] The network device processes the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, which may include: (1) the network device configures air interface resources for the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, such as determining the configuration information of the data radio bearer (DRB) or the configuration information of the logical channel corresponding to the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, and sending it to the terminal device. Exemplarily, the network device can send the configuration information of the DRB or the configuration information of the logical channel to the terminal device through an RRC reconfiguration message. Accordingly, the terminal device can configure according to the received DRB configuration information or the configuration information of the logical channel, and send an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the network device after the configuration is completed. (2) The network device transmits the data packet of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0152] The following describes some possible implementations of a network device transmitting data packets of a first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. The network device transmitting data packets of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow may include: the network device transmitting data packets of the first QoS flow according to a packet loss upper limit value calculated according to a first duration, and the network device transmitting data packets of the first QoS flow according to a packet loss upper limit value calculated according to a second duration. Each of these implementations will be described below.

[0153] 1. Describe some possible implementations of a network device transmitting data packets of a first QoS flow according to a packet loss upper limit value calculated based on statistics of a first duration.

[0154] (1) When the above-mentioned implementation method a1 is adopted, taking the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time length as the maximum number of packet loss counted according to the first time length as an example, the network device can shift the time window according to the transmission period and count the number of packet loss in each time window. If the number of packet loss in a certain time window is greater than or equal to the maximum number of packet loss, the transmission reliability of the data packet in the next transmission period can be improved; if the number of packet loss in a certain time window is less than the maximum number of packet loss, the data packet in the next period can be transmitted normally (that is, the transmission reliability of the data packet in the next transmission period is not improved). The duration of each time window is equal to the first time length.

[0155] For example, service 2 is a service that is transmitted according to a transmission cycle, and one data packet is transmitted in each transmission cycle. The network device learns from the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow that the first duration is 2 transmission cycles, and the maximum number of packet losses counted according to the first duration is 2. Figure 3a As shown:

[0156] ① The network device can count the number of packet losses in time window 1 and determine that the number of packet losses in time window 1 is 2, thereby improving the transmission reliability of the data packet in transmission cycle 3.

[0157] ② The network device can count the number of packet losses in time window 2 and determine that the number of packet losses in time window 2 is 1 (less than the maximum number of packet losses), and thus the transmission reliability of the data packet may not be improved in transmission cycle 4.

[0158] ③ The network device can count the number of packet losses in time window 3 and determine that the number of packet losses in time window 3 is 1 (less than the maximum number of packet losses), and thus the transmission reliability of the data packet may not be improved in transmission cycle 5.

[0159] ④ The network device can count the number of packet losses in time window 4 and determine that the number of packet losses in time window 4 is 2, thereby improving the transmission reliability of the data packet in transmission cycle 6.

[0160] For another example, service 2 is a service that is transmitted according to a transmission cycle, and two data packets are transmitted in each transmission cycle. The network device learns from the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow that the first duration is 2 transmission cycles, and the maximum number of packet losses counted according to the first duration is 2. Figure 3b As shown:

[0161] ① The network device can count the number of packet losses in time window 1 and determine that the number of packet losses in time window 1 is 1 (less than the maximum number of packet losses), and thus the transmission reliability of the data packet may not be improved in transmission cycle 3.

[0162] ② The network device can count the number of packet losses in time window 2 and determine that the number of packet losses in time window 2 is 2, thereby improving the transmission reliability of the data packet in transmission cycle 4.

[0163] ③ The network device can count the number of packet losses in time window 3 and determine that the number of packet losses in time window 3 is 1 (less than the maximum number of packet losses), and thus the transmission reliability of the data packet may not be improved in transmission cycle 5.

[0164] ④ The network device can count the number of packet losses in time window 4 and determine that the number of packet losses in time window 4 is 2, thereby improving the transmission reliability of the data packet in transmission cycle 6.

[0165] (2) When the above-mentioned implementation method a2 is adopted, taking the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time length as the maximum number of packet loss counted in each transmission cycle according to the first time length as an example, the network device can shift the time window according to the transmission cycle, and for each time window, the network device can determine whether the number of packet loss in each transmission cycle included in the time window is greater than or equal to the maximum number of packet loss. If so, the transmission reliability of the data packet in the next transmission cycle can be improved; if not, for example, if the number of packet loss in at least one transmission cycle among the multiple transmission cycles included in the time window is less than the maximum number of packet loss, the data packet in the next cycle can be transmitted normally (that is, the transmission reliability of the data packet in the next transmission cycle will not be improved). The duration of each time window is equal to the first time length.

[0166] For example, service 2 is a service that is transmitted according to a transmission cycle, and one data packet is transmitted in each transmission cycle. The network device learns from the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow that the first duration is 2 transmission cycles, and the maximum number of packet losses counted in each transmission cycle of the first duration is 1. Figure 3c As shown:

[0167] ① The network device can count the number of packet losses in each transmission cycle included in time window 1, determine that the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 1 is 1 (equal to the maximum number of packet losses), and the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 2 is 1 (equal to the maximum number of packet losses), and thus improve the transmission reliability of data packets in transmission cycle 3.

[0168] ② The network device can count the number of packet losses in each transmission cycle included in time window 2, determine that the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 2 is 1 (equal to the maximum number of packet losses), and the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 3 is 0 (less than the maximum number of packet losses), and thus the transmission reliability of the data packet does not need to be improved in transmission cycle 4.

[0169] ③ The network device can count the number of packet losses in each transmission cycle included in time window 3, determine that the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 3 is 0 (less than the maximum number of packet losses), and the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 4 is 1 (equal to the maximum number of packet losses), and thus the transmission reliability of the data packet does not need to be improved in transmission cycle 5.

[0170] ④ The network device counts the number of packet losses in each transmission cycle included in time window 4, determines that the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 4 is 1 (equal to the maximum number of packet losses), and the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 5 is 1 (equal to the maximum number of packet losses), which can improve the transmission reliability of data packets in transmission cycle 6.

[0171] For another example, service 2 is a service that is transmitted according to a transmission cycle, and two data packets are transmitted in each transmission cycle. The network device learns from the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow that the first duration is 2 transmission cycles, and the maximum number of packet losses counted in each transmission cycle of the first duration is 1. Figure 3d As shown:

[0172] ① The network device can count the number of packet losses in each transmission cycle included in time window 1, determine that the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 1 is 0 (less than the maximum number of packet losses), and the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 2 is 1 (equal to the maximum number of packet losses), and thus the transmission reliability of the data packet can be maintained in transmission cycle 3.

[0173] ② The network device can count the number of packet losses in each transmission cycle included in time window 2, determine that the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 2 is 1 (equal to the maximum number of packet losses), and the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 3 is 1 (equal to the maximum number of packet losses), thereby improving the transmission reliability of data packets in transmission cycle 4.

[0174] ③ The network device can count the number of packet losses in each transmission cycle included in time window 3, determine that the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 3 is 1 (equal to the maximum number of packet losses), and the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 4 is 0 (less than the maximum number of packet losses), and thus the transmission reliability of the data packet does not need to be improved in transmission cycle 5.

[0175] ④ The network device can count the number of packet losses in each transmission cycle included in time window 4, determine that the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 4 is 0 (less than the maximum number of packet losses), and the number of packet losses in transmission cycle 5 is 2 (greater than the maximum number of packet losses), and thus the transmission reliability of the data packet does not need to be improved in transmission cycle 6.

[0176] According to the above Figures 3a to 3dIt can be seen from the described example that the network device counts the packet loss according to the first time length, and after reaching the packet loss upper limit, it improves the transmission reliability of the data packet in the next transmission cycle, thereby facilitating the satisfaction of the transmission reliability requirements corresponding to the lifetime and effectively avoiding the interruption of the terminal device's business at the application layer.

[0177] It should be noted that: the above Figures 3a to 3d In the examples described above, the maximum packet loss limit is used as an example. In this case, the network device can count the number of packet losses within the time window (or transmission cycle) and compare it with the maximum packet loss number. Based on the comparison result, it can determine whether to improve the transmission reliability of the data packet in the next transmission cycle. In other possible examples, when the packet loss limit is the maximum packet loss rate, for example:

[0178] ① The upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time length is the maximum packet loss rate counted according to the first time length (such as the ratio between the maximum number of data packets allowed to be lost and the number of data packets to be transmitted within the first time length). In this case, the network device can count the number of packet losses within the time window, and obtain the packet loss rate based on the ratio of the number of packet losses within the time window to the number of data packets to be transmitted, compare the packet loss rate with the maximum packet loss rate, and then determine whether to improve the transmission reliability of the data packet in the next transmission cycle based on the comparison result.

[0179] Among them, there are many ways for the network device to determine the number of data packets to be transmitted within the time window. In one possible implementation, the network device can count the arriving data packets by itself, and then determine the number of data packets to be transmitted within the time window based on the statistical results. In another possible implementation, the network device can obtain the number of data packets to be transmitted within the transmission period from the core network device (such as the AMF network element), and then determine the number of data packets to be transmitted within the time window based on the number of data packets to be transmitted within the transmission period. For example, the number of data packets to be transmitted within the transmission period can also be simply described as the number of data packets within the transmission period.

[0180] ② The upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time length is the maximum packet loss rate counted according to each transmission cycle of the first time length (such as the ratio between the maximum number of data packets allowed to be lost in the transmission cycle and the number of data packets to be transmitted). In this case, the network device can count the number of packet losses in each transmission cycle included in the time window, and obtain the packet loss rate based on the ratio of the number of packet losses in each transmission cycle to the number of data packets to be transmitted, compare the packet loss rate with the maximum packet loss rate, and then determine whether to improve the transmission reliability of the data packet in the next transmission cycle based on the comparison result.

[0181] There are multiple ways for a network device to determine the number of data packets to be transmitted within a transmission period. In one possible implementation, the network device can count the number of data packets that arrive and determine the number of data packets to be transmitted within the transmission period based on the statistical results. In another possible implementation, the network device can obtain the number of data packets to be transmitted within the transmission period from a core network device (such as an AMF network element).

[0182] In the above descriptions ① and ②, the maximum packet loss rate is described as the ratio of the maximum number of data packets allowed to be lost to the number of data packets to be transmitted. When the maximum packet loss rate is the ratio of the maximum amount of data allowed to be lost to the amount of data to be transmitted, the network device can obtain the amount of data to be transmitted within the time window or transmission period to determine the packet loss rate within the time window or transmission period. For example, the manner in which the network device obtains the amount of data to be transmitted within the time window or transmission period can be referred to the description of the network device obtaining the number of data packets to be transmitted within the time window or transmission period, and will not be repeated here.

[0183] In the embodiment of the present application, the starting position of the first time window may be the starting position of a transmission period, such as the above Figures 3a to 3d As shown, the starting position of time window 1 is the starting position of transmission cycle 1.

[0184] 2. Some possible implementations of the network device transmitting the data packets of the first QoS flow according to the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the second duration are described.

[0185] For example, the upper limit of packet loss calculated based on the second duration may refer to the packet error rate calculated based on the average window. Figure 3e As shown, the network device can count the packet errors within each averaging window (such as averaging window 1 and averaging window 2) and perform corresponding operations based on the comparison results of the packet errors within each averaging window and the packet error rate. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific operations. The duration of the averaging window is the second duration.

[0186] It should be noted that: (1) the duration of the averaging window can be an integer multiple of the duration of the transmission period, or it can be different from an integer multiple of the duration of the transmission period. (2) the starting position of the first averaging window can be the starting position of a certain transmission period, or it can be different from the starting position of a certain transmission period. Figure 3e In the figure, the starting position of the first averaging window (ie, averaging window 1) is used as an example to illustrate the starting position of the transmission cycle 1.

[0187] 3. Describe the connection between the above 1 and 2.

[0188] In the embodiment of the present application, there is no limitation on the size relationship between the first duration and the second duration; considering that under normal circumstances, the first duration is smaller than the second duration, the embodiment of the present application will be described for the case where the first duration is smaller than the second duration. When the first duration is smaller than the second duration, the network device can transmit the data packets of the first QoS flow according to the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the second duration, and transmit the data packets of the first QoS flow according to the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first duration within the second duration. In other words, the network device can transmit the data packets of the first QoS flow within the same period of time according to the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first duration and the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the second duration.

[0189] For example, the first duration (i.e., time window) includes 2 transmission cycles, and the second duration (i.e., averaging window) includes 5 transmission cycles. Figure 3f As shown, the network device can count the data packet transmission status within each averaging window, and count the data packet transmission status of each time window within the averaging window, and then perform corresponding operations based on the data packet transmission status of each time window, and perform corresponding operations based on the data packet transmission status within each averaging window.

[0190] Understandably, the above Figure 3f In the described example, the starting position of the first time window and the starting position of the first averaging window are taken as the same position for illustration. In other possible examples, the starting position of the first time window and the starting position of the first averaging window may also be different; for example, the starting position of the first time window may be slightly earlier than the starting position of the first averaging window, or the starting position of the first time window may be slightly later than the starting position of the first averaging window. The specific implementation may depend on the internal implementation of the network device, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0191] Regarding the process described in steps 201 to 205 above, it should be noted that:

[0192] (1) The process described in steps 201 to 205 is only an example of a possible process. In specific implementations, adaptive adjustments can be made based on the process described above. For example, for the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, the above-mentioned indication method 1 is used to indicate the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time period. There may be the following examples (see examples 1 to 3); for ease of description, in this case, it can be considered that the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow include QoS parameter 1 and QoS parameter 2, wherein QoS parameter 1 is used to indicate the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time period, and QoS parameter 2 is used to indicate the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time period.

[0193] Example 1: A core network device (such as an SMF network element or an AMF network element) may send a PDU session establishment request message to a network device, where the PDU session establishment request message includes QoS parameter 1 and QoS parameter 2; accordingly, the network device may transmit data packets in the first QoS flow according to QoS parameter 1 and QoS parameter 2. Subsequently, when it is necessary to modify the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow in the PDU session (for example, it is necessary to modify QoS parameter 1 to QoS parameter 1' and QoS parameter 2 to QoS parameter 2'), the core network device may send a PDU session modification request message to the network device, where the PDU session modification request message includes QoS parameter 1' and QoS parameter 2'; accordingly, the network device may transmit data packets in the first QoS flow according to QoS parameter 1' and QoS parameter 2'.

[0194] Example 2: A core network device (such as an SMF network element or an AMF network element) may send a PDU session establishment request message to a network device, where the PDU session establishment request message includes QoS parameter 1 and QoS parameter 2; accordingly, the network device may transmit data packets in the first QoS flow according to QoS parameter 1 and QoS parameter 2. Subsequently, when it is necessary to modify the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow in the PDU session (for example, it is necessary to modify QoS parameter 1 to QoS parameter 1' without modifying QoS parameter 2), the core network device may send a PDU session modification request message to the network device, where the PDU session modification request message includes QoS parameter 1'; accordingly, the network device may transmit data packets in the first QoS flow according to QoS parameter 1' and QoS parameter 2.

[0195] Example 3: A core network device (such as an SMF network element or an AMF network element) may send a PDU session establishment request message to a network device, where the PDU session establishment request message includes QoS parameter 1 and QoS parameter 2; accordingly, the network device may transmit data packets in the first QoS flow according to QoS parameter 1 and QoS parameter 2. Subsequently, when it is necessary to modify the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow in the PDU session (for example, it is necessary to modify QoS parameter 2 to QoS parameter 2' without modifying QoS parameter 1), the core network device may send a PDU session modification request message to the network device, where the PDU session modification request message includes QoS parameter 2'; accordingly, the network device may transmit data packets in the first QoS flow according to QoS parameter 1 and QoS parameter 2'.

[0196] (2) The process described in steps 201 to 205 above only illustrates some possible steps. In a specific implementation, other possible steps may also be included. For example, after the network device receives the PDU session establishment request, it may also return a PDU session establishment response message to the SMF network element.

[0197] According to the content of the above-mentioned embodiment 1, the network device can obtain the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from the core network device, and then process the first QoS flow based on the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the two time lengths. Moreover, since the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time length can be determined according to the transmission reliability requirement corresponding to the lifetime of the service carried by the first QoS flow, it can more effectively ensure the transmission reliability of the service and avoid the interruption of the service of the terminal device at the application layer.

[0198] Example 2

[0199] In the second embodiment, the method in the embodiment of the present application will be described by taking the application of the method in the dual connection scenario as an example.

[0200] In a dual-connection scenario, a terminal device can be connected to two network devices simultaneously, one of which is the primary network device and the other is the secondary network device. In this case, the primary network device can receive QoS parameters for the first QoS flow from the core network device, and the secondary network device can receive QoS parameters for the first QoS flow from the primary network device.

[0201] Figure 4 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 2 of this application, such as Figure 4 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0202] In step 401, the SMF network element obtains the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. The first QoS flow is used to carry service 2, which may be a TSN service.

[0203] Step 402: The SMF network element sends the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the primary network device through the AMF network element.

[0204] Accordingly, in step 403, the primary network device receives the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0205] Exemplarily, the implementation of the SMF network element sending the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the primary network device through the AMF network element can refer to the description in Example 1. For example, the SMF network element can send a PDU session establishment request to the network device through the AMF network element, and the PDU session establishment request includes the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow; or, the SMF network element can send a PDU session modification request to the network device through the AMF network element, and the PDU session modification request includes the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0206] Step 404: The primary network device sends the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the secondary network device.

[0207] Accordingly, in step 405, the secondary network device receives the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0208] For example, when the primary network device receives a PDU session establishment request (carrying the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow), it can forward the PDU session establishment request to the secondary network device. Alternatively, when the primary network device receives a PDU session modification request (carrying the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow), it can forward the PDU session modification request to the secondary network device.

[0209] It should be noted that in other possible examples, the primary network device may also send the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the secondary network device during the process of adding a secondary network device for the terminal device; for example, the primary network device sends a secondary base station addition request (SgNB addition request) to the secondary network device, and the secondary base station addition request includes the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0210] In step 406 , both the primary network device and the secondary network device process the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0211] The primary network device processes the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, which may include: (1) the primary network device configures air interface resources for the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, such as determining the configuration information of the DRB or the logical channel corresponding to the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, and sending the configuration information to the terminal device. (2) the primary network device transmits the data packets of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. For specific implementation, refer to the description of the network device transmitting the data packets of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow in Example 1.

[0212] The auxiliary network device processes the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, which may include: (1) the auxiliary network device configures air interface resources for the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, such as determining the configuration information of the DRB or the configuration information of the logical channel corresponding to the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. Furthermore, the auxiliary network device may send the determined configuration information of the DRB or the configuration information of the logical channel to the main network device, which then sends it to the terminal device; or it may directly send it to the terminal device, which is not specifically limited. (2) The auxiliary network device transmits the data packets of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. For specific implementation, refer to the description of the network device transmitting the data packets of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow in Example 1.

[0213] According to the content of the above-mentioned embodiment 2, after the main network device obtains the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from the core network device, it can also send the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the auxiliary network device, so that both the main network device and the auxiliary network device can process the first QoS flow based on the upper limit of packet loss calculated according to the two time lengths, thereby more effectively ensuring the transmission reliability of the service and avoiding interruption of the terminal device's service at the application layer.

[0214] It should be noted that the above description is based on the example of the main network device sending the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the auxiliary network device. In other possible networking scenarios, such as in the networking scenario of macro base station + small base station (the macro base station is used to establish a control plane connection (optionally, a user plane connection), and the small base station is used to establish a user plane connection), the macro base station can also obtain the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from the core network device, and then send the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the small base station.

[0215] Example 3

[0216] In the third embodiment, the method in the embodiment of the present application will be described as being applicable to a switching scenario.

[0217] Exemplarily, the handover scenario may include multiple possible handover situations, such as situation 1, where a terminal device is handed over from one cell of a network device to another cell of the network device; and situation 2, where a terminal device is handed over from the cell of a first network device to the cell of a second network device. In situation 2, the first network device may be a source network device, and the second network device may be a target network device. The source network device and the target network device may be network devices under the same AMF network element, or may be network devices under different AMF network elements.

[0218] In scenario 1, the network device can receive the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from the core network device. In scenario 2, the source network device can receive the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from the core network device, and the target network device can receive the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from the source network device or the core network device. Scenario 2 will be described below.

[0219] Figure 5 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 3 of this application, such as Figure 5 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0220] Step 501: The SMF network element obtains the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. The first QoS flow is used to carry service 2, which may be a TSN service.

[0221] Step 502: The SMF network element sends the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the source network device through the AMF network element.

[0222] Accordingly, in step 503, the source network device receives the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0223] Step 504: The source network device processes the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0224] Step 505: When the terminal device needs to be switched to the target network device, the source network device may send a handover request message to the target network device. The handover request message includes the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0225] It should be noted that the description here is based on the example of the source network device sending a switching request message to the target network device, and the switching request message includes the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. In other possible embodiments, for example, the source network device and the target network device are network devices under the same AMF network element, then the AMF network element can also send a switching request message to the target network device, and the switching request message includes the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. For another example, the source network device and the target network device are network devices under different AMF network elements, wherein the AMF network element corresponding to the source network device can be called the source AMF network element, and the AMF network element corresponding to the target network device can be called the target AMF network element, then the source AMF network element can send the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the target AMF network element, and then the target AMF network element can send a switching request message to the target network device, and the switching request message includes the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0226] Step 506: The target network device receives the handover request message and obtains the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from the handover request message.

[0227] In step 507 , the target network device may establish a second QoS flow for the terminal device according to the received QoS parameters, and transmit data packets of the second QoS flow according to the QoS parameters.

[0228] In one example, before the terminal device switches to the target network device, the target network device can establish a second QoS flow for the terminal device based on the QoS parameters sent by the source network device. The QoS flow identifier (QoS flowindicator, QFI) of the second QoS flow and the QFI of the first QoS flow can be the same or different; then, after the terminal device switches to the target network device, the target network device can transmit data packets to the terminal device based on the established second QoS flow and QoS parameters.

[0229] According to the content of the above-mentioned embodiment three, the target network device can obtain the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, so that after the terminal device switches to the target network device, the target network device can process the QoS flow based on the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the two time lengths, effectively avoiding the interruption of the terminal device's service at the application layer due to the switching of the terminal device.

[0230] In the above description, the network device (RAN device) is illustrated as a whole device. In other possible examples, the RAN device may be composed of separate nodes, such as Figure 6a and Figure 6b .

[0231] Figure 6a This is another network architecture diagram applicable to the embodiment of this application. Figure 6a As shown, the network architecture includes servers (such as application servers) in the data network, CN equipment, RAN equipment, and terminal equipment; the RAN equipment includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. The communication between the RAN equipment and the terminal equipment follows a certain protocol layer structure. For example, the control plane protocol layer structure can include the functions of the RRC layer, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, radio link control (RLC) layer, media access control (MAC) layer, and physical layer; the user plane protocol layer structure can include the functions of the PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and physical layer (PHY); in one possible implementation, the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer can also be included above the PDCP layer.

[0232] The RAN device can implement the functions of the protocol layers such as RRC, PDCP, RLC and MAC by one node, or can implement the functions of these protocol layers by multiple nodes. For example, in an evolutionary structure, the RAN device can include CU and DU, and multiple DUs can be centrally controlled by one CU. Figure 2As shown, CU and DU can be divided according to the protocol layers of the wireless network, for example, the functions of the PDCP layer and above protocol layers are set in CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below PDCP, such as the RLC layer and MAC layer, are set in DU. This division of the protocol layers is only an example, and it can also be divided in other protocol layers, for example, division in the RLC layer, setting the functions of the RLC layer and above protocol layers in CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer in DU; or, division in a certain protocol layer, for example, setting part of the functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer in CU, and setting the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer in DU. In addition, it can also be divided in other ways, such as division by delay, setting the functions whose processing time needs to meet the delay requirements in DU, and setting the functions that do not need to meet the delay requirements in CU.

[0233] In addition, the radio frequency device can be independently integrated and not placed in the DU, or it can be integrated in the DU, or part of it can be remotely located and part of it can be integrated in the DU. There is no limitation here.

[0234] Figure 6b This is another network architecture diagram applicable to the embodiment of this application. Figure 6a The network architecture shown, Figure 6b The control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) of a CU can also be separated and implemented as separate entities: a control plane (CP) CU entity (i.e., a CU-CP entity) and a user plane (UP) CU entity (i.e., a CU-UP entity). Each DU and CU-UP is connected to only one CU-CP. Under the control of the same CU-CP, a DU can be connected to multiple CU-UPs, and a CU-UP can be connected to multiple DUs.

[0235] based on Figure 6b , Figure 6c Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the air interface protocol stack distribution. Figure 6c As shown in the figure, for both the user plane and the control plane, the air interface protocol stack can be RLC, MAC, and PHY in the DU, and PDCP and above protocol layers in the CU. Among them, the RRC layer is used to implement air interface radio resources and air interface connection control, and SDAP is used to map QoS flows to DRBs.

[0236] It should be noted that: (1) the above-mentioned main combination Figure 6a and Figure 6b The protocol layer architecture of the network device is described. In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also include a corresponding protocol layer architecture. For example, taking the user plane protocol layer architecture as an example, see Figure 6dAs shown, the terminal device may include an SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. Furthermore, the terminal device may also include an application layer and a non-access layer. Among them, the application layer can be used to provide services to applications installed in the terminal device. For example, the downlink data received by the terminal device can be transmitted from the physical layer to the application layer in sequence, and then provided to the application by the application layer; for another example, the application layer can obtain data generated by the application (such as videos recorded by users using applications, etc.), and transmit the data to the physical layer in sequence and send it to other communication devices. The non-access layer can be used to forward user data, such as forwarding uplink data received from the application layer to the SDAP layer or forwarding downlink data received from the SDAP layer to the application layer. Furthermore, an application layer equivalent to the application of the terminal device can be set in the application server.

[0237] (2) Figure 6a or Figure 6b In the network architecture shown, the signaling generated by the CU can be sent to the terminal device through the DU, or the signaling generated by the terminal device can be sent to the CU through the DU. The DU can directly encapsulate the signaling through the protocol layer and transparently transmit it to the terminal device or CU without parsing it. In the embodiment of the present application, if the transmission of such signaling between the DU and the terminal device is involved, then the sending or receiving of the signaling by the DU includes this scenario. For example, the signaling of the RRC or PDCP layer will eventually be processed as the signaling of the PHY layer and sent to the terminal device, or converted from the received signaling of the PHY layer. Under this architecture, the signaling of the RRC or PDCP layer can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or sent by the DU and the RF loader.

[0238] Based on the above Figure 6a and Figure 6b The network architecture shown is combined with Example 4 and Example 5 to describe the method provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0239] Example 4

[0240] In Example 4, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied to Figure 6a The implementation of the network architecture shown is described below.

[0241] Figure 7 This is a flow chart corresponding to the communication method provided in Example 4 of this application, such as Figure 7 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0242] Step 701: The CU obtains QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0243] Here, there are many ways for the CU to obtain the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. For example, the CU can obtain the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from the core network device. The specific implementation can refer to the description of the network device obtaining the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from the core network device in the above embodiment 1.

[0244] Step 702: The CU sends the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the DU.

[0245] Accordingly, in step 703, the DU receives the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0246] Here, there may be multiple ways for the CU to send the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the DU, such as the CU sending a terminal device context establishment request (UE context setup request) message to the DU, where the context establishment request message includes the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0247] In step 704, the DU may process the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0248] Exemplarily, the DU processes the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, which may include: (1) the DU configures air interface resources for the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, such as determining the configuration information of the DRB or the configuration information of the logical channel corresponding to the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, and sending it to the CU, which then sends it to the terminal device. (2) the DU transmits the data packets of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. For specific implementation, refer to the description of the network device transmitting the data packets of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow in Example 1.

[0249] Example 5

[0250] In Example 5, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied to Figure 6b The implementation of the network architecture shown is described below.

[0251] Figure 8 This is a flow chart corresponding to a communication method provided in Example 5 of the present application, such as Figure 8 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0252] Step 801: The CU-CP entity obtains QoS parameters of a first QoS flow.

[0253] Here, there are multiple ways for the CU-CP entity to obtain the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. For example, the CU-CP can obtain the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from the core network device. The specific implementation can refer to the description of the network device obtaining the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow from the core network device in the above embodiment 1.

[0254] Step 802: The CU-CP entity sends QoS parameters of a first QoS flow to the CU-UP entity.

[0255] Accordingly, in step 803, the CU-UP entity receives the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0256] Here, there are multiple ways for the CU-CP entity to send the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow to the CU-UP entity, such as the CU-CP entity sending a bearer context setup request message to the CU-UP entity, and the bearer context setup request message includes the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0257] In step 804, the CU-UP entity may process the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0258] Exemplarily, the CU-UP entity processes the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, which may include: (1) the CU-UP entity configures air interface resources for the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, such as determining the configuration information of the DRB or the configuration information of the logical channel corresponding to the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, and sending it to the CU-CP entity, which then sends it to the terminal device. (2) the CU-UP entity transmits the data packets of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. For specific implementation, refer to the description of the network device transmitting the data packets of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow in Example 1.

[0259] Regarding the above-mentioned embodiments 1 to 5, it should be noted that:

[0260] (1) The step numbers in the flowcharts described in Examples 1 to 5 are merely examples of the execution process and do not limit the order in which the steps are executed. In the embodiments of this application, there is no strict execution order between steps that have no temporal dependencies. Furthermore, not all steps shown in the flowcharts are mandatory steps, and steps may be added or deleted based on actual needs.

[0261] (2) The above description focuses on the differences between the different embodiments in Examples 1 to 5. Except for the differences, Examples 1 to 5 can refer to each other. For example, the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow in Examples 2 to 5 can refer to the relevant description of Example 1.

[0262] The above mainly introduces the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of interaction between devices. It can be understood that in order to realize the above functions, the network device or core network device may include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in a hardware or computer software driven hardware manner depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0263] In the embodiments of the present application, network devices or core network devices can be divided into functional units according to the above method examples. For example, functional units can be divided according to different functions, or two or more functions can be integrated into one unit. The above integrated units can be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0264] In the case of an integrated unit, Figure 9 A possible exemplary block diagram of the device involved in the embodiments of the present application is shown. Figure 9 As shown, apparatus 900 may include a processing unit 902 and a communication unit 903. Processing unit 902 is used to control and manage the operations of apparatus 900. Communication unit 903 is used to support communication between apparatus 900 and other devices. Optionally, communication unit 903 is also referred to as a transceiver unit and may include a receiving unit and / or a sending unit, each configured to perform receiving and sending operations. Apparatus 900 may also include a storage unit 901 for storing program code and / or data of apparatus 900.

[0265] The device 900 may be the network device in the above-mentioned embodiment, or may also be a chip provided in the network device. In the second embodiment, the network device may be a primary network device or a secondary network device; in the third embodiment, the network device may be a source network device or a target network device; in the fourth embodiment, the network device may include a CU and a DU; in the fifth embodiment, the network device may include a CU and a DU, wherein the CU may include a CU-CP entity and a CU-UP entity. The processing unit 902 may support the device 900 in executing the actions of the network device in each method example above. Alternatively, the processing unit 902 mainly executes the internal actions of the network device in the method example, and the communication unit 903 may support the communication between the device 900 and other devices.

[0266] Specifically, in one embodiment, the communication unit 903 is used to receive QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, where the QoS parameters are used to indicate the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time length and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the second time length; and to transmit data packets of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters.

[0267] In one possible design, the first QoS flow is used to carry the first service, and the first duration is the lifetime of the first service.

[0268] In one possible design, the service carried by the first QoS flow is a service transmitted according to a transmission cycle, and the first duration includes N transmission cycles.

[0269] In one possible design, the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time length includes: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to the first time length; or the maximum packet loss amount counted according to the first time length; or the maximum number of packet losses counted according to the first time length; or the packet error rate counted according to the first time length.

[0270] In one possible design, the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first time length includes: the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to each transmission period of the first time length.

[0271] In one possible design, the upper limit of packet loss counted according to each transmission period of the first duration includes: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to each transmission period of the first duration; or, the maximum packet loss amount counted according to each transmission period of the first duration; or, the maximum number of packet losses counted according to each transmission period of the first duration; or, the packet error rate counted according to each transmission period of the first duration.

[0272] In one possible design, the service carried by the first QoS flow is a service transmitted according to a transmission cycle; the method also includes: obtaining the number of data packets or the amount of data in each transmission cycle from the core network device.

[0273] In one possible design, the QoS parameters include a first duration and an upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first duration; or, the QoS parameters include a 5G service quality identifier 5QI, and the 5QI is associated with the first duration and the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first duration.

[0274] In one possible design, the communication unit 903 is specifically used to receive the QoS parameters from the core network device; wherein the QoS parameters are carried in a PDU session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message; or, the QoS parameters are carried in a switching request message, and the network device is the target network device for the terminal device to switch.

[0275] In one possible design, the network device is a secondary network device of the terminal device, and the communication unit 903 is specifically used to receive the QoS parameters from the primary network device of the terminal device; the QoS parameters are carried in a PDU session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message.

[0276] In one possible design, the network device is the target network device of the terminal device, and the communication unit 903 is specifically used to receive the QoS parameters from the source network device of the terminal device; the QoS parameters are carried in the switching request message.

[0277] The apparatus 900 may be a core network device in the aforementioned embodiments, or may be a chip disposed within the core network device. The processing unit 902 may support the apparatus 900 in executing the actions of the core network device in the various method examples described above. Alternatively, the processing unit 902 primarily executes the internal actions of the core network device in the method examples, and the communication unit 903 may support communication between the apparatus 900 and other devices.

[0278] Specifically, in one embodiment, the processing unit 902 is used to obtain QoS parameters of the first QoS flow, and the QoS parameters are used to indicate the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first time length and the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the second time length; the communication unit 903 is used to send the QoS parameters to the network device.

[0279] In one possible design, the first QoS flow is used to carry the first service, and the first duration is the lifetime of the first service.

[0280] In one possible design, the service carried by the first QoS flow is a service transmitted according to a transmission cycle, and the first duration includes N transmission cycles.

[0281] In one possible design, the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first time length includes: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to the first time length; or the maximum packet loss amount counted according to the first time length; or the maximum number of packet losses counted according to the first time length; or the packet error rate counted according to the first time length.

[0282] In one possible design, the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first time length includes: the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to each transmission period of the first time length.

[0283] In one possible design, the upper limit of packet loss counted according to each transmission period of the first duration includes: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to each transmission period of the first duration; or, the maximum packet loss amount counted according to each transmission period of the first duration; or, the maximum number of packet losses counted according to each transmission period of the first duration; or, the packet error rate counted according to each transmission period of the first duration.

[0284] In one possible design, the service carried by the first QoS flow is a service transmitted according to a transmission cycle; the communication unit 903 is also used to send the number of data packets or the amount of data in each transmission cycle to the network device.

[0285] In one possible design, the QoS parameters include a first duration and an upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first duration; or, the QoS parameters include 5QI, and the 5QI is associated with the first duration and an upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first duration.

[0286] In one possible design, the QoS parameters are carried in a PDU session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message; or, the QoS parameters are carried in a switching request message, and the network device is the target network device to which the terminal device switches.

[0287] It should be understood that the division of units in the above device is merely a division of logical functions. In actual implementation, they can be fully or partially integrated into one physical entity, or they can be physically separated. Moreover, the units in the device can all be implemented in the form of software called through processing elements; or they can all be implemented in the form of hardware; or some units can be implemented in the form of software called through processing elements, and some units can be implemented in the form of hardware. For example, each unit can be a separately established processing element, or it can be integrated into a certain chip of the device. In addition, it can also be stored in the memory in the form of a program, called by a certain processing element of the device and perform the function of the unit. In addition, all or part of these units can be integrated together, or they can be implemented independently. The processing element described here can also be a processor, which can be an integrated circuit with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method or each unit above can be implemented by the integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor element or in the form of software called through the processing element.

[0288] In one example, the unit in any of the above devices may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method, such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more digital singnal processors (DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms. For another example, when the unit in the device can be implemented in the form of a processing element scheduler, the processing element can be a processor, such as a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), or other processor that can call a program. For another example, these units can be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0289] The above-mentioned receiving unit is an interface circuit of the device, which is used to receive signals from other devices. For example, when the device is implemented as a chip, the receiving unit is the interface circuit of the chip used to receive signals from other chips or devices. The above-mentioned sending unit is an interface circuit of the device, which is used to send signals to other devices. For example, when the device is implemented as a chip, the sending unit is the interface circuit of the chip used to send signals to other chips or devices.

[0290] See also Figure 10 , is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application, the network device (or base station) can be applied to Figure 1a 、 Figure 1c In the system architecture shown, the functions of the network device in the above method embodiment are performed. The network device 100 may include one or more DUs 1001 and one or more CUs 1002. The DU 1001 may include at least one antenna 10011, at least one radio frequency unit 10012, at least one processor 10013 and at least one memory 10014. The DU 1001 is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals, converting radio frequency signals into baseband signals, and part of the baseband processing. The CU 1002 may include at least one processor 10022 and at least one memory 10021. The CU 1002 and the DU 1001 may communicate through an interface, wherein the control plane interface may be Fs-C, such as F1-C, and the user plane interface may be Fs-U, such as F1-U.

[0291] The CU 1002 is primarily used for baseband processing and controlling network devices. The DU 1001 and CU 1002 can be physically located together or separately, i.e., as a distributed base station. The CU 1002 is the control center of the network device, also known as a processing unit, and is primarily used to perform baseband processing. For example, the CU 1002 can be used to control the network device to execute the network device operation process described in the above method embodiments.

[0292] In addition, the network device 100 may optionally include one or more radio frequency units (RFUs), one or more DUs (DUs), and one or more CUs. The DUs may include at least one processor 10013 and at least one memory 10014, the RFUs may include at least one antenna 10011 and at least one RFU 10012, and the CUs may include at least one processor 10022 and at least one memory 10021.

[0293] In one example, the CU1002 may be composed of one or more single boards, and the multiple single boards may jointly support a wireless access network with a single access indication (such as a 5G network), or may respectively support wireless access networks with different access standards (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The memory 10021 and the processor 10022 may serve one or more single boards. That is, a memory and a processor may be separately set on each single board. It is also possible that multiple single boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits may be provided on each single board. The DU1001 may be composed of one or more single boards, and the multiple single boards may jointly support a wireless access network with a single access indication (such as a 5G network), or may respectively support wireless access networks with different access standards (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The memory 10014 and the processor 10013 may serve one or more single boards. That is, a memory and a processor may be separately set on each single board. It is also possible that multiple single boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits may be provided on each single board.

[0294] Figure 10 The network equipment shown is capable of Figure 2 or Figure 4 or Figure 5 The illustrated method embodiment involves various processes of a network device. Figure 10 The operations and / or functions of the modules in the network device are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description in the above method embodiments. To avoid repetition, detailed description is appropriately omitted here.

[0295] refer to Figure 11 , is a structural diagram of a core network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. It can be the SMF network element or AMF network element in the above embodiment, used to implement the operations of the SMF network element or AMF network element in the above embodiment.

[0296] like Figure 11 As shown, the core network device 1100 may include a processor 1101, a memory 1102, and a transceiver 1103. The processor 1101 may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and to control the communication device. The memory 1102 may be used to store programs and data, and the processor 1101 may execute the method performed by the AMF network element or the SMF network element in the embodiment of the present application based on the program. The transceiver 1103 may be used for wireless communication of the core network device 1100, for example, it may be a service-based communication interface.

[0297] The above memory 1102 may also be externally connected to the core network device 1100 . In this case, the core network device 1100 may include a transceiver 1103 and a processor 1101 .

[0298] The transceiver 1103 may also be externally connected to the core network device 1100. In this case, the core network device 1100 may include a memory 1102 and a processor 1101. When both the transceiver 1103 and the memory 1102 are externally connected to the core network device 1100, the communication device 1100 may include a processor 1101.

[0299] Figure 11 The core network equipment shown can achieve Figure 2 or Figure 4 or Figure 5 The illustrated method embodiment involves various processes of a core network device. Figure 11 The operations and / or functions of the modules in the network device are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description in the above method embodiments. To avoid repetition, detailed description is appropriately omitted here.

[0300] The embodiments of the present application adopt some messages that have been used in the 3GPP NR system, but in a specific implementation, different messages or message names may be used, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0301] The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, "at least one of A, B and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. And, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects.

[0302] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application can adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application can adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

[0303] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the flow chart and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more flow charts and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0304] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0305] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0306] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of this application fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application is intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applicable to a first network device or a chip in the first network device, and includes: Receive a QoS parameter of a first quality of service QoS flow, where the QoS parameter is used to indicate a packet loss upper limit value calculated according to a first duration and a packet loss upper limit value calculated according to a second duration; wherein the first QoS flow is used to carry a first service, the first duration is a lifetime of the first service, and the packet loss upper limit value calculated according to the second duration is a packet error rate calculated according to an average window; The data packets of the first QoS flow are transmitted according to the QoS parameters.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The service carried by the first QoS flow is a service transmitted according to a transmission cycle, and the first duration includes N transmission cycles.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first time length includes: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to the first time length; or the maximum packet loss amount counted according to the first time length; or the maximum number of packet losses counted according to the first time length; or the packet error rate counted according to the first time length.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first duration includes: the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to each transmission period of the first duration.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The upper limit value of packet loss counted according to each transmission period of the first time length includes: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to each transmission period of the first time length; or, the maximum packet loss amount counted according to each transmission period of the first time length; or, the maximum number of packet losses counted according to each transmission period of the first time length; or, the packet error rate counted according to each transmission period of the first time length.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The service carried by the first QoS flow is a service transmitted according to a transmission cycle; The method further includes: obtaining the number of data packets or the amount of data in each transmission cycle from the core network device.

7. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The QoS parameters include the first duration and an upper limit of packet loss calculated based on the first duration; or The QoS parameters include a 5G service quality identifier 5QI, and the 5QI is associated with the first duration and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration.

8. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that Receiving the QoS parameter includes: Receiving the QoS parameters from a core network device; The QoS parameters are carried in a protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message; or The QoS parameters are carried in a switching request message, and the first network device is the target network device to which the terminal device switches.

9. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that Receiving the QoS parameter includes: receiving the QoS parameters from a second network device; The second network device is the main network device of the terminal device, the first network device is the auxiliary network device of the terminal device, and the QoS parameters are carried in a PDU session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message; or, the second network device is the source network device of the terminal device, the first network device is the target network device of the terminal device, and the QoS parameters are carried in a switching request message.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applicable to a core network device or a chip in the core network device, and the method includes: Obtaining a QoS parameter for a first QoS flow, where the QoS parameter indicates a packet loss upper limit calculated according to a first duration and a packet loss upper limit calculated according to a second duration; wherein the first QoS flow is used to carry a first service, the first duration is a lifetime of the first service, and the packet loss upper limit calculated according to the second duration is a packet error rate calculated according to an average window; The QoS parameters are sent to the network device.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The service carried by the first QoS flow is a service transmitted according to a transmission cycle, and the first duration includes N transmission cycles.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that The upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first time length includes: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to the first time length; or the maximum packet loss amount counted according to the first time length; or the maximum number of packet losses counted according to the first time length; or the packet error rate counted according to the first time length.

13. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The upper limit value of packet loss counted according to the first duration includes: the upper limit value of packet loss counted according to each transmission period of the first duration.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The upper limit value of packet loss counted according to each transmission period of the first time length includes: the maximum packet loss rate counted according to each transmission period of the first time length; or, the maximum packet loss amount counted according to each transmission period of the first time length; or, the maximum number of packet losses counted according to each transmission period of the first time length; or, the packet error rate counted according to each transmission period of the first time length.

15. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that The service carried by the first QoS flow is a service transmitted according to a transmission cycle; The method further includes: sending the number of data packets or the amount of data in each transmission cycle to the network device.

16. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that The QoS parameters include the first duration and an upper limit of packet loss calculated based on the first duration; or The QoS parameters include a 5G service quality identifier 5QI, and the 5QI is associated with the first duration and the upper limit of packet loss counted according to the first duration.

17. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that The QoS parameters are carried in a PDU session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message; or, The QoS parameters are carried in a switching request message, and the network device is the target network device to which the terminal device switches.

18. A communication system, characterized in that: The communication system includes: a first network device and a core network device; The core network device is used to obtain a QoS parameter of a first QoS flow, where the QoS parameter is used to indicate a packet loss upper limit value calculated according to a first duration and a packet loss upper limit value calculated according to a second duration; and send the QoS parameter to the first network device; wherein the first QoS flow is used to carry a first service, the first duration is the lifetime of the first service, and the packet loss upper limit value calculated according to the second duration is a packet error rate calculated according to an average window; The first network device is configured to receive the QoS parameters from the core network device and transmit data packets of the first QoS flow according to the QoS parameters.

19. The communication system according to claim 18, wherein: The communication system further includes a second network device; The first network device is further configured to send the QoS parameter to the second network device; The second network device is configured to receive the QoS parameters from the first network device and transmit data packets of a second QoS flow according to the QoS parameters; The first network device is a primary network device of the terminal device, the second network device is a secondary network device of the terminal device, and the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow are the same QoS flow; or The first network device is a source network device of the terminal device, and the second network device is a target network device of the terminal device.

20. The communication system according to claim 18, wherein The communication system further includes a second network device; The core network device is further configured to send the QoS parameter to the second network device; The second network device is configured to receive the QoS parameters from the core network device and transmit data packets of a second QoS flow according to the QoS parameters; The first network device is a source network device of the terminal device, and the second network device is a target network device of the terminal device.

21. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises means for performing the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: The system comprises at least one processor and an interface circuit, wherein the at least one processor is configured to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17.

23. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The device comprises a program, and when the program is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17 is executed.

24. A computer program product, characterized in that When a computer reads and executes the program or instructions in the computer program product, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17 is performed.

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