Methods and apparatus for transmitting data

Abstract

The present application provides a method and device for transmitting data, wherein the CU-CP determines the first information, and sends the DRB identification information, the PDU session identification information corresponding to the DRB identification information, and the QoS flow identification information corresponding to the DRB identification information to the CU-UPF (the network element after the UPF and CU-UP are merged) through the SMF, so that the CU-UPF can add the corresponding QoS flow identification information and the corresponding QoS flow attribute information to the downlink data packet according to the above information for the tunnel between the DRB and the DU, and according to the DRB identification information and the QoS flow identification information corresponding to the DRB identification information, and the downlink data packet sent through the tunnel. Thus, the transmission of the downlink data packet and the corresponding QoS flow attribute information is realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method and device for transmitting data. Background Art

[0002] The fifth generation (5G) communication technology introduces the centralized unit (CU) / distributed unit (DU) architecture, which divides the access network equipment (e.g., base station) into two parts: CU and DU. The CU can be divided into the centralized unit control plane (CU-CP) and the centralized unit user plane (CU-UP). The CU-CP can be responsible for the control plane function, and the CU-UP can be responsible for the user plane function.

[0003] As CU / DU separation related technologies mature, it may become mainstream to deploy CU and user plane function (UPF) in the same physical machine room. In order to reduce the number of data plane transmission hops, save costs, and terminate the data plane security node in the core network, it is possible to merge UPF and CU-UP into one network element. In the fusion scenario, how to transmit downlink data packets and the corresponding quality of service (QoS) flow attribute information is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present application provides a method and device for transmitting data, which can realize the transmission of downlink data packets and corresponding QoS flow attribute information in a converged scenario.

[0005] In a first aspect, a method for transmitting data is provided, comprising: a first user plane device receives first information from a session management network element, and establishes a tunnel between a data radio bearer (DRB) and a DU based on the first information. Furthermore, the first user plane device adds identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in a header of the downlink data packet based on identification information of the DRB and identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and sends the downlink data packet through the tunnel. The first information includes identification information of the DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit (PDU) session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB.

[0006] The first user plane device is a converged network element, that is, the first user plane device has the functions of a user plane network element (such as UPF) and a CU-UP.

[0007] In a non-converged scenario, the tunnel between the user plane network element and the CU-UP is an N3 tunnel, and one PDU session corresponds to one N3 tunnel. The tunnel between the CU-UP and the DU is a tunnel of DRB granularity, and the identification information and attribute information of the QoS flow terminate at the CU-UP and do not need to be sent to the DU. In a converged scenario, the tunnel between the first user plane device and the DU is a tunnel of DRB granularity, and one PDU session can correspond to multiple tunnels of DRB granularity. In addition, the identification information and attribute information of the QoS flow need to be sent to the DU to achieve the purpose of querying the paging level, etc. In a converged scenario, according to the method for transmitting data provided in the present application, the session management network element sends the mapping relationship between the PDU session, DRB and QoS flow to the first user plane device, so that the first user plane device establishes a tunnel of DRB granularity with the DU according to the mapping relationship, and can add the identification of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow in the header of the downlink data packet according to the mapping relationship between the DRB and the QoS flow, and transmit the downlink data packet through the tunnel, thereby realizing the transmission of the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow.

[0008] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first user plane device establishes a tunnel between the DRB and the distributed unit based on the first information, including: the first user plane device sends configuration information of the uplink port to the session management network element, and the uplink port is the destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel.

[0009] Based on this solution, after receiving the configuration information of the uplink port, the session management network element can send the configuration information of the uplink port to the first access network device. The first access network device can configure the uplink port according to the configuration information of the uplink port. Subsequently, the DU can use the uplink port to perform uplink transmission through the tunnel. Among them, the first access network device is CU-CP.

[0010] Exemplarily, the configuration information of the uplink port may include an Internet Protocol (IP) address and a tunnel identifier used by the first user plane device to receive uplink data packets.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first user plane device establishes a tunnel between the DRB and the distributed unit based on the first information, including: the first user plane device receives configuration information of a downlink port from the session management network element, and the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel; the first user plane device configures the downlink port based on the configuration information of the downlink port.

[0012] Based on this solution, after the first user plane device configures the downlink port, the first user plane device can use the downlink port to perform downlink transmission through the tunnel.

[0013] Exemplarily, the configuration information of the downlink port may include an IP address and a tunnel identifier used by the first user plane device to send downlink data packets.

[0014] It should be understood that the tunnel identifier used by the first user plane apparatus to receive an uplink data packet and the tunnel identifier used to send a downlink data packet may be the same or different.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the attribute information includes a paging priority identity (PPI).

[0016] Based on this solution, after the DU receives the downlink data packet, if the terminal device is in a connected state, the downlink data packet can be sent to the terminal device. If the terminal device is in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, the DU can report the PPI to the first access network device. After the first access network device receives the PPI reported by the DU, it can select a local paging strategy and initiate a paging request to the access and mobility management network element or other access network elements. In this way, the RRC inactive function can be reasonably supported in a converged scenario.

[0017] It should be understood that the access network device here can be a CU-CP under a CU / DU separation architecture, or it can be an access network device under a non-separation architecture, such as a base station.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the attribute information includes data delay (packet delay budget).

[0019] Based on this solution, after receiving the downlink data packet, the DU can determine whether the downlink data packet can be transmitted on time according to the data delay carried by the downlink data packet. If the downlink data packet cannot be transmitted on time, the DU can adjust the scheduling priority of the downlink data packet. In this way, the PDB allocation function can be better supported in the converged scenario.

[0020] In a second aspect, a method for transmitting data is provided, comprising: a session management network element receives first information from a first access network device, and sends the first information to a first user plane device. The first information includes identification information of a DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit (PDU) session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and identification information of a quality of service (QoS) flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB. The first information is used to establish a tunnel of DRB granularity between the first user plane device and a distributed unit, and the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB are used to add the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel.

[0021] Among them, the first access network device is CU-CP.

[0022] According to the method for transmitting data provided in the present application, the first access network device can send the mapping relationship between the PDU session, DRB and QoS flow to the first user plane device through the session management network element, so that the first user plane device can establish a DRB-granular tunnel with the DU based on the mapping relationship, and can add the identifier of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow in the packet header of the downlink data packet according to the mapping relationship between the DRB and the QoS flow, and transmit the downlink data packet through the tunnel, thereby realizing the transmission of the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow.

[0023] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method also includes: the session management network element receives configuration information of an uplink port from the first user plane device, the uplink port being the destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel with the DRB granularity; the session management network element sends the configuration information of the uplink port to the first access network device.

[0024] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method also includes: the session management network element receives configuration information of a downlink port from the first access network device, the downlink port being the destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel with the DRB granularity; the session management network element sends the configuration information of the downlink port to the first user plane device.

[0025] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the attribute information includes PPI.

[0026] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, before the session management network element receives the first information from the first access network device, the method further includes:

[0027] The session management network element sends the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session to the first access network device, and the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session are used to determine the first information.

[0028] In a third aspect, a method for transmitting data is provided, which can be executed by a first access network device. The method includes: determining first information, the first information including identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and identification information of a quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; sending the first information to a session management network element to enable the session management network element to send the first information to a first user plane device, the first information is used to establish a tunnel of DRB granularity between the first user plane device and a distributed unit, the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB are used to add the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel.

[0029] According to the method for transmitting data provided in the present application, the first access network device can configure the mapping relationship between the PDU session, DRB and QoS flow to the first user plane device through the session management network element, so that the first user plane device can establish a DRB-granular tunnel with the DU according to the mapping relationship, and can add the identifier of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow in the packet header of the downlink data packet according to the mapping relationship between the DRB and the QoS flow, and transmit the downlink data packet through the tunnel, thereby realizing the transmission of the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow.

[0030] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: receiving configuration information of an uplink port from the session management network element, the uplink port being the destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel; and configuring the uplink port according to the configuration information of the uplink port.

[0031] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: sending configuration information of a downlink port to the session management network element, the downlink port being a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel.

[0032] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

[0033] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, before the gNB-CU-CP generates the first information, the method also includes: receiving relevant information of the PDU session and QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session from the session management network element; determining the first information based on the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session.

[0034] According to a fourth aspect, a first user plane device is provided, comprising modules or units for executing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0035] According to a fifth aspect, a session management network element is provided, comprising modules or units for executing the method according to the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

[0036] In a sixth aspect, a first access network device is provided, comprising modules or units for executing the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect.

[0037] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor. The processor is coupled to a memory and can be used to execute instructions in the memory so that the device performs the method in any possible implementation of the first to third aspects or the first to third aspects. Optionally, the device also includes a memory. Optionally, the device also includes an interface circuit, and the processor is coupled to the interface circuit.

[0038] In an eighth aspect, a processor is provided, comprising: an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is used to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that the processor executes the method in any possible implementation of the first to third aspects or the first to third aspects.

[0039] In the specific implementation process, the processor can be a chip, the input circuit can be an input pin, the output circuit can be an output pin, and the processing circuit can be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, and various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit can be, for example, but not limited to, received and input by a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit can be, for example, but not limited to, output to a transmitter and transmitted by the transmitter, and the input circuit and the output circuit can be the same circuit, which is used as an input circuit and an output circuit at different times. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation methods of the processor and various circuits.

[0040] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a memory. The processor is used to read instructions stored in the memory, and can receive signals through a receiver and transmit signals through a transmitter to execute the method in any possible implementation of the first to third aspects or the first to third aspects.

[0041] Optionally, the processor is one or more and the memory is one or more.

[0042] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0043] In the specific implementation process, the memory can be a non-transitory memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), which can be integrated with the processor on the same chip or can be set on different chips respectively. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the type of memory and the setting method of the memory and the processor.

[0044] The communication device in the above-mentioned ninth aspect can be a chip, and the processor can be implemented by hardware or by software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc.; when implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, which is implemented by reading the software code stored in the memory. The memory can be integrated in the processor or can be located outside the processor and exist independently.

[0045] In the tenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instruction), which, when executed, enables a computer to execute a method in any possible implementation of the first to third aspects or the first to third aspects.

[0046] In the eleventh aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, which stores a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions). When the computer-readable medium is run on a computer, the computer executes the method in any possible implementation of the first to third aspects or the first to third aspects.

[0047] In a twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising the aforementioned first user plane device, a session management network element and a first access network device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0048] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a CU / DU separation architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0049] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of gNB protocol stack division provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0050] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of gNB protocol stack division provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0051] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of a communication system under a CU / DU separation architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0052] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of a communication system in a fusion scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0053] Figure 6 This is a diagram of the data plane protocol stack architecture in the fusion scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0054] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of a user plane tunnel in a non-convergent scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0055] Figure 8This is a schematic diagram of a user plane tunnel in a fusion scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0056] Fig. 9 It is a schematic flowchart of a method for transmitting data provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0057] Fig.10 It is a schematic flowchart of a method for transmitting data provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0058] Fig.11 It is a schematic flowchart of a method for transmitting data provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0059] Fig.12 It is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0060] Fig.13 This is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0061] The technical solution in this application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0062] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, fifth generation (5G) system, new radio (NR) or other communication systems that may appear in the future.

[0063] The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a 5G network or a terminal device in a public land mobile communication network (PLMN) to be evolved in the future, etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0064] The access network device in the embodiment of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device. For example, the access network device may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system or an access node in a WiFi system, a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and access network devices in other communication systems that evolve in the future. This application does not limit the specific technology and specific device form used by the access network device.

[0065] In this document, the names of the interfaces between the units shown in the figures are only examples, and the names of the interfaces in the specific implementation may be other names, which are not specifically limited in this application. For example, the interface between the CU and the DU may be called the F1 interface, or other names may be used.

[0066] In the CU / DU separation architecture, the access network equipment is divided into two parts: CU and DU. The following takes the access network equipment as gNB as an example to explain this in detail.

[0067] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a CU / DU separation architecture is shown. Figure 1, gNB is split into DU and CU. Multiple DUs can share one CU, and one DU can also be connected to multiple CUs. CU can be divided into CU-UP and CU-CP. CU-UP and CU-CP can be connected through an interface, for example, they can be connected through an E1 interface. CU-UP and CU-CP can be connected to DU respectively. For example, CU-CP can be connected to DU through F1-C (control plane), and CU-UP can be connected to DU through F1-U (user plane). One CU-CP can control multiple CU-UPs, and the multiple CU-UPs may be flexibly grouped and distributed in different areas to serve DUs in different areas. One CU-UP can be connected to one or more DUs.

[0068] Figure 2 and Figure 3 A schematic diagram of protocol stack division is shown respectively. Figure 2 , CU-CP includes the control plane of the radio resource control (RRC) layer and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer. Figure 3 , CU-UP includes the user plane of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer and the PDCP layer. Figure 2 and Figure 3 , DU mainly includes radio link control (RLC) layer, media access control (MAC) layer and physical (PHY) layer. DU is deployed in a distributed manner, while CU-CP and CU-UP can be deployed in a centralized manner.

[0069] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a communication system under a CU / DU separation architecture is shown. Figure 4 The system includes a terminal device, a DU, a first access network device (i.e., CU-CP), a CU-UP, a user plane network element, a data network, an access and mobility management network element, a session management network element, a policy control network element, and a unified data management network element.

[0070] User plane network element: mainly responsible for data packet routing and forwarding.

[0071] Data network: can be operator services, Internet access or third-party services, such as IP Multimedia Service (IMS), Internet, etc.

[0072] Access and mobility management network element: mainly responsible for mobility management in mobile networks, such as user location update, user registration network, user switching, etc.

[0073] Session management network element: mainly responsible for session management in mobile networks, such as session establishment, modification, and release. Specific functions include allocating IP addresses to users and selecting user plane network elements that provide message forwarding functions.

[0074] Policy control network element: responsible for providing policies to access and mobility management network elements and session management network elements, such as quality of service (QoS) policy and slice selection policy.

[0075] Unified data management network element: used to store user data, such as contract information and authentication / authorization information.

[0076] It should be understood that the above-mentioned devices or network elements may be devices with corresponding functions, or may be software / hardware modules (such as chips) inside the device, etc. It should also be understood that any device or network element involved in the present application may be implemented in the form of software or a combination of software and hardware.

[0077] In one example, Figure 4 The system shown may be a 5G system. In this case, the terminal device, the user plane network element, the data network, the access and mobility management network element, the session management network element, the policy control network element, and the unified data management network element may correspond to the UE, the user plane function (UPF), the data network (DN), the access and mobility management function (AMF), the session management function (SMF), the policy control function (PCF), and the unified data management (UDM) in the 5G system, respectively.

[0078] It should be understood that Figure 4 The system shown may also be a 4G system or other systems (such as future 6G systems, etc.), which is not limited in this application.

[0079] With the maturity of CU / DU separation related technologies, it may become mainstream to deploy CU and user plane network elements in the same physical room. In order to reduce the number of data plane transmission hops, save costs, and terminate the data plane security node in the core network, it is possible to merge the user plane network element and CU-UP into one network element. Specifically, the user plane of the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer is placed in the fused network element (i.e., the first user plane device), which is managed by the session management network element. In addition, it is possible to consider canceling the management authority of CU-CP over the fused network element (canceling the original E1 interface), or retaining only some permissions that do not affect security.

[0080] See also Figure 5 , Figure 5 Taking the 5G system as an example, the system architecture is shown when the user plane network element and CU-UP are integrated into one network element. Figure 5 In the example, the fused network element is recorded as CU-UPF. It should be understood that the fused network element may also be other names. For ease of understanding and description, the fused network element is only taken as CU-UPF as an example.

[0081] See also Figure 6 , Figure 6 The data plane protocol stack architecture diagram in the fusion scenario is shown. Figure 6 As shown, DN includes a general packet radio service tunneling protocol userplane (GTP-U) layer, a user datagram protocol (UDP) layer, an internet protocol (IP) layer, an L2 layer (layer 2), and an L1 layer (layer 1). The next generation (NG) protocol stack of CU-UPF includes a GTP-U layer, a UDP layer, an IP layer, an L2 layer, and an L1 layer. The access network (AN) protocol stack of CU-UPF includes an SDAP layer and a PDCP layer. DU includes an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. UE includes an application (APP) layer, an SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. Among them, the L2 layer is a link layer, for example, the L2 layer can be a data link layer in an open systems interconnection (OSI) reference model. The L1 layer can be a physical layer, for example, the L1 layer can be a physical layer in an OSI reference model. See Figure 6 ,The data packets received from DN by the converged network element CU-UPF are processed by the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer and are directly connected to DU through the F1-U interface.

[0082] See also Figure 7 In the non-convergence scenario, the tunnel between UPF and RAN is an N3 tunnel, and one PDU session corresponds to one N3 tunnel. In the convergence scenario, the tunnel granularity will also change due to the change of data plane protocol. Figure 8 In the converged scenario, the tunnel between CU-UPF and DU is a DRB-granular tunnel (also called FI-U tunnel), and one PDU session can correspond to multiple DRB-granular tunnels. After the tunnel granularity changes, how to transmit data packets and the corresponding QoS flow attribute information is an urgent problem to be solved.

[0083] In view of this, the present application provides a method for transmitting data, which can solve the above problems. The following uses the naming of network elements in a 5G system as an example to illustrate the solution provided by the present application.

[0084] It should be understood that the method described below can be applied to Figure 5 In the system shown. Among them, the CU-UPF, DU, CU-CP, SMF, and AMF involved in the method correspond to the first user plane device, the distributed unit, the first access network device, the session management network element, and the access and mobility management network element, respectively. The connection relationship between these network elements can be referred to Figure 5 , the protocol stack of CU-UPF can be referred to Figure 6 The tunnel between CU-UPF and DU can refer to Figure 8 .

[0085] Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a method for transmitting data provided by the present application. Fig. 9 The steps of the method 100 are described below.

[0086] S110, CU-CP determines first information.

[0087] The first information includes the identification information of the DRB, the identification information of the PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB. For example, the DRB may be Figure 8 If one of the DRBs in the DRBs shown is used, then accordingly, the PDU session and the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB may be Figure 8 The PDU session and QoS flow corresponding to the DRB shown.

[0088] It should be understood that the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB is one or more QoS flows, and accordingly, the identification information of the QoS flow included in the first information is the identification information of one or more QoS flows. Among them, the identification information of the QoS flow can be a QoS flow identity (QoS flow identity, QFI) or other identification, which is not limited in this application.

[0089] For ease of understanding, the following description will take the example that the DRB is DRB#1, the PDU session corresponding to the DRB is PDU session#1, and the QoS flows corresponding to the identification information of the DRB are QoS flows#1 to QoS flows#3.

[0090] It can be understood that DRB#1 belongs to PDU session#1, in other words, DRB#1 is established for PDU session#1. QoS flow#1 to QoS flow#3 will be mapped to DRB#1.

[0091] In the embodiment of the present application, the CU-CP may determine the first information according to the relevant information of the PDU session #1 and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session #1, wherein the relevant information of the PDU session #1 and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session #1 are sent by the SMF.

[0092] Specifically, after receiving the relevant information of PDU session #1 and the QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1 sent by SMF through AMF, CU-CP determines to allocate DRB #1 for PDU session #1, and allocates and maps QoS flow #1 to QoS flow #3 to DRB #1.

[0093] Exemplarily, the relevant information of PDU session #1 may include one or more of the following: identification information of PDU session #1, identification of single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) corresponding to PDU session #1, aggregate maximum bit rate (AMBR) corresponding to PDU session #1, or type of PDU session #1.

[0094] Exemplarily, the QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1 may include identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to PDU session #1 (i.e., identification information of QoS flow #1 to QoS flow #3) and the QoS profile (QoS profile) of the QoS flow corresponding to PDU session #1.

[0095] S120, CU-CP sends first information to SMF. Correspondingly, SMF receives the first information from CU-CP.

[0096] Specifically, CU-CP sends the first information to AMF, and then AMF sends the first information to SMF.

[0097] S130, SMF sends first information to CU-UPF. Correspondingly, CU-UPF receives the first information from SMF.

[0098] S140, CU-UPF establishes a tunnel between DRB#1 and DU based on the first information.

[0099] Specifically, the CU-UPF configures the SDAP entity and the PDCP entity according to the first information, and saves the mapping relationship between the identification information of DRB#1 and the identification information of QoS flow#1 to QoS flow#3 in the SDAP entity.

[0100] Optionally, step S140 may also include: the CU-UPF sends configuration information of the uplink port to the SMF, where the uplink port is the destination port used by the DU for uplink transmission through the tunnel.

[0101] Specifically, CU-UPF sends the configuration information of the uplink port to SMF, and SMF further sends the configuration information of the uplink port to CU-CP through AMF. CU-CP will configure the uplink port according to the configuration information of the uplink port. Subsequently, DU can use the uplink port for uplink transmission through the tunnel.

[0102] Exemplarily, the configuration information of the uplink port may include an IP address and a tunnel identifier used by the CU-UPF to receive uplink data packets.

[0103] Optionally, step S140 may also include: CU-UPF receives configuration information of a downlink port from SMF, where the downlink port is a destination port used by CU-UPF for downlink transmission through the tunnel; CU-UPF configures the downlink port according to the configuration information of the downlink port.

[0104] Specifically, CU-CP can send the configuration information of the downlink port to SMF through AMF, and SMF further sends the configuration information of the downlink port to CU-UPF, and CU-UPF will configure the downlink port according to the configuration information of the downlink port. Subsequently, CU-UPF can use the downlink port for downlink transmission through the tunnel.

[0105] Exemplarily, the configuration information of the downstream port may include an IP address and a tunnel identifier used by the CU-UPF to send downstream data packets.

[0106] S150, CU-UPF adds the identification of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the header of the downlink data packet according to the identification information of DRB#1 and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of DRB#1.

[0107] Specifically, after receiving a downlink data packet, CU-UPF first determines the PDU session and QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet. If the downlink data packet corresponds to PDU session #1, the downlink data packet corresponds to one of the QoS flows #1 to QoS flows #3. Taking the downlink data packet corresponding to QoS flow #1 as an example, CU-UPF can determine that the downlink data packet corresponds to DRB #1 based on the mapping relationship between QoS flow #1 and DRB #1. Then, CU-UPF can add the identification information of DRB #1, the identification information of QoS flow #1, and the attribute information of QoS flow #1 in the header of the downlink data packet.

[0108] Optionally, the attribute information of QoS flow #1 may be the PPI of QoS flow #1.

[0109] Optionally, the attribute information of QoS flow #1 may also be the data delay (packet delay budget) of QoS flow #1.

[0110] It should be noted that the execution of S150 is independent of the steps before S150, and S150 can be executed as long as the CU-UPF obtains the mapping relationship between DRB#1 and QoS flow#1.

[0111] S160, CU-UPF sends the downlink data packet through the tunnel. Correspondingly, DU receives the downlink data packet through the tunnel.

[0112] After receiving the downlink data packet, the DU may perform subsequent processing according to the attribute information of the QoS flow #1 carried by the downlink data packet.

[0113] For example, after DU receives the downlink data packet, if the UE is in a connected state, the downlink data packet can be sent to the UE. If the UE is in an RRC inactive state, the DU can report the PPI of QoS flow #1 to the CU-CP. After receiving the PPI reported by the DU, the CU-CP can select a local paging strategy and initiate a paging request to the AMF or other access network elements. In this way, the RRC inactive function can be reasonably supported in a converged scenario.

[0114] It should be understood that the access network device here can be a CU-CP under a CU / DU separation architecture, or it can be an access network device under a non-separation architecture, such as a base station.

[0115] For another example, after receiving the downlink data packet, the DU can determine whether the downlink data packet can be transmitted on time based on the data delay of QoS flow #1 carried by the downlink data packet. If the downlink data packet cannot be transmitted on time, the DU can adjust the scheduling priority of the downlink data packet. In this way, the PDB allocation function can be better supported in the converged scenario.

[0116] According to the method for transmitting data provided in the present application, CU-CP configures the mapping relationship between PDU session, DRB and QoS flow to CU-UPF through SMF, so that CU-UPF can establish a DRB-granular tunnel with DU according to the mapping relationship, and can add the identifier of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow in the packet header of the downlink data packet according to the mapping relationship between DRB and QoS flow, and transmit the downlink data packet through the tunnel, thereby realizing the transmission of the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow.

[0117] In the method provided in the present application, the first information may be sent before the RRC reconfiguration is completed, or may be sent when the RRC reconfiguration is completed. Fig.10 and Fig.11 The illustrated embodiment is described.

[0118] It should be noted that Fig.10 and Fig.11 The RAN shown in does not include the function of CU-UP. In addition, the same concepts or terms as those in the above text, such as the relevant information of PDU session #1, the QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1, the first information, etc., can refer to the above description unless otherwise specified.

[0119] Fig.10 200 is a schematic flow chart of a method for transmitting data provided by the present application. The steps of the method 200 are described below.

[0120] S201, UE sends a PDU session establishment request message to AMF through RAN.

[0121] Among them, the PDU session establishment request message is used to request the establishment of PDU session #1, and the PDU session establishment request message instructs SMF to select the fused network element, namely CU-UPF.

[0122] S202, AMF selects SMF according to the UE's request and local policy.

[0123] S203, AMF sends a PDU session establishment request message to SMF.

[0124] S204, SMF queries (updates) the contract information from UDM.

[0125] Among them, the contract information may include relevant information of PDU session #1 and QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1.

[0126] S205, SMF feeds back a PDU session establishment response message to AMF.

[0127] S206: Perform authentication and authorization of the PDU session.

[0128] S207a-S207b, select PCF and associate session management policy.

[0129] S208, SMF selects CU-UPF.

[0130] S209: Session management policy adjustment.

[0131] S210a~S210b, establish N4 context in CU-UPF.

[0132] Exemplarily, the session establishment modification request in S210a may be an N4 session establishment modification request, and the session establishment modification response in S210b may be an N4 session establishment modification response.

[0133] Regarding steps S201 to S210b, reference may be made to the prior art. Unlike the prior art, the prior art selects UPF, while the embodiment of the present application selects CU-UPF. In addition, one or more steps in S201 to S210b are optional steps. For specific optional steps and under what conditions they are executed, reference may also be made to the prior art.

[0134] S211-S212, SMF sends relevant information of PDU session #1 and QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1 to RAN (specifically CU-CP).

[0135] Specifically, SMF first sends relevant information of PDU session #1 and QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1 to AMF, and then AMF sends relevant information of DU session #1 and QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1 to RAN.

[0136] Exemplarily, the relevant information of PDU session #1 in S211 and the QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1 may be carried via Namf_Communication_N1N2Message_Transfer.

[0137] Exemplarily, the relevant information of PDU session #1 in S212 and the QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1 may be carried by the N2 session request message.

[0138] S213, RAN (specifically CU-CP) determines first information according to the relevant information of PDU session #1 and the QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1.

[0139] S214-S215, RAN (specifically CU-CP) sends the first information to SMF.

[0140] Exemplarily, the first information in S214 may be carried by an N2 session response message.

[0141] Exemplarily, the first information in S215 may be carried via Namf_Communication_N1N2Message_Transfer.

[0142] S216, SMF sends the first information to CU-UPF.

[0143] Exemplarily, the first information may be carried via an N4 session modification request message.

[0144] Regarding steps S213 to S216 , reference may be made to the above steps S110 to S130 .

[0145] S217, CU-UPF configures the SDAP entity and the PDCP entity according to the first information, and saves the mapping relationship between the identification information of DRB#1 and the identification information of QoS flow#1 to QoS flow#3 in the SDAP entity.

[0146] S218, CU-UPF sends the configuration information of the uplink port to SMF.

[0147] Exemplarily, the configuration information of the uplink port may be carried by an N4 session modification response message.

[0148] S219-S220, SMF sends the configuration information of the uplink port to RAN (specifically CU-CP).

[0149] Exemplarily, the configuration information of the uplink port in S219 may be carried via Namf_Communication_N1N2Message_Transfer.

[0150] Exemplarily, the configuration information of the uplink port in S220 may be carried by an N2 session request message.

[0151] S221, RAN configures the uplink port.

[0152] Specifically, the CU-CP sends the configuration information of the uplink port to the DU, and the DU configures the uplink port according to the configuration information of the uplink port.

[0153] S222, RAN (specifically CU-CP) allocates relevant resources and completes the establishment and adjustment of UE context related to the RAN side session. In addition, RAN and UE allocate corresponding channel resources (i.e., access network resources (AN resource)) through the RRC reconfiguration process to establish an air interface connection for PDU session #1.

[0154] For step S222, reference may be made to the relevant contents in the prior art and will not be repeated here.

[0155] S223, RAN feeds back RRC reconfiguration completion information and downlink port configuration information to AMF. At this time, uplink tunnel configuration is completed and uplink data transmission begins.

[0156] Exemplarily, the RRC reconfiguration completion information and the configuration information of the downlink port may be carried by an N2 session response message.

[0157] Exemplarily, the RRC reconfiguration completion information and the configuration information of the downlink port may be carried by an RRC reconfiguration completion message.

[0158] S224, AMF forwards the configuration information of the RAN downlink port to SMF.

[0159] Optionally, the configuration information of the downstream port may be carried by a PDU session update context request message.

[0160] S225, SMF sends the configuration information of the downstream port to CU-UPF.

[0161] Optionally, the configuration information of the downlink port may be carried by an N4 session modification request message.

[0162] S226, CU-UPF configures the downlink port according to the configuration information of the downlink port. At this point, the configuration of the downlink tunnel is completed, and downlink data transmission begins.

[0163] S227, when CU-UPF receives a downlink data packet, it adds the identification of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the header of the downlink data packet according to the identification information of DRB#1 and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of DRB#1.

[0164] This step may refer to S150 and will not be described in detail here.

[0165] S228, CU-UPF sends the downlink data packet through the tunnel.

[0166] For this step, reference may be made to S160.

[0167] In this method, there may be some subsequent processes, such as SMF registering with UDM, SMF feeding back SM context update to AMF, and subscribing to AMF's UE mobility notification service, PDU session establishment failure process, etc. These processes can all refer to the prior art and will not be repeated here.

[0168] According to the method for transmitting data provided by an embodiment of the present application, before configuring access network resources (AN resource) in the PDU session establishment process, CU-CP sends the mapping relationship between PDU session, DRB and QoS flow to CU-UPF through SMF, so that CU-UPF can establish a DRB-granular tunnel between DU according to the mapping relationship, and can add the identifier of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow in the packet header of the downlink data packet according to the mapping relationship between DRB and QoS flow, and transmit the downlink data packet through the tunnel, thereby realizing the transmission of the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow.

[0169] Fig.11 300 is a schematic flow chart of a method for transmitting data provided by the present application. The steps of the method 300 are described below.

[0170] S301~S312 are the same as S201~S212.

[0171] S313 is the same as S222, that is, the RAN (specifically CU-CP) allocates relevant resources to complete the establishment and adjustment of the UE context related to the RAN side session. In addition, the RAN and the UE allocate corresponding channel resources (i.e., access network resources (AN resource)) through the RRC reconfiguration process to establish an air interface connection for PDU session #1.

[0172] S314, RAN (specifically CU-CP) determines first information according to the relevant information of PDU session #1 and the QoS parameters corresponding to PDU session #1.

[0173] Regarding this step, please refer to step S110 mentioned above.

[0174] S315, RAN (specifically CU-CP) sends the first information, the content of the reconfiguration completion message mentioned above, and the configuration information of the downlink port to AMF.

[0175] Exemplarily, the first information, the content in the above reconfiguration completion message, and the configuration information of the downlink port may be carried by an N2 session response message.

[0176] S316, AMF sends the first information and the configuration information of the downstream port to SMF.

[0177] Exemplarily, the first information and the configuration information of the downlink port may be carried by a PDU session update context request message.

[0178] S317, SMF sends the first information and the configuration information of the downstream port to CU-UPF.

[0179] Exemplarily, the first information and the configuration information of the downlink port may be carried by an N4 session request message.

[0180] S318, CU-UPF configures the SDAP entity and the PDCP entity according to the first information, and saves the mapping relationship between the identification information of DRB#1 and the identification information of QoS flow#1 to QoS flow#3 in the SDAP entity, and configures the downlink port according to the configuration information of the downlink port. At this point, the configuration of the downlink tunnel is completed, and downlink data transmission begins.

[0181] S319, when CU-UPF receives a downlink data packet, it adds the identification of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the header of the downlink data packet according to the identification information of DRB#1 and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of DRB#1.

[0182] This step may refer to S150 and will not be described in detail here.

[0183] Before S319, there may be a process in which AMF feeds back SM context update information to AMF and subscribes to UE mobility notification service of AMF. For these processes, reference may be made to the prior art and will not be repeated here.

[0184] S320, CU-UPF sends the downlink data packet through the tunnel.

[0185] For this step, reference may be made to S160.

[0186] S321, CU-UPF sends the configuration information of the uplink port to SMF.

[0187] S322-S323, SMF sends the configuration information of the uplink port to RAN (specifically CU-CP).

[0188] S324, RAN configures the uplink port.

[0189] Specifically, the CU-CP sends the configuration information of the uplink port to the DU, and the DU configures the uplink port according to the configuration information of the uplink port. At this point, the uplink tunnel configuration is completed, and uplink data transmission begins.

[0190] Regarding the possible subsequent processes, such as SMF registering with UDM, the process of PDU session establishment failure, etc., you can refer to the existing technology and will not go into details here.

[0191] According to the method for transmitting data provided by the embodiment of the present application, after configuring the access network resources (AN resource) in the PDU session establishment process, the CU-CP sends the mapping relationship between the PDU session, DRB and QoS flow to the CU-UPF through the SMF, so that the CU-UPF can establish a tunnel with DRB granularity between the DU according to the mapping relationship, and can add the identifier of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the corresponding QoS flow in the header of the downlink data packet according to the mapping relationship between the DRB and the QoS flow, and transmit the downlink data packet through the tunnel, thereby realizing the transmission of the attribute information of the downlink data packet and the corresponding QoS flow. In addition, this embodiment can complete the configuration of the downlink tunnel between the CU-UPF and the DU through one interaction between the CU-CP and the CU-UPF, which can simplify the process and save signaling resources.

[0192] Above, combined Figures 9 to 11 The method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail. Fig.12 and Fig.13 The device provided in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail.

[0193] Fig.12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig.12 As shown, the communication device 2000 may include a transceiver unit 2100 and a processing unit 2200 .

[0194] The transceiver unit 2100 may include a sending unit and / or a receiving unit. The transceiver unit 2100 may be a transceiver (including a transmitter and / or a receiver), an input / output interface (including an input and / or output interface), a pin or a circuit, etc. The transceiver unit 2100 may be used to perform the steps of sending and / or receiving in the above method embodiment.

[0195] The processing unit 2200 may be a processor (may include one or more), a processing circuit with processor functions, etc., and may be used to execute other steps except sending and receiving in the above method embodiment.

[0196] Optionally, the communication device may further include a storage unit, which may be a memory, an internal storage unit (e.g., a register, a cache, etc.), an external storage unit (e.g., a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.), etc. The storage unit is used to store instructions, and the processing unit 2200 executes the instructions stored in the storage unit so that the communication device executes the above method.

[0197] In one design, the communication device 2000 may correspond to the first user plane device (ie, CU-UPF) in the above method embodiment, and may perform the operations performed by the first user plane device.

[0198] Specifically, the transceiver unit 2100 is used to receive first information from a session management network element, wherein the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and identification information of a quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; the processing unit 2200 is used to establish a tunnel between the DRB and a distributed unit based on the first information; the processing unit 2200 is also used to add identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the packet header of the downlink data packet based on the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; the transceiver unit 2100 is also used to send the downlink data packet through the tunnel.

[0199] Optionally, the processing unit 2200 is specifically used to: control the transceiver unit 2100 to send configuration information of an uplink port to the session management network element, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel.

[0200] Optionally, the processing unit 2200 is specifically used to: control the transceiver unit 2100 to receive configuration information of the downlink port from the session management network element, the downlink port being the destination port used by the device for downlink transmission through the tunnel; and configure the downlink port according to the configuration information of the downlink port.

[0201] Optionally, the attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

[0202] It should be understood that the transceiver unit 2100 and the processing unit 2200 may also perform other operations performed by the first user plane device in the above method embodiment, which will not be described in detail here.

[0203] In one design, the communication device 2000 may correspond to the session management network element (ie, SMF) in the above-mentioned method embodiment, and may perform the operations performed by the session management network element.

[0204] Specifically, the transceiver unit 2100 is used to receive first information from a first access network device, the first information including identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and identification information of a quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; the transceiver unit 2100 is also used to send the first information to a first user plane device, the first information is used to establish a DRB-granular tunnel between the first user plane device and a distributed unit, the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB are used to add identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel.

[0205] Optionally, the transceiver unit 2100 is also used to: receive configuration information of the uplink port from the first user plane device, the uplink port being the destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel of the DRB granularity; and send the configuration information of the uplink port to the first access network device.

[0206] Optionally, the transceiver unit 2100 is also used to: receive configuration information of a downlink port from the first access network device, the downlink port being a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel of the DRB granularity; and send the configuration information of the downlink port to the first user plane device.

[0207] Optionally, the attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

[0208] Optionally, the transceiver unit 2100 is also used to: send relevant information of the PDU session and QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session to the first access network device, and the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session are used to determine the first information.

[0209] It should be understood that the transceiver unit 2100 and the processing unit 2200 may also perform other operations performed by the session management network element in the above method embodiment, which will not be described in detail here.

[0210] In one design, the communication device 2000 may correspond to the first access network device (ie, CU-CP) in the above method embodiment, and may perform the operations performed by the first access network device.

[0211] Specifically, the processing unit 2200 is used to determine the first information, wherein the first information includes identification information of the data radio bearer DRB, identification information of the protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and identification information of the quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; the transceiver unit 2100 is used to send the first information to the session management network element to enable the session management network element to send the first information to the first user plane device, the first information is used to establish a DRB-granularity tunnel between the first user plane device and the distributed unit, the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB are used to add the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel.

[0212] Optionally, the transceiver unit 2100 is also used to receive configuration information of the uplink port from the session management network element, and the uplink port is the destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel; the processing unit 2200 is also used to configure the uplink port according to the configuration information of the uplink port.

[0213] Optionally, the transceiver unit 2100 is further configured to send configuration information of a downlink port to the session management network element, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel.

[0214] Optionally, the attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

[0215] Optionally, the transceiver unit is also used 2100 to receive relevant information of the PDU session and QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session from the session management network element; the processing unit 2200 is also used to determine the first information based on the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session.

[0216] It should be understood that the transceiver unit 2100 and the processing unit 2200 may also perform other operations performed by the first access network device in the above method embodiment, which will not be described in detail here.

[0217] In addition, the communication device 2000 can also correspond to other network elements in the above method embodiments, such as AMF, DN, etc., and can perform the operations performed by the corresponding network elements.

[0218] It should be understood that the division of the above-mentioned units is merely a functional division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0219] It should also be understood that the above-mentioned processing unit can be implemented by hardware or software, or can be implemented by a combination of hardware and software.

[0220] Fig.13 Schematic diagram of a communication device provided by this application. Fig.13 As shown, the communication device 3000 can implement the functions that can be implemented by any network element in any of the above method embodiments. For example, the communication device 3000 can correspond to the CU-UPF, CU-CP or DU in the above method embodiments.

[0221] The communication device 3000 may include a processor 3001. The processor 3001 may also be referred to as a processing unit, and may implement certain control functions. The processor 3001 may be used to control the communication device 3000, execute software programs, and process data of software programs.

[0222] In an optional design, the processor 3001 may also store instructions and / or data, which can be executed by the processor 3001 so that the communication device 3000 performs the operations performed by any network element (for example, CU-UPF, CU-CP or DU) in the above method embodiments.

[0223] Optionally, the communication device 3000 may include a memory 3002, on which instructions may be stored, and the instructions may be executed on the processor, so that the communication device 3000 performs the operations performed by any network element in the above method embodiment. Optionally, data may also be stored in the memory. Optionally, instructions and / or data may also be stored in the processor. The processor and memory may be provided separately or integrated together. For example, the corresponding relationship described in the above method embodiment may be stored in the memory or in the processor.

[0224] Optionally, the communication device 3000 may include a transceiver 3003. The transceiver 3003 may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, or a transceiver circuit, etc., and is mainly used to receive signals (such as downlink data packets or first information, etc.) from other devices or network elements and / or send signals (such as downlink data packets or first information, etc.) to other devices or network elements.

[0225] The processor 3001, the memory 3002 and the transceiver 3003 can communicate with each other through internal connection paths to transmit control and / or data signals.

[0226] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiment of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by the hardware integrated logic circuit or software instructions in the processor. The above processor can be a general processor, a digital signal processor (digitalsignal processor, DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a field programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and can also be a system on chip (system on chip, SoC), a central processor unit (central processor unit, CPU), a network processor (network processor, NP), a microcontroller (micro controller unit, MCU), a programmable logic device (programmable logic device, PLD) or other integrated chips.

[0227] The memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDRSDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0228] According to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, when the computer program code is run on a computer, the computer executes the operations performed by any network element (such as a first user plane device, a session management network element or a first access network device, etc.) in any of the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0229] According to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the present application also provides a computer-readable medium, which stores a program code. When the program code runs on a computer, the computer executes the operations performed by any network element in the aforementioned method embodiments (such as, for example, a first user plane device, a session management network element, or a first access network device, etc.).

[0230] According to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the present application also provides a system, which includes one or more network elements in any method embodiment.

[0231] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, including a processor and an interface; the processor is used to execute the method in any of the above method embodiments.

[0232] It should be understood that the above-mentioned communication device can be a chip. For example, the processing device can be a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, a system on chip (SoC), a central processor unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processing circuit (DSP), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a programmable logic device (PLD) or other integrated chips. The methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as a hardware decoding processor to execute, or the hardware and software modules in the decoding processor are combined to execute. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0233] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (digital subscriber line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server or data center. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disc (SSD)).

[0234] The network devices in the above-mentioned various device embodiments completely correspond to the network devices or terminal devices in the terminal devices and method embodiments, and the corresponding modules or units perform the corresponding steps. For example, the communication unit (transceiver) performs the steps of receiving or sending in the method embodiment, and other steps except sending and receiving can be performed by the processing unit (processor). The functions of the specific units can refer to the corresponding method embodiments. Among them, the processor can be one or more.

[0235] The terms "component", "module", "system", etc. used in this specification are used to represent computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program, or a computer. By way of illustration, both applications running on a computing device and a computing device can be components. One or more components may reside in a process or an execution thread, and a component may be located on a computer or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components may be executed from various computer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon. Components may communicate, for example, through local or remote processes based on signals having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component between a local system, a distributed system, or a network, such as the Internet interacting with other systems through signals).

[0236] It should be understood that the "embodiment" mentioned throughout the specification means that the specific features, structures or characteristics related to the embodiment are included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, the various embodiments in the entire specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, these specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner.

[0237] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the numbers "first", "second"... are only for distinguishing different objects, such as distinguishing different network devices, and do not constitute a limitation on the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0238] It should also be understood that in the present application, "when", "if" and "if" all mean that the network element will take corresponding actions under certain objective circumstances, and do not limit the time, nor do they require the network element to have a judgment action when implementing it, nor do they mean that there are other limitations.

[0239] It should also be understood that, in the present application, “at least one” means one or more, and “more than one” means two or more.

[0240] It should also be understood that in each embodiment of the present application, "A corresponds to B" means that B is associated with A, and B can be determined according to A. However, it should also be understood that determining B according to A does not mean determining B only according to A, and B can also be determined according to A and / or other information.

[0241] It should also be understood that the term "and / or" in this article is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0242] The meaning of expressions similar to "the project includes one or more of the following: A, B, and C" in this application, unless otherwise specified, generally means that the project can be any of the following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C; A and A; A, A and A; A, A and B; A, A and C, A, B and B; A, C and C; B and B, B, B and B, B, B and C, C and C; C, C and C, and other combinations of A, B and C. The above is an example of three elements, A, B and C, to illustrate the optional items of the project. When it is expressed as "the project includes at least one of the following: A, B, ..., and X", that is, when there are more elements in the expression, the items that can be applied to the project can also be obtained according to the above rules.

[0243] It is understandable that in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device and / or the network device can perform some or all of the steps in the embodiment of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples. The embodiment of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, each step can be performed in a different order presented in the embodiment of the present application, and it is possible not to perform all the operations in the embodiment of the present application.

[0244] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software 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.

[0245] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0246] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0247] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0248] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0249] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be essentially or partly embodied in the form of a software product that contributes to the prior art. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage media include: various media that can store program codes, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, read-only memories ROM, random access memories RAM, magnetic disks or optical disks.

[0250] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with the present technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting data, characterized in that include: The first user plane device receives first information from the session management network element, where the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and identification information of a quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; The first user plane device establishes a tunnel between the DRB and the distributed unit according to the first information; The first user plane device adds the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the header of the downlink data packet according to the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; The downlink data packet is sent by the first user plane device through the tunnel.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first user plane device establishes a tunnel between the DRB and the distributed unit according to the first information, including: The first user plane device sends configuration information of an uplink port to the session management network element, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The first user plane device establishes a tunnel between the DRB and the distributed unit according to the first information, including: The first user plane device receives configuration information of a downlink port from the session management network element, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel; The first user plane device configures the downlink port according to the configuration information of the downlink port.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

5. A method for transmitting data, characterized in that: include: The session management network element receives first information from the first access network device, wherein the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and identification information of a quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; The session management network element sends the first information to the first user plane device, and the first information is used to establish a DRB-granularity tunnel between the first user plane device and the distributed unit. The DRB identification information and the QoS flow identification information corresponding to the DRB identification information are used to add the QoS flow identification information corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: The session management network element receives configuration information of an uplink port from the first user plane device, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel of the DRB granularity; The session management network element sends the configuration information of the uplink port to the first access network device.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: The session management network element receives configuration information of a downlink port from the first access network device, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel of the DRB granularity; The session management network element sends the configuration information of the downlink port to the first user plane device.

8. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that The attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

9. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that Before the session management network element receives the first information from the first access network device, the method further includes: The session management network element sends the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session to the first access network device, and the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session are used to determine the first information.

10. A method for transmitting data, characterized in that: include: Determine first information, where the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and identification information of a quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; The first information is sent to a session management network element to enable the session management network element to send the first information to a first user plane device, wherein the first information is used to establish a DRB-granularity tunnel between the first user plane device and a distributed unit, and the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB are used to add the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving configuration information of an uplink port from the session management network element, the uplink port being a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel; The uplink port is configured according to the configuration information of the uplink port.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send configuration information of a downlink port to the session management network element, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel.

13. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that: The attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

14. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that: Before determining the first information, the method further include: The determining of the first information includes receiving relevant information of the PDU session and QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session from the session management network element; The first information is determined according to the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session.

15. A first user plane device, characterized in that: include: A transceiver unit, configured to receive first information from a session management network element, wherein the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and identification information of a quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; a processing unit, configured to establish a tunnel between the DRB and a distributed unit according to the first information; The processing unit is further used to add the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the packet header of the downlink data packet according to the identification information of the DRB and the identification information of the QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; The transceiver unit is also used to send the downlink data packet through the tunnel.

16. The device according to claim 15, characterized in that The processing unit is specifically used for: The transceiver unit is controlled to send configuration information of an uplink port to the session management network element, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel.

17. The device according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that The processing unit is specifically used for: Controlling the transceiver unit to receive configuration information of a downlink port from the session management network element, the downlink port being a destination port used by the device for downlink transmission through the tunnel; The downstream port is configured according to the configuration information of the downstream port.

18. The device according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that The attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

19. A session management network element, characterized in that: include: A transceiver unit, configured to receive first information from a first access network device, wherein the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and identification information of a quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; The transceiver unit is also used to send the first information to the first user plane device, the first information is used to establish a DRB-granularity tunnel between the first user plane device and the distributed unit, the DRB identification information and the QoS flow identification information corresponding to the DRB identification information are used to add the QoS flow identification information corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel.

20. The session management network element according to claim 19, characterized in that: The transceiver unit is also used for: receiving configuration information of an uplink port from the first user plane device, the uplink port being a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel of the DRB granularity; Sending configuration information of the uplink port to the first access network device.

21. The session management network element according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that: The transceiver unit is also used for: receiving configuration information of a downlink port from the first access network device, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel of the DRB granularity; Send the configuration information of the downlink port to the first user plane device.

22. The session management network element according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that: The attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

23. The session management network element according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that: The transceiver unit is also used for: Send relevant information of the PDU session and QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session to the first access network device, and the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session are used to determine the first information.

24. A first access network device, characterized in that: include: A processing unit, configured to determine first information, wherein the first information includes identification information of a data radio bearer DRB, identification information of a protocol data unit PDU session corresponding to the identification information of the DRB, and identification information of a quality of service QoS flow corresponding to the identification information of the DRB; A transceiver unit is used to send the first information to a session management network element to enable the session management network element to send the first information to a first user plane device, the first information is used to establish a DRB-granularity tunnel between the first user plane device and a distributed unit, the DRB identification information and the QoS flow identification information corresponding to the DRB identification information are used to add the QoS flow identification information corresponding to the downlink data packet and the attribute information of the QoS flow corresponding to the downlink data packet in the packet header of the downlink data packet sent in the tunnel.

25. The device according to claim 24, characterized in that The transceiver unit is further used to receive configuration information of an uplink port from the session management network element, where the uplink port is a destination port used by the distributed unit for uplink transmission through the tunnel; The processing unit is further configured to configure the uplink port according to the configuration information of the uplink port.

26. The device according to claim 24 or 25, characterized in that The transceiver unit is also used for: Send configuration information of a downlink port to the session management network element, where the downlink port is a destination port used by the first user plane device for downlink transmission through the tunnel.

27. The device according to claim 24 or 25, characterized in that The attribute information includes a paging priority indication PPI.

28. The device according to claim 24 or 25, characterized in that The transceiver unit is further used to receive relevant information of the PDU session and QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session from the session management network element; The processing unit is further used to determine the first information according to the relevant information of the PDU session and the QoS parameters corresponding to the PDU session.

29. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory, wherein the memory is used to store programs or instructions, and when the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

30. A readable storage medium having a computer program or instruction stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program or instruction is executed, the computer is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

31. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises computer program instructions which cause a computer to execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14.

32. A communication system, characterized in that: include: The first user plane device according to any one of claims 15 to 18, the session management network element according to any one of claims 19 to 23, and the first access network device according to any one of claims 24 to 28.

Images