Delay measurement method, network device and terminal device

Abstract

This application provides a latency measurement method, a network device, and a terminal device. The method includes: the network device receiving first information sent by a first device, the first information being used to request the network device to measure the transmission latency between the network device and the terminal device; the network device responding to the first information to obtain a transmission latency measurement result; and the network device sending second information to the first device within a first preset time period, the second information being used to indicate the transmission latency measurement result. The latency measurement method, network device, and terminal device provided in this application can measure the transmission latency between network devices and terminal devices in a network.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application. The application number of the original application is 201910115158.6, and the original application date is February 14, 2019. The entire content of the original application is incorporated into this application by reference. Technical Field

[0002] The embodiments of the present application relate to communication technology, and in particular to a delay measurement method, a network device, and a terminal device. Background Art

[0003] In order to cope with the explosive growth of mobile data traffic, massive mobile communication device connections, and the emergence of various new services and application scenarios in the future, the fifth generation (5G) communication system came into being. The 5G communication system can support different services. The above-mentioned services can be, for example, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services, massive machine type communication (MTC) services, ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC) services, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) services, and positioning services.

[0004] With the development of communication needs, more and more services need to ensure low latency performance. For example, the URLLC service mentioned above needs to ensure that the latency is within 0.5ms. Therefore, in order to ensure the performance of the service, it is necessary to measure the latency of the current network. However, how to measure the transmission latency between network devices and terminal devices in the current network is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a delay measurement method, a network device, and a terminal device, which can measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device in the network.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a delay measurement method, in which a network device receives first information sent by a first device, wherein the first information is used to request the network device to measure the transmission delay between the network device and a terminal device; the network device obtains a transmission delay measurement result in response to the first information; the network device sends second information to the first device within a first preset time length, wherein the second information is used to indicate the transmission delay measurement result.

[0007] As a possible implementation manner, the method also includes: when the network device fails to obtain the transmission delay measurement result within the first preset time period, sending third information to the first device, and the third information is used to indicate the failure of the transmission delay measurement between the network device and the terminal device.

[0008] In the method provided in this embodiment, the first device can trigger the network device to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device through the first information. After receiving the first information, the network device can respond to the first information to obtain the transmission delay measurement result, and feed back the transmission delay measurement result to the first device through the second information within the first preset time length, so as to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device in the 5G network. At the same time, through the first preset time length, the first device can also be informed of the transmission delay measurement result in a timely manner.

[0009] As a possible implementation method, the transmission delay measurement result is obtained by measuring between the network device and the terminal device after receiving the first information; or, the transmission delay measurement result is obtained by the network device within a second preset time period before receiving the first information. In this way, multiple ways of obtaining transmission delay measurement results can be expanded. In addition, when the above-mentioned transmission delay measurement result reuses the transmission delay measurement result obtained by the network device within the second preset time period before receiving the first information, the efficiency of the network device in obtaining the transmission measurement result can be improved, and unnecessary measurement overhead can be reduced.

[0010] It should be understood that the first preset duration mentioned above may be preset in the network device, or may be indicated to the network device by the first device through the first information, or may be indicated to the network device by the first device through the fourth information independent of the first information. As a possible implementation, the method further includes: the network device receives the fourth information from the first device, and the fourth information is used to indicate the first preset duration. In this way, the first preset duration can be flexibly configured according to the transmission delay measurement requirements.

[0011] When the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device includes: the uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, and the transmission delay measurement result is obtained by measuring between the network device and the terminal device after receiving the first information, the network device may obtain the transmission delay measurement result in the following two implementations:

[0012] The first method: the network device receives an uplink PDU from the terminal device, and the uplink PDU includes time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU; the network device determines the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device according to the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU and the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device receives the uplink PDU;

[0013] The second method: the network device receives an uplink PDU from the terminal device, and the uplink PDU includes an uplink SDU and time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU; the network device determines the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device based on the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU and the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device sends the uplink SDU to its upper protocol layer.

[0014] Through the above two methods, the uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device can be measured.

[0015] It should be understood that when the above-mentioned uplink transmission delay measurement is triggered by a network device to be performed by a terminal device, before the network device obtains the transmission delay measurement result, it also includes: the network device sends a first indication information to the terminal device, and the first indication information is used to trigger the terminal device to perform uplink transmission delay measurement. For example, the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, including: the network device sends one or more downlink protocol data units PDU to the terminal device, and the first indication information is carried by the one or more downlink PDUs.

[0016] As a possible implementation method, the first indication information is specifically used to trigger the terminal device to measure the uplink transmission delay within a third preset time period. The third preset time period may be smaller than the first preset time period. In this way, it is possible to constrain the terminal device and the network device to complete the measurement of the uplink transmission delay within the first preset time period as much as possible. It can be understood that the third preset time period may be preset in the terminal device, or may be indicated to the terminal device by the network device through the first indication information, that is, the first indication information is specifically used to trigger the terminal device to measure the uplink transmission delay within the third preset time period. Alternatively, the third preset time period may also be sent to the terminal device by the network device through other indication information, which is not limited to this.

[0017] When the above-mentioned uplink transmission delay measurement is triggered by the core network device to perform on the terminal device, the uplink PDU also includes: fifth information, the fifth information is used to indicate that the uplink PDU carries the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generating the uplink PDU, or the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receiving the uplink SDU. Through the fifth information, after receiving the uplink PDU, the network device can promptly know that the uplink PDU carries the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generating the uplink PDU, or the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receiving the uplink SDU, so that the network device can determine the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device based on the time information carried.

[0018] When the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device includes the downlink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, and the transmission delay measurement result is a downlink transmission delay value, if the network device side stores the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device obtained from the terminal device within a second preset time period before the network device receives the first information, the network device can obtain the downlink transmission delay value by the following method:

[0019] The network device determines the downlink transmission delay value between the network device and the terminal device based on the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device; wherein the downlink transmission delay distribution information is reported by the terminal device to the network device within the second preset time length.

[0020] Since the transmission delay information required by different devices in the network for measuring the transmission delay between network devices and terminal devices is different, the above method can be used to meet the transmission delay information required by various devices while using the same mechanism to measure the transmission delay between terminal devices and network devices, thereby reducing the complexity of network configuration.

[0021] As a possible implementation, the method further includes: the network device sends sixth information to the terminal device, and the sixth information is used to indicate the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device. In this way, the terminal device can timely know the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device.

[0022] As a possible implementation, the first device is a core network device, and the method further includes: the network device receives seventh information from the core network device, the seventh information is used to indicate the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the terminal device, and / or, the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the network device; the network device sends the seventh information to the terminal device. In this way, the terminal device can timely know the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the terminal device, and / or, the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the network device.

[0023] In the second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a delay measurement method. This embodiment describes how the terminal device implements the uplink transmission delay measurement when the core network device triggers the terminal device to perform uplink transmission delay measurement through a non-access layer message. For example, the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates an uplink PDU according to the second indication information of its upper layer protocol layer. The uplink PDU includes the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU, or the uplink PDU includes the uplink SDU and the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU, and the second indication information is used to indicate the uplink transmission delay measurement of the uplink PDU; the terminal device sends the uplink PDU to the network device.

[0024] According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the core network device can trigger the terminal device to perform uplink transmission delay measurement through a non-access layer message, thereby expanding the method of measuring the uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device.

[0025] As a possible implementation, the uplink PDU also includes: fifth information, and the fifth information is used to indicate that the uplink PDU carries the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generating the uplink PDU, or the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receiving the uplink SDU. Through the fifth information, after receiving the uplink PDU, the network device can promptly know that the uplink PDU carries the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generating the uplink PDU, or the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receiving the uplink SDU, so that the network device can determine the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device based on the carried time information.

[0026] As a possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device receives third indication information from the core network device, the third indication information is used to indicate the identifier of the service for uplink transmission delay measurement, and the uplink PDU is the uplink PDU of the service corresponding to the identifier of the service. In this way, the core network device can constrain which uplink PDUs the terminal device performs uplink transmission delay measurement on, enriching the measurement method of uplink transmission delay.

[0027] As a possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device receives sixth information from the network device or the first device, and the sixth information is used to indicate the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device. In this way, the terminal device can timely learn the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device.

[0028] As a possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device receives seventh information from the network device, and the seventh information is used to indicate the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the terminal device, and / or the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the network device. In this way, the terminal device can timely know the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the terminal device, and / or the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the network device.

[0029] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, the network device comprising: a receiving module, a processing module and a sending module.

[0030] A receiving module is used to receive first information sent by a first device, wherein the first information is used to request the network device to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device; a processing module is used to obtain a transmission delay measurement result in response to the first information; and a sending module is used to send second information to the first device within a first preset time length, wherein the second information is used to indicate the transmission delay measurement result.

[0031] As a possible implementation method, the transmission delay measurement result is obtained by measuring between the network device and the terminal device after receiving the first information; or, the transmission delay measurement result is obtained within a second preset time period before the network device receives the first information.

[0032] As a possible implementation method, the sending module is also used to send third information to the first device when the transmission delay measurement result fails to be obtained within the first preset time period, and the third information is used to indicate the failure of the transmission delay measurement between the network device and the terminal device.

[0033] As a possible implementation manner, the receiving module is further used to receive fourth information from the first device, where the fourth information is used to indicate the first preset duration.

[0034] As a possible implementation manner, the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device includes: an uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device.

[0035] When the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device includes: the uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, and the transmission delay measurement result is obtained by measuring between the network device and the terminal device after receiving the first information, the receiving module is also used to receive an uplink PDU from the terminal device, and the uplink PDU includes the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU; the processing module is specifically used to determine the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device according to the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU, and the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device receives the uplink PDU;

[0036] Alternatively, the receiving module is also used to receive an uplink PDU from the terminal device, wherein the uplink PDU includes an uplink SDU and time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU; the processing module is specifically used to determine the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device based on the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU and the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device sends the uplink SDU to its upper protocol layer.

[0037] It should be understood that when the above-mentioned uplink transmission delay measurement is triggered by the network device to be performed by the terminal device, the sending module is also used to send a first indication information to the terminal device before the processing module obtains the transmission delay measurement result, and the first indication information is used to trigger the terminal device to perform uplink transmission delay measurement. For example, the sending module is specifically used to send one or more downlink protocol data units PDU to the terminal device, and the first indication information is carried by the one or more downlink PDUs. As a possible implementation method, the first indication information is specifically used to trigger the terminal device to perform uplink transmission delay measurement within a third preset time length.

[0038] When the above-mentioned uplink transmission delay measurement is performed by the terminal device triggered by the core network device, the uplink PDU also includes: fifth information, and the fifth information is used to indicate that the uplink PDU carries the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU, or the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU.

[0039] As a possible implementation manner, the sending module is further used to send sixth information to the terminal device, and the sixth information is used to indicate the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device.

[0040] As a possible implementation method, the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device includes: the downlink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device; the transmission delay measurement result is the downlink transmission delay value; the processing module is specifically used to determine the downlink transmission delay value between the network device and the terminal device based on the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device; wherein the downlink transmission delay distribution information is reported by the terminal device to the network device within the second preset time length.

[0041] As a possible implementation method, the first device is a core network device, and the receiving module is further used to receive seventh information from the core network device, wherein the seventh information is used to indicate the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the terminal device, and / or the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the network device; the sending module is also used to send the seventh information to the terminal device.

[0042] The beneficial effects of the network device provided by the third aspect and each possible implementation of the third aspect can be referred to the beneficial effects brought about by the first aspect and each possible implementation of the first aspect, and will not be elaborated here.

[0043] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, the terminal device comprising: a processing module and a sending module. Optionally, the terminal device further comprises a receiving module.

[0044] A processing module is used to generate an uplink PDU at the wireless access layer protocol layer according to the second indication information of its upper protocol layer, wherein the uplink PDU includes the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU, or the uplink PDU includes the uplink SDU and the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU, and the second indication information is used to indicate the uplink transmission delay measurement of the uplink PDU; a sending module is used to send the uplink PDU to the network device.

[0045] As a possible implementation method, the uplink PDU also includes: fifth information, and the fifth information is used to indicate that the uplink PDU carries the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU, or the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU.

[0046] As a possible implementation method, the receiving module is used to receive third indication information from the core network device, and the third indication information is used to indicate the identifier of the service for uplink transmission delay measurement, and the uplink PDU is the uplink PDU of the service corresponding to the identifier of the service.

[0047] As a possible implementation manner, the receiving module is used to receive sixth information from the network device or the first device, and the sixth information is used to indicate the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device.

[0048] As a possible implementation method, the receiving module is used to receive the seventh information from the network device, and the seventh information is used to indicate the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the terminal device, and / or the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the network device.

[0049] The beneficial effects of the terminal device provided by the fourth aspect and each possible implementation of the fourth aspect can be referred to the beneficial effects brought about by the second aspect and each possible implementation of the second aspect, and will not be elaborated here.

[0050] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, the network device comprising: a processor, a memory, a receiver, and a transmitter; the receiver and the transmitter are both coupled to the processor, the processor controls the receiving action of the receiver, and the processor controls the sending action of the transmitter;

[0051] The memory is used to store computer executable program code, and the program code includes instructions; when the processor executes the instructions, the instructions cause the network device to execute the method provided in the first aspect or various possible implementation modes of the first aspect.

[0052] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, the terminal device comprising: a processor, a memory, a receiver, and a transmitter; the receiver and the transmitter are both coupled to the processor, the processor controls a receiving action of the receiver, and the processor controls a sending action of the transmitter;

[0053] The memory is used to store computer executable program code, and the program code includes instructions; when the processor executes the instructions, the instructions cause the terminal device to execute the method provided in the second aspect or various possible implementation modes of the second aspect.

[0054] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including a unit, module or circuit for executing the method provided in the first aspect or each possible implementation method of the first aspect. The communication device can be a network device, or a module applied to a network device, for example, a chip applied to a network device.

[0055] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including a unit, module or circuit for executing the method provided in the second aspect or each possible implementation of the second aspect. The communication device can be a terminal device, or a module applied to a terminal device, for example, a chip applied to a terminal device.

[0056] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in the above-mentioned first aspect or various possible implementations of the first aspect.

[0057] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in the above-mentioned second aspect or various possible implementations of the second aspect.

[0058] In the eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which instructions are stored. When the computer-readable storage medium is run on a computer, the computer executes the method in the above-mentioned first aspect or various possible implementations of the first aspect.

[0059] In the twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which instructions are stored. When the computer-readable storage medium is run on a computer, the computer executes the method in the above-mentioned second aspect or various possible implementations of the second aspect.

[0060] In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by the communication device, the method in the first aspect or various possible implementations of the first aspect is implemented. The communication device mentioned here may be, for example, a chip.

[0061] In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by the communication device, the method in the second aspect or various possible implementations of the second aspect is implemented. The communication device mentioned here may be, for example, a chip.

[0062] In a fifteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a network device in the third aspect or various possible implementations of the third aspect, or a chip set in a network device. The communication device includes: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and can be used to execute instructions in the memory to implement the method in the first aspect or various possible implementations of the first aspect. Optionally, the communication device also includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device also includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0063] When the communication device is a network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input / output interface.

[0064] When the communication device is a chip disposed in a network device, the communication interface may be an input / output interface.

[0065] Optionally, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0066] In a sixteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a terminal device in the fourth aspect or various possible implementations of the fourth aspect, or a chip set in the terminal device. The communication device includes: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and can be used to execute instructions in the memory to implement the method in the second aspect or various possible implementations of the second aspect. Optionally, the communication device also includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device also includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0067] When the communication device is a terminal device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input / output interface.

[0068] When the communication device is a chip arranged in a terminal device, the communication interface may be an input / output interface.

[0069] Optionally, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0070] In a seventeenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, including: a terminal device and a network device. The network device is used to execute the method in the first aspect or various possible implementations of the first aspect. The terminal device is used to execute the method in the second aspect or various possible implementations of the second aspect. Optionally, the communication system may also include a first device.

[0071] In the eighteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, which is connected to a memory and is used to read and execute a software program stored in the memory to implement the method provided by any aspect of the first to second aspects or any possible implementation method of any aspect.

[0072] In the nineteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, which includes a processor and a memory, and the processor is used to read the software program stored in the memory to implement the method provided by any aspect of the first to second aspects or any possible implementation method of any aspect.

[0073] In the delay measurement method, network device, and terminal device provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first device can trigger the network device to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device through the first information. After receiving the first information, the network device can respond to the first information, obtain the transmission delay measurement result, and feed back the transmission delay measurement result to the first device through the second information within the first preset time length, so as to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device in the 5G network. At the same time, through the first preset time length, the first device can also be informed of the transmission delay measurement result in a timely manner. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0074] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a mobile communication system used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] Figure 2A Schematic diagram of the protocol stack structure in the 5G mobile communication system Figure 1 ;

[0076] Figure 2B Schematic diagram 2 of the protocol stack structure in a 5G mobile communication system;

[0077] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a protocol stack of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a delay measurement method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] Figure 5 A flowchart of another delay measurement method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] Figure 6 A flowchart of another delay measurement method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] Fig. 6A A schematic diagram of PDU transmission provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0084] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of the structure of another network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0085] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of the structure of another terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0086] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the architecture of the mobile communication system used in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the mobile communication system may include a core network device 110, a radio access network (RAN) device 120 and at least one terminal device (such as Figure 1 The terminal device 130 and the terminal device 140 in the figure are connected to the wireless access network device 120 by wireless means, and the wireless access network device 120 is connected to the core network device 110 by wireless or wired means. The core network device 110 and the wireless access network device 120 can be independent and different physical devices, or the functions of the core network device 110 and the logical functions of the wireless access network device 120 can be integrated on the same physical device, or part of the functions of the core network device 110 and part of the functions of the wireless access network device 120 can be integrated on one physical device. The terminal device can be fixed or movable. Figure 1 This is just a schematic diagram. The mobile communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices. Figure 1 The embodiment of the present application does not limit the number of core network devices 110, wireless access network devices 120 and terminal devices included in the mobile communication system.

[0087] The wireless access network device 120 is an access device for the terminal device to access the mobile communication system wirelessly, and may be a base station NodeB, an evolutionary node B (eNB or eNodeB), a base station in a 5G mobile communication system or a new generation of wireless (new radio, NR) communication system (such as a transmission and reception point (TRP), a controller), a base station in a future mobile communication system, an access node in a WiFi system, a relay station, etc. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the wireless access network device 120. In the embodiment of the present application, the wireless access network device 120 is referred to as a network device. If there is no special explanation, in the embodiment of the present application, the network device refers to the wireless access network device 120. In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the terms 5G and NR may be equivalent.

[0088] Terminal equipment may also be called terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc. Terminal equipment may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, etc.

[0089] The wireless access network device 120 and the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface; can also be deployed on aircraft, balloons and artificial satellites in the air. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the application scenarios of the wireless access network device 120 and the terminal device.

[0090] The wireless access network device 120 and the terminal device may communicate through a licensed spectrum, or may communicate through an unlicensed spectrum, or may communicate through both a licensed spectrum and an unlicensed spectrum. The wireless access network device 120 and the terminal device may communicate through a spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), or may communicate through a spectrum above 6 GHz, or may communicate through both a spectrum below 6 GHz and a spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the spectrum resources used between the wireless access network device 120 and the terminal device.

[0091] At present, in a 5G mobile communication system (referred to as 5G system), when a network device communicates with a terminal device, the following protocol layers are involved (sometimes these protocol layers are collectively referred to as a wireless access layer, or a wireless network protocol layer, or a wireless protocol layer, or a wireless air interface protocol layer, or a wireless access layer protocol layer, which is not distinguished in the embodiments of the present application):

[0092] Radio resource control (RRC) layer: used to perform broadcasting, paging, RRC connection establishment, radio bearer (RB) control, mobility, terminal device measurement and reporting control, etc.

[0093] Service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer: responsible for mapping each quality of service flow (QoS flow) from the 5th generation core (5GC) to the data radio bearer (DRB), that is, according to the service attributes corresponding to the QoS flow, the data packet corresponding to the QoS flow is placed on the corresponding DRB for transmission. In the embodiment of the present application, the SDAP layer is a newly introduced protocol layer in 5G.

[0094] Packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer: There can be multiple PDCP entities in the PDCP layer, each of which carries the data of one RB and can provide services such as security, header compression, encryption, and switching. The PDCP layer can ensure that the data submitted to the upper layer is in order (i.e., submitted in sequence).

[0095] Radio link control (RLC) layer: There can be multiple RLC entities in the RLC layer. Each RLC entity corresponds to a PDCP entity and is used to provide services such as segmentation, reassembly, and retransmission for the PDCP entity. The RLC layer can also ensure that the data submitted to the upper layer is in order (i.e., submitted in sequence).

[0096] Medium access control (MAC) layer: provides data transmission services for services on logical channels, such as scheduling, confirmation and denial of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), etc.

[0097] Physical (PHY) layer: encodes and transmits data passed down by the MAC layer.

[0098] Figure 2A Schematic diagram of the protocol stack structure in the 5G mobile communication system Figure 1 ,like Figure 2A As shown, when user plane data is transmitted between the network device and the terminal device, the protocol layers of the network device and the terminal device are, from top to bottom, SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

[0099] Figure 2B Schematic diagram 2 of the protocol stack structure in the 5G mobile communication system, such as Figure 2B As shown, when the control plane data is transmitted between the network device and the terminal device, the protocol layer of the network device and the protocol layer of the terminal device are respectively: RRC layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer from top to bottom.

[0100] Combination Figure 2A and Figure 2B, from top to bottom, for each protocol layer, the data input from the upper protocol layer to the current protocol layer is called the service data unit (SDU) of this layer, and the data obtained after the current layer processes the SDU is called the protocol data unit (PDU) of this layer. For example, taking PDCP as the upper protocol layer of the RLC layer as an example, the current protocol layer is the RLC layer, and the data input from the PDCP layer to the RLC layer is called PDCP PDU for the PDCP layer, and RLC SDU for the RLC layer. After the RLC layer processes the SDU, the PDU of the RLC layer is obtained. Similarly, the RRC layer or the SDAP layer can be the upper protocol layer of the PDCP layer, the RLC layer can be the upper protocol layer of the MAC layer, and the MAC layer can be the upper protocol layer of the PHY layer. Accordingly, the relationship between the PDU of the upper protocol layer and the SDU and PDU of this layer is similar and will not be repeated.

[0101] In one possible way, by Figure 2A and Figure 2B When communicating with the protocol stack structure shown, the network device in the 5G mobile communication system can be a base station (such as gNB) with a CU and DU separation architecture. The base station can be connected to a core network device (for example, it can be an LTE core network, or a 5G core network, etc.). CU and DU can be understood as a division of the base station from a logical function perspective. CU and DU can be physically separated or deployed together. Multiple DUs can share one CU. A DU can also be connected to multiple CUs (not shown in the figure). CU and DU can be connected through an interface, such as an F1 interface.

[0102] Optionally, the functions of the CU and the functions of the DU can be divided according to the protocol layers of the wireless network. For example, the functions of the RRC layer, the SDAP layer, and the PDCP layer are set in the CU, while the functions of the RLC layer, the MAC layer, the PHY layer, etc. are set in the DU. It can be understood that the above-mentioned division of the functions of the CU and the functions of the DU according to the protocol layer is only an example, and the division can also be carried out in other ways. For example, the CU or DU can have the functions of more protocol layers, or the CU or DU can also have some processing functions of the protocol layer. Exemplarily, some functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer can be set in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer can be set in the DU.

[0103] Alternatively, the functions of the CU and the functions of the DU may be divided according to service type or other system requirements, such as by latency, where functions whose processing time needs to meet the latency requirement are set in the DU, and functions that do not need to meet the latency requirement are set in the CU.

[0104] Alternatively, a CU may have one or more functions of a core network. One or more CUs may be centrally or separately set up. For example, a CU may be set up on the network side for centralized management. A DU may have multiple RF functions, or the RF functions may be remotely set up.

[0105] It should be understood that the functions of a CU may be implemented by one entity or by different entities. Optionally, the functions of a CU may be further divided. For example, Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a protocol stack of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 3 As shown, the control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) of the CU can be separated, that is, the control plane (CU-CP) of the CU and the user plane (CU-UP) of the CU. Among them, the CU-CP and CU-UP can be implemented by different functional entities, and the CU-CP and CU-UP can be coupled with the DU to jointly complete the functions of the base station. In one possible way, the CU-CP is responsible for the control plane functions, mainly including the functions of the RRC layer and the PDCP-C. PDCP-C is mainly responsible for the encryption and decryption, integrity protection, data transmission, etc. of the control plane data. CU-UP is responsible for the user plane functions, mainly including the functions of the SDAP layer and PDCP-U. Among them, PDCP-U is mainly responsible for the encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, sequence number maintenance, data transmission, etc. of the data plane. CU-CP and CU-UP can be connected through the E1 interface. The CU-CP represents that the base station can be connected to the core network device through the Ng interface, connected to the DU through F1-C (control plane), and CU-UP is connected to the DU through F1-U (user plane). Optionally, another possible implementation is that the function of PDCP-C is also on the CU-UP side (not shown in the figure).

[0106] The 5G system can support different services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services, massive machine type communication (MTC) services, ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC) services, multimedia broadcast multicast (MBMS) services, and positioning services. With the development of communication needs, more and more services need to guarantee low latency performance. For example, the aforementioned URLLC service needs to ensure that the latency is within 0.5ms. Therefore, in order to ensure the performance of the service, it is necessary to measure the latency of the current network and timely obtain the latency performance of the current network.

[0107] Currently, core network equipment measures the transmission delay between core network equipment and network equipment in the following ways, specifically:

[0108] The core network device sends a data packet A to the network device. The data packet A may be a detection packet specifically used to measure transmission delay or a service data packet. At the same time, the core network device may record the time T1 when the data packet A is sent to the network device.

[0109] After receiving the data packet A, the network device will record the time T2 when the data packet A is received. Then, the network device can feed back the delay measurement result to the core network device, and the delay measurement result can carry the time T2 when the network device receives the data packet A and the time T3 when the network device sends the delay measurement result.

[0110] After the core network device receives the delay measurement result, it can obtain the uplink and downlink transmission delays between the core network device and the network device based on the time T4 when the delay measurement result is received, the time T2 when the network device receives data packet A, the time T3 when the network device sends the delay measurement result, and the time T1 when the data packet A is sent to the network device.

[0111] Although the above method describes how the core network device measures the uplink and downlink transmission delay between the core network device and the network device, the above method does not involve how to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device. Therefore, how to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device is an urgent problem to be solved.

[0112] Taking the above problems into consideration, an embodiment of the present application provides a delay measurement method that can measure the transmission delay between a network device and a terminal device in a 5G network. It should be understood that the method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be used not only in the scenario where a gNB is connected to a 5GC in a 5G network, but also in the scenario where an LTE eNB is connected to a 5GC (in this scenario, the LTE eNB can also be referred to as ng-Enb), and also in the scenario where an LTE eNB is connected to an 4G core network EPC. This application does not impose specific restrictions.

[0113] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below in conjunction with specific embodiments. The following specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described in detail in some embodiments.

[0114] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a delay measurement method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 As shown, the method includes:

[0115] S101. A first device sends first information to a network device.

[0116] The first information is used to request the network device to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device. The transmission delay mentioned here may include: uplink transmission delay and / or downlink transmission delay.

[0117] Correspondingly, the network device receives the first information.

[0118] The first device may be any device having a function of triggering a network device to measure a transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, such as a core network device, a network management device, etc. The core network device mentioned here may be, for example, a user plane function (UPF) network element, an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, a session management function (SMF) network element, a policy control function (PCF) network element, a unified data management function (UDM) network element, etc.

[0119] When the above-mentioned first device is a core network device, as a possible implementation method, the core network device can send the first information to the network device through the user surface to trigger the network device to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device. For example, the core network device can carry the first information in the packet header or extension header of the GPRS user plane tunneling protocol (GPRS tunnelling protocol user plane, GTP-U) packet on the user plane, instructing the network device to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device. The GTP-U packet mentioned here can be a GTP-U packet carrying service data, or it can be a GTP-U packet corresponding to other messages, etc. Optionally, the above-mentioned first information can also be used to measure the transmission delay between the core network device and the network device.

[0120] S102. The network device obtains a transmission delay measurement result in response to the first information.

[0121] In a possible implementation, the transmission delay measurement result is obtained through measurement between the network device and the terminal device after the network device receives the first information.

[0122] After receiving the first information, the network device may perform transmission delay measurement with the terminal device to obtain the transmission delay measurement result.

[0123] In another possible implementation, the transmission delay measurement result is obtained by the network device within a second preset time period before receiving the first information. It should be understood that the second preset time period mentioned above may be the same as or different from the first preset time period. The second preset time period mentioned above may be preset in the network device, or may be indicated to the network device by the first device through the first information, or may be indicated to the network device by the first device through other information independent of the first information, and there is no limitation on this.

[0124] In some embodiments, the network device may use the transmission delay measurement result obtained by the network device within the second preset time length before receiving the first information as the current transmission delay measurement result; or, the network device may first determine whether the transmission delay measurement result obtained by the network device within the second preset time length before receiving the first information is stored. If so, the network device may use the measurement result as the current delay measurement result. If not, the network device performs transmission delay measurement with the terminal device to obtain the transmission delay measurement result. In this way, the efficiency of the network device in obtaining the transmission measurement result can be improved. In the case where the transmission delay measurement result obtained by the network device within the second preset time length before receiving the first information can be reused, unnecessary measurement overhead can be reduced.

[0125] The above transmission delay measurement result may be a transmission delay value, or a transmission delay distribution, which may be specifically determined according to the delay measurement requirement of the communication system.

[0126] The transmission delay distribution mentioned here refers to the distribution of transmission delay within a certain period of time. Taking the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device as an example, a possible implementation method, the downlink transmission delay distribution information mentioned here can be the distribution of multiple delay segments. Among them, the division of the multiple delay segments can be notified to the terminal device by the network device, or it can be preset. Exemplarily, the multiple delay segments corresponding to the following downlink transmission delay distribution information are: <0.3 milliseconds (ms), 0.3ms~0.5ms, >0.5ms, then the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device can be, for example, as shown in the following Table 1:

[0127] Table 1

[0128]

[0129]

[0130] In another implementation, the downlink transmission delay distribution information may be a ratio of delays lower than, higher than, or equal to a threshold. The threshold may be notified to the terminal device by the network device, or may be preset. For example, taking the delay lower than a threshold of 0.3 as an example, the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device may be as shown in the following Table 2:

[0131] Table 2

[0132]

[0133] It should be understood that the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device shown in Table 1 and Table 2 above, and the transmission delay distribution involved in the embodiments of the present application include but are not limited to the two situations shown in Table 1 and Table 2.

[0134] S103: The network device sends second information to the first device within a first preset time period.

[0135] The second information is used to indicate the transmission delay measurement result.

[0136] Specifically, the above-mentioned first preset time length is used to define the effective time of the transmission delay measurement result. That is, the network device needs to report the transmission delay measurement result to the first device within the first preset time length. Accordingly, in an embodiment of the present application, if the network device fails to obtain the transmission delay measurement result within the first preset time length, the network device may send a third message to the first device, and the third message is used to indicate that the transmission delay measurement between the network device and the terminal device has failed. In the above manner, the network device can promptly feedback the transmission delay measurement result to the first device.

[0137] As a possible implementation, after receiving the first information, the network device may start a timer, and the length of the timer may be a first preset duration. If the network device obtains the transmission delay measurement result before the timer times out, the network device sends the first device second information indicating the transmission delay measurement result. If the network device fails to obtain the transmission delay measurement result when the timer times out, the network device sends the first device third information indicating the failure of the transmission delay measurement between the network device and the terminal device.

[0138] Taking the above-mentioned first device as a core network device, and the above-mentioned first information is also used to measure the transmission delay between the core network device and the network device as an example, since the network device and the terminal device communicate through the air interface, if the network device and the terminal device measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device through data packets, the data packets used to measure the transmission delay may be lost in the wireless transmission, which may cause the network device to be waiting for the feedback of the terminal device and unable to feedback the transmission delay measurement result to the first device. However, through the method of the embodiment of the present application, if the network device fails to obtain the transmission delay measurement result within the first preset time length, the network device can send the third information to the first device, so that the core network device can still timely know the transmission delay between the core network device and the network device through the third information.

[0139] In this example, the third information may also carry the time when the network device receives the first information, and the time when the network device sends the third information. Optionally, the packet header or extended header of the GTP-U packet containing the first information may also carry an identifier (such as an SN number) to indicate the number of the first information currently being sent. Accordingly, the network device may subsequently carry the identifier in the second information or third information sent to the core network device, so that the core network device can know the time when the core network device sends the first information, so that the core network device can accurately calculate the transmission delay between the core network device and the network device.

[0140] It should be understood that the first preset duration mentioned above can be preset in the network device, or can be indicated to the network device by the first device through the first information, or can be indicated to the network device by the first device through the fourth information independent of the first information. Taking the first device as a core network device as an example, the core network device can indicate the first preset duration to the network device by carrying the fourth information in the control plane message. The control plane message mentioned here can be, for example: PDU session resource setup request (PDUsession resource setup request), PDU session resource modification request (session resource modify request), initial context setup request (initial context setup request), terminal device context modification request (UE context modification request), handover request (handover request), path switch request acknowledgement (path switch request acknowledgement).

[0141] Optionally, the first preset duration may be at the terminal device level, that is, when the network device and the terminal device implement transmission delay measurement through any PDU, the first preset duration may be used to constrain the validity period of the transmission delay measurement result.

[0142] Alternatively, the first preset duration may be at the PDU session level, that is, when the network device and the terminal device implement transmission delay measurement through any PDU corresponding to the PDU session, the first preset duration may be used to constrain the validity period of the transmission delay measurement result. In this scenario, for PDUs corresponding to other PDU sessions, the first preset duration corresponding to other PDU sessions is used to constrain the validity period of the transmission delay measurement result.

[0143] Alternatively, the first preset duration may be at the service quality flow level, that is, when the network device and the terminal device implement transmission delay measurement through any PDU corresponding to the service quality flow, the first preset duration may be used to constrain the validity period of the transmission delay measurement result. In this scenario, for PDUs corresponding to other service quality flows, the first preset durations corresponding to other service quality flows are used to constrain the validity period of the transmission delay measurement result.

[0144] Alternatively, the first preset duration may be at the level of the fifth generation quality of service identifier (5G QoS identifier, 5QI), that is, when the network device and the terminal device implement transmission delay measurement through any PDU corresponding to the 5QI, the first preset duration may be used to constrain the validity period of the transmission delay measurement result. In this scenario, for other PDUs corresponding to the 5QI, the first preset durations corresponding to other 5QIs are used to constrain the validity period of the transmission delay measurement result.

[0145] It should be understood that if the above-mentioned network device is a CU-DU architecture, when the CU-CP of the network device receives the first preset time length or the second preset time length indicated by the first device, the CU-CP of the network device needs to notify the CU-UP that performs the transmission delay measurement of the first preset time length or the second preset time length.

[0146] In the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first device can trigger the network device to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device through the first information. After receiving the first information, the network device can respond to the first information, obtain the transmission delay measurement result, and feed back the transmission delay measurement result to the first device through the second information within the first preset time length, so as to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device in the 5G network. At the same time, through the first preset time length, the first device can also be informed of the transmission delay measurement result in a timely manner.

[0147] The following takes the case where the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device includes the uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, and the measurement result of the uplink transmission delay is obtained by the network device performing uplink transmission delay measurement with the terminal device after receiving the first information as an example to explain how the network device obtains the transmission delay measurement result, which may include the following two cases:

[0148] In the first case, the first device is a core network device or a network management device. After the first device sends a first message to the network device to trigger the network device to measure the uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, the network device triggers the terminal device to measure the uplink transmission delay. In this way, the network device can trigger the uplink delay measurement on demand.

[0149] Figure 5 A flowchart of another delay measurement method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 As shown, the network device can obtain the uplink transmission delay measurement result through the following steps:

[0150] S201. The network device sends first indication information to the terminal device.

[0151] Among them, the first indication information is used to trigger the terminal device to perform uplink transmission delay measurement.

[0152] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information.

[0153] For example, the network device may send a high-level signaling to the terminal device, where the high-level signaling includes the aforementioned first indication information. The high-level signaling mentioned here may be, for example, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling or a MAC signaling.

[0154] For another example, the network device may send one or more downlink PDUs to the terminal device, and the above-mentioned first indication information is carried by the one or more downlink PDUs. The downlink PDU mentioned here may be a downlink PDU generated by a wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device, such as an SDAP layer or a PDCP layer. The downlink PDU may be a downlink control PDU or a downlink data PDU.

[0155] When the above-mentioned downlink PDU is a downlink control PDU, the downlink control PDU may be an existing control PDU, and a certain field in the existing control PDU is used to carry the first indication information. The field may include at least one bit. The downlink control PDU may also be a new downlink control PDU, that is, the format of the downlink control PDU is different from the format of the existing downlink control PDU. The new downlink control PDU can be specifically used to trigger the terminal device to perform uplink transmission delay measurement. It can also be said that the above-mentioned first indication information is equivalent to the new downlink control PDU.

[0156] Optionally, when the downlink control PDU is a downlink control PDU generated by the SDAP layer of the network device, the downlink control PDU may also carry a quality of service flow identifier (qos flow ID, QFI) to indicate to the terminal device which QFI corresponds to the uplink PDU for uplink delay measurement.

[0157] When the above-mentioned downlink PDU is a downlink data PDU, the above-mentioned first indication information can be carried in the header of the downlink data PDU. Alternatively, the downlink data PDU carries other information related to the uplink transmission delay measurement (such as time information) to implicitly trigger the terminal device to perform uplink transmission delay measurement through the information. At this time, the information is the first indication information mentioned above. It should be understood that the time information mentioned here can be the time information of the downlink data PDU generated by the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device, or the time information of the SDU included in the downlink data PDU sent by its upper protocol layer received by the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device.

[0158] S202: The wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates an uplink PDU.

[0159] The uplink PDU may include time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU. The time information mentioned here may also be called a timestamp.

[0160] Optionally, the uplink PDU may be an uplink control PDU or an uplink data PDU.

[0161] When the above-mentioned first indication information is sent by the network device to the terminal device through at least one downlink control PDU, and the downlink control PDU also carries a QFI, the uplink PDU mentioned here may be the uplink PDU corresponding to the QFI.

[0162] S203: The terminal device sends the uplink PDU to the network device.

[0163] Accordingly, the network device receives the uplink PDU.

[0164] S204. The network device determines the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device based on the time information of the uplink PDU generated by the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device and the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device receives the uplink PDU.

[0165] Optionally, the uplink transmission delay measurement result is an uplink transmission delay value.

[0166] For example, the network device may subtract the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device receives the uplink PDU from the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU, to obtain the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device. Alternatively, the network device may subtract the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device receives the uplink PDU from the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU, and then divide the result by a preset coefficient to obtain the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device, etc.

[0167] In another implementation, the uplink PDU may include the uplink SDU and the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU from its upper layer protocol layer. In this implementation, the above step S204 may be replaced by the following steps:

[0168] The network device determines the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device based on the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receiving the uplink SDU and the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device sends the uplink SDU to its upper protocol layer.

[0169] For example, the network device may subtract the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device sends the uplink SDU to its upper protocol layer from the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU, to obtain the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device. Alternatively, the network device may divide the value obtained by subtracting the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device sends the uplink SDU to its upper protocol layer from the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU by a preset coefficient, to obtain the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device, etc.

[0170] It can be seen from the above method that the terminal device measures the uplink transmission delay by carrying the time information of the uplink PDU generated by the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device in the uplink PDU, or the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the time information of the uplink SDU from its upper protocol layer. Therefore, in some embodiments, the above-mentioned first indication information can also be replaced by: indication information for triggering the terminal device to carry time information in the uplink PDU.

[0171] As a possible implementation method, the above-mentioned terminal device can perform uplink transmission delay measurement within a third preset time length. That is, if the terminal device generates an uplink PDU within the third preset time length after receiving the first indication information sent by the network device, the terminal device carries the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generating the uplink PDU in the uplink PDU, or the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the time information of the uplink SDU from its upper protocol layer. If the terminal device does not generate an uplink PDU within the third preset time length, then even if there is an uplink PDU later, the terminal device will no longer carry time information in the uplink PDU. It should be understood that the above-mentioned third preset time length can be less than the first preset time length. In this way, the measurement of the uplink transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device can be constrained to be completed within the first preset time length as much as possible, and the network device can trigger the uplink delay measurement on demand, without the need for the network device to send some configuration information of the corresponding uplink transmission delay measurement to the terminal device.

[0172] It can be understood that the third preset duration can be preset in the terminal device, or can be indicated to the terminal device by the network device through the first indication information, that is, the first indication information is specifically used to trigger the terminal device to perform uplink transmission delay measurement within the third preset duration. Alternatively, the third preset duration can also be sent to the terminal device by the network device through other indication information, which is not limited to this.

[0173] It should be understood that although this embodiment takes the example of the first device requesting the network device to measure the uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device through the first information, and introduces how the network device triggers the terminal device to measure the uplink transmission delay, and how the terminal device measures the uplink transmission delay. However, the implementation of this embodiment may not be dependent on the aforementioned embodiment, that is, no matter how the core network device triggers the network device to measure the uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, the network device and the terminal device can adopt the method of this embodiment to achieve the measurement of the uplink transmission delay.

[0174] The second case: the first device is a core network device, and when the core network device sends the first information to the network device to trigger the network device to measure the uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, the core network device triggers the terminal device to perform uplink transmission delay measurement through a non-access layer message (such as a session establishment or modification message). In this embodiment, the upper protocol layer of the wireless access network protocol layer or the wireless air interface protocol layer of the terminal device determines when to perform the uplink delay measurement.

[0175] Figure 6 A flowchart of another delay measurement method provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown below. Figure 6 As shown, the network device can obtain the uplink transmission delay measurement result through the following steps:

[0176] S301. The radio access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates an uplink PDU according to the second indication information of its upper layer protocol layer.

[0177] The uplink PDU includes time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the uplink transmission delay measurement of the uplink PDU is performed. Here, the wireless access layer protocol layer can be a protocol layer such as an SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, etc. Here, the upper protocol layer of the wireless access network protocol layer or the wireless air interface protocol layer can be a wireless non-access network protocol layer (such as a non-access-stratum protocol layer) or an application layer or other protocol layer.

[0178] In this embodiment, the upper protocol layer of the terminal device samples the data packets, and then the upper protocol layer notifies the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device through the second indication information that the corresponding SDU needs to perform uplink delay measurement. Optionally, the second indication information may be carried in the SDU sent by the upper protocol layer to the wireless access layer protocol layer, that is, the SDU received by the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device. Optionally, the second indication information may be sent separately to the wireless access layer protocol layer or the wireless air interface protocol layer, that is, the wireless access layer protocol layer or the wireless air interface protocol layer receives the second indication information and the SDU from the upper protocol layer, and the second indication information is not carried in the SDU.

[0179] As a possible implementation, the terminal device may also receive third indication information from the core network device, and the third indication information is used to indicate the identifier of the service for uplink transmission delay measurement. In this implementation, the uplink PDU is the uplink PDU of the service corresponding to the identifier of the service. The identifier of the service for uplink transmission delay measurement mentioned here may be, for example, the identifier of the PDU session, the identifier of the service quality flow, or the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network Bearer (E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer, E-RAB), etc.

[0180] It should be understood that the wireless access layer protocol layer at which the terminal device receives the second indication information and the wireless access layer protocol layer that generates the uplink PDU may be the same, for example, the wireless access layer protocol layer may be the SDAP layer. Alternatively, the wireless access layer protocol layer at which the terminal device receives the second indication information and the wireless access layer protocol layer that generates the uplink PDU may be different, for example, the wireless access layer protocol layer at which the terminal device receives the second indication information is the SDAP layer, and the wireless access layer protocol layer that generates the uplink PDU is the PDCP layer, etc.

[0181] S302: The terminal device sends the uplink PDU to the network device.

[0182] Accordingly, the network device receives the uplink PDU.

[0183] S303, the network device determines the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device according to the time information of the uplink PDU generated by the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device and the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device receives the uplink PDU.

[0184] Optionally, the uplink transmission delay measurement result is an uplink transmission delay value.

[0185] In another implementation, the uplink PDU may include the uplink SDU and the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU from its upper layer protocol layer. In this implementation, the above step S303 may be replaced by the following steps:

[0186] The network device determines the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device based on the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receiving the uplink SDU and the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device sends the uplink SDU to its upper protocol layer.

[0187] Regarding how the network device determines the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device, please refer to the above description of S204, which will not be repeated here.

[0188] As a possible implementation, in this embodiment, the above-mentioned PDU may also include: fifth information, wherein the fifth information is used to indicate that the uplink PDU carries the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generating the uplink PDU, or the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receiving the uplink SDU. In this way, after receiving the uplink PDU, the network device can promptly know that the uplink PDU carries the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generating the uplink PDU, or the time information of the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receiving the uplink SDU, so that the network device can determine the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device based on the carried time information. Optionally, the fifth information can be the aforementioned second indication information, or it can be a customized information of the wireless access layer protocol layer, which is not limited to this.

[0189] By the above method, the measurement of the uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device can be realized. As for the measurement of the downlink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, reference can be made to the implementation method of the prior art, which will not be described in detail.

[0190] The above two methods describe that the terminal device carries the time information of the uplink PDU generated by the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device in the transmitted uplink PDU, or the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the time information of the uplink SDU, so as to achieve the measurement of the uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device. In another implementation method, the time information carried by the above terminal device may be a time offset relative to a certain time reference point. For example, the network device notifies the terminal device of the rule of the time reference point corresponding to the moment (such as notifying the terminal device through an RRC message), such as (10*SFN+subframe)MOD period=0, that is, the frame number SFN and the subframe number subframe and the reference period period meet certain rules. Or the network device directly notifies the terminal device of the start time and reference period corresponding to the time reference point (such as notifying the terminal device through an RRC message).

[0191] Since the time information carries a time offset, when the network device receives the uplink PDU sent by the terminal device, it may not know to which time reference point the time information carried by the uplink PDU is relative. The cause of this problem is, for example, that there is a period of time between the terminal device adding the time information to the uplink PDU and the terminal device sending the uplink PDU to the network device, or the network device may not correctly parse the uplink PDU when it first receives the uplink PDU sent by the terminal device).

[0192] Fig. 6A A schematic diagram of a PDU transmission provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 6A As shown, taking the data packet as an uplink PDU as an example, for the above problem, the network device can determine the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device in the following way:

[0193] Method 1: Specify a reference cycle length greater than or equal to 2 times the maximum delay value

[0194] In this implementation, for the second half of the reference period period (i.e., the moment after period / 2 of the starting point of the reference period), it can be considered that the sending time and receiving time of the uplink PDU correspond to the same time reference point. Therefore, the network device can use the time offset offset1 of the moment when the uplink PDU is received relative to its corresponding time reference point minus the time offset offset2 carried by the received uplink PDU to obtain the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device. Among them, the moment when the network device receives the uplink PDU can be any moment between the user plane entity of the network device receiving the uplink PDU and the user plane entity submitting the uplink PDU to the upper layer.

[0195] For the first half of the reference period (i.e., the time between the starting point of the reference period and period / 2 after the starting point), the network device shall make the following judgments:

[0196] Assume that the time offset of the time when the network device receives the uplink PDU relative to its corresponding time reference point is offset1, and the time offset carried by the received uplink PDU is offset2:

[0197] If offset1 is greater than offset2, the network device may determine that the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device is the difference between offset1 and offset2.

[0198] If offset1 is less than or equal to offset2, the delay is offset1+period-offset2. The period here refers to the reference period.

[0199] Mode 2: In addition to carrying the time offset, the terminal device also carries a time reference point indication information, which indicates which time reference point the time offset is relative to. For example, one bit is used to indicate, for example, when the bit is 0, it means that the time reference point is an odd-numbered time reference point, and when the bit is 1, it means that the time reference point is an even-numbered time reference point. Alternatively, when the bit is 1, it means that the time reference point is an odd-numbered time reference point, and when the bit is 0, it means that the time reference point is an even-numbered time reference point.

[0200] For the odd-numbered time reference points or even-numbered time reference points above, the first time reference point is the first time reference point that satisfies the corresponding rule after the network device notifies the terminal device of the relevant configuration for delay measurement, such as the first time reference point that satisfies (10*SFN+subframe)MOD period=0 as mentioned above, and the time points that satisfy this condition are the 2nd, 3rd…nth time reference points in sequence, and the rule is used to define which time reference points are odd-numbered time points and which time reference points are even-numbered time points. In this way, the network device can know the time when the terminal device sends the uplink PDU based on the time offset carried by the uplink PDU and the time reference point indication information. Furthermore, the network device obtains the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device based on the time when the uplink PDU is received minus the time when the terminal device sends the uplink PDU.

[0201] For example, the offset of the time when the network device receives the uplink PDU relative to its own time reference point is offset1, and the time offset carried by the uplink PDU is offset2. If the time reference point corresponding to the time when the network device receives the uplink PDU and the time reference point carried by the uplink PDU are both even-numbered time reference points, or both are odd-numbered time reference points, then the network device can determine that the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device is offset1-offset2. It should be understood that the maximum delay of the network in this embodiment should be less than the reference period. Therefore, if the time reference point corresponding to the time when the network device receives the uplink PDU and the time reference point carried by the uplink PDU are both even-numbered time reference points, or both are odd-numbered time reference points, it means that they correspond to the same time reference point.

[0202] If the time reference point corresponding to the moment when the network device receives the uplink PDU and the time reference point carried by the uplink PDU are one even time reference point and one odd time reference point, the network device can determine that the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device is offset1+period-offset2. It should be understood that the maximum delay of the network in this embodiment should be less than the reference period. Therefore, if the time reference point corresponding to the moment when the network device receives the uplink PDU and the time reference point carried by the uplink PDU are one even time reference point and one odd time reference point, it means that the two time reference points differ by one reference period.

[0203] Through the above method, when the network device receives the uplink PDU sent by the terminal device, it can accurately know the time reference point relative to which the time information carried is the time offset, so that the network device can accurately know the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device.

[0204] It should be understood that although the above embodiment is based on how the network device obtains the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device based on the time offset carried by the terminal device. However, those skilled in the art can understand that when the above network device uses the above method to send a downlink PDU carrying a time offset to the terminal device to measure the downlink transmission delay, the terminal device can also use the above method to obtain the downlink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device. The implementation method is similar and will not be repeated here.

[0205] It should be understood that although this embodiment takes the example of the first device requesting the network device to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device through the first information as an example to introduce how the terminal device performs transmission delay measurement, the implementation method of this embodiment may not be dependent on the aforementioned embodiment, that is, no matter which method is used to trigger the network device and the terminal device to perform transmission delay measurement, the method of this embodiment may be used to implement the measurement of uplink transmission delay.

[0206] As another possible implementation manner, when the first device triggers the network device to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, the network device may also obtain the transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device in the following manner:

[0207] Specifically, the receiving end and the sending end calculate the delay of processing a certain PDU on their own side, and then the processing delay of the sending end and the receiving end is added together by the network device side. When the receiving end mentioned here is a network device, the sending end can be a terminal device, or the receiving end is a terminal device and the sending end is a network device.

[0208] For downlink transmission delay: Since data packets in wireless communication may be divided into multiple segments at the RLC / MAC layer, the network device counts the delay from the moment when the SDAP layer of the network device receives the data packet (SDAP SDU) from the core network device or the PDCP layer of the network device receives the data packet (PDCP SDU) from the upper protocol layer to the moment when the last segment of the data packet (i.e., SDAPSDU or PDCP SDU) is correctly received by the terminal device (according to the HARQ information fed back by the terminal device). It should be understood that the last segment mentioned here actually refers to the last segment of all segments that is correctly received by the terminal device.

[0209] What is counted on the terminal device side is: the delay between the moment when the last segment of the SDU is correctly received by the terminal device and the moment when the SDAP or PDCP layer of the terminal device submits the SDU to the upper layer.

[0210] For uplink transmission delay: the terminal device counts the delay between the moment when the SDAP layer or PDCP layer of the terminal device receives the data packet (SDAP SDU or PDCP SDU) from the upper layer to the moment when the MAC layer HARQ process corresponding to the last segment of the data packet is scheduled with new data by the network device (or the moment when the MAC layer of the terminal device clears the last segment of the data packet from the buffer of the HARQ process).

[0211] The statistics on the network device side are: the delay between the time when the network device schedules other new data in the HARQ process to which the last segment of the data packet belongs and the time when the PDCP layer or SDAP layer of the network device submits it to the upper layer.

[0212] After calculating the processing time of the uplink or downlink data packets on the terminal device side, the terminal device notifies the network device of the corresponding result. The terminal device can feedback the delay information corresponding to each data packet, or feedback the average delay or delay distribution of a certain DRB or qos flow or PDU session. In this way, the network device can calculate the entire downlink or uplink delay based on the delay feedback from the terminal device and the delay calculated internally by the network device.

[0213] In this way, the transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device can be measured without carrying time information in the PDU, which can reduce the air interface overhead while achieving transmission delay measurement.

[0214] It should be understood that although this embodiment takes the example of the first device requesting the network device to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device through the first information as an example to introduce how the terminal device performs transmission delay measurement, the implementation method of this embodiment may not be dependent on the aforementioned embodiment, that is, no matter which method is used to trigger the network device and the terminal device to perform transmission delay measurement, the method of this embodiment may be used to implement the measurement of uplink transmission delay.

[0215] As described in the above-mentioned embodiment, the first device mentioned above can be any device that needs to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, for example, a network management device or a core network device. Taking the network management device and the core network device as an example, in some embodiments, for the downlink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, the network management device may need to know the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device, and the core network device may need to know the downlink transmission delay value between the network device and the terminal device.

[0216] Assuming that after the network device receives the first information, the network device side stores the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device obtained from the terminal device within the second preset time period before the network device receives the first information (for example, the network device has reported the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device to the network management device within the second preset time period before receiving the first information), then the network device can determine the downlink transmission delay value between the network device and the terminal device based on the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device.

[0217] Taking the downlink transmission delay distribution information shown in Table 1 as an example, the network device can determine that the downlink transmission delay value between the network device and the terminal device is 0.3*50%+0.4*30%+0.5*20%.

[0218] Taking the downlink transmission delay distribution information shown in Table 2 as an example, the network device can determine the downlink transmission delay value between the network device and the terminal device based on the downlink transmission delay distribution information and the maximum delay (i.e., the maximum delay value range, such as specified by the protocol, or the length specified by the timer length previously issued by the core network device). For example, the downlink transmission delay value between the network device and the terminal device can be 0.3*30%+(0.3+Time) / 2*(1-30%), where Time is the maximum delay.

[0219] In this way, the requirements of network management equipment and core network equipment for obtaining transmission delay can be unified, that is, the same mechanism can be used to measure transmission delay between terminal equipment and network equipment, reducing the complexity of network configuration.

[0220] It should be understood that the above two examples are only for illustration and do not constitute a limitation on how the network device determines the downlink transmission delay value between the network device and the terminal device based on the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device. The network device can determine the downlink transmission delay value between the network device and the terminal device by other means based on the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device, and this will not be elaborated herein.

[0221] The above embodiment describes how the network device obtains the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device. The following describes how the terminal device obtains the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device, for example, the following implementation methods may be included:

[0222] The first method: the network device notifies the terminal device.

[0223] Specifically, the network device may send sixth information to the terminal device, where the sixth information is used to indicate a measurement result of an uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the sixth information.

[0224] For example, after obtaining the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device, the network device can carry the sixth information through high-level signaling to notify the terminal device of the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device. Alternatively, the network device sends the sixth information to the terminal device through the user plane to notify the terminal device of the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device. Exemplarily, the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device can generate a downlink PDU, which carries the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device. The downlink PDU can be a downlink control PDU or a downlink data PDU.

[0225] It should be understood that the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device mentioned here can be the uplink transmission delay measurement value between the network device and the terminal device, and can also be the uplink transmission delay measurement distribution information. The uplink transmission delay measurement distribution information can be the uplink transmission delay measurement value between the network device and the terminal device obtained by the network device within a certain time period, which is obtained by statistics.

[0226] Optionally, if the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the above-mentioned network device and the terminal device is the uplink transmission delay measurement result obtained by measuring a certain service, then the above-mentioned sixth information may also carry an identifier of the service, for example, an identifier of a PDU session, an identifier of a service quality flow, or an E-RAB, etc.

[0227] It should be noted that, although this embodiment describes how the network device notifies the terminal device of the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device in accordance with the aforementioned embodiment, those skilled in the art can understand that the above-mentioned method of notifying the terminal device of the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device may not be dependent on the aforementioned embodiment. That is, no matter how the network device obtains the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device, the method of this embodiment may be used to notify the terminal device of the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device.

[0228] The second method: the network device sends the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device to the first device, and the first device notifies the terminal device of the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device.

[0229] Specifically, the first device may send sixth information to the terminal device, where the sixth information is used to indicate a measurement result of an uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the sixth information.

[0230] Taking the first device as a core network device as an example, the core network device can carry the sixth information through a non-access layer message or a service data packet to notify the terminal device of the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device. Optionally, in this implementation, the core network device can further indicate the transmission delay between the core network device and the terminal device and / or the transmission delay between the core network device and the network device through the sixth information.

[0231] As a possible implementation, when the first device is a core network device, the core network device may also send seventh information to the network device after obtaining the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the terminal device, and / or the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the network device. The seventh information is used to indicate the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the terminal device, and / or the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the network device.

[0232] After receiving the seventh information, the network device can send the seventh information to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can obtain the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the terminal device, and / or the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the network device through the seventh information.

[0233] It should be understood that the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device mentioned here in this embodiment may be the uplink transmission delay measurement value between the network device and the terminal device, and may also be the uplink transmission delay measurement distribution information. The uplink transmission delay measurement distribution information may be the uplink transmission delay measurement value between the network device and the terminal device obtained by the network device within a certain time period, and obtained by statistics.

[0234] It should be noted that, although this embodiment describes how the first device notifies the terminal device of the transmission delay measurement result in accordance with the foregoing embodiment, a person skilled in the art can understand that the foregoing method of notifying the terminal device of the transmission delay measurement result may not be dependent on the foregoing embodiment. That is, no matter how the first device obtains the transmission delay measurement result, the method of this embodiment may be used to notify the terminal device of the transmission delay measurement result.

[0235] Through the above method, the terminal device can timely obtain how the network device obtains the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device.

[0236] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 As shown, the network device may include: a receiving module 11, a processing module 12 and a sending module 13.

[0237] The receiving module 11 is used to receive first information sent by a first device, where the first information is used to request the network device to measure the transmission delay between the network device and a terminal device.

[0238] The processing module 12 is used to obtain a transmission delay measurement result in response to the first information; in one possible implementation manner, the transmission delay measurement result is obtained by measuring between the network device and the terminal device after the network device receives the first information; or, the transmission delay measurement result is obtained within a second preset time period before the network device receives the first information.

[0239] The sending module 13 is used to send second information to the first device within a first preset time period, where the second information is used to indicate the transmission delay measurement result.

[0240] In a possible implementation manner, the sending module 13 is also used to send third information to the first device when the transmission delay measurement result fails to be obtained within the first preset time period, and the third information is used to indicate the failure of the transmission delay measurement between the network device and the terminal device.

[0241] In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module 11 is further used to receive fourth information from the first device, where the fourth information is used to indicate the first preset duration.

[0242] When the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device includes: the uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, the receiving module 11 is also used to receive an uplink PDU from the terminal device, and the uplink PDU includes the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU; the processing module 12 is specifically used to determine the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device according to the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU, and the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device receives the uplink PDU. Or,

[0243] The receiving module 11 is also used to receive an uplink PDU from the terminal device, wherein the uplink PDU includes an uplink SDU and time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU; the processing module 12 is specifically used to determine the uplink transmission delay measurement result between the network device and the terminal device based on the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU and the time when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the network device sends the uplink SDU to its upper protocol layer.

[0244] In this implementation, when the uplink transmission delay measurement of the above-mentioned terminal device is triggered by a network device, then in a possible implementation mode, the sending module 13 is also used to send a first indication information to the terminal device before the processing module 12 obtains the transmission delay measurement result, and the first indication information is used to trigger the terminal device to perform uplink transmission delay measurement. Exemplarily, the sending module 13 is specifically used to send one or more downlink protocol data units PDU to the terminal device, and the first indication information is carried by the one or more downlink PDUs. In some embodiments, the first indication information is specifically used to trigger the terminal device to perform uplink transmission delay measurement within a third preset time length.

[0245] When the uplink transmission delay measurement performed by the above-mentioned terminal device is triggered by the core network device, the uplink PDU may also include: fifth information, and the fifth information is used to indicate that the uplink PDU carries the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU, or the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU.

[0246] In a possible implementation manner, the sending module 13 is further used to send sixth information to the terminal device, where the sixth information is used to indicate a measurement result of an uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device.

[0247] When the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device includes: the downlink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, and the transmission delay measurement result is a downlink transmission delay value, the processing module 12 is specifically used to determine the downlink transmission delay value between the network device and the terminal device according to the downlink transmission delay distribution information between the network device and the terminal device; wherein the downlink transmission delay distribution information is reported by the terminal device to the network device within the second preset time length.

[0248] In a possible implementation manner, the first device is a core network device, and the receiving module 11 is further used to receive seventh information from the core network device, wherein the seventh information is used to indicate the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the terminal device, and / or the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the network device; the sending module 13 is also used to send the seventh information to the terminal device.

[0249] The network device provided in the embodiment of the present application can execute the actions of the network device in the above method embodiment, and its implementation principle and technical effects are similar, which will not be repeated here.

[0250] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 As shown, the terminal device may include: a processing module 21 and a sending module 22. Optionally, the terminal device may also include a receiving module 23.

[0251] The processing module 21 is used to generate an uplink PDU at the wireless access layer protocol layer according to the second indication information of its upper layer protocol layer, wherein the uplink PDU includes the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU, or the uplink PDU includes the uplink SDU and the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU, and the second indication information is used to indicate to perform uplink transmission delay measurement on the uplink PDU;

[0252] The sending module 22 is used to send the uplink PDU to the network device.

[0253] In a possible implementation manner, the uplink PDU also includes: fifth information, wherein the fifth information is used to indicate that the uplink PDU carries the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device generates the uplink PDU, or the time information when the wireless access layer protocol layer of the terminal device receives the uplink SDU.

[0254] In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module 23 is used to receive third indication information from the core network device, wherein the third indication information is used to indicate the identifier of the service for uplink transmission delay measurement, and the uplink PDU is the uplink PDU of the service corresponding to the identifier of the service.

[0255] In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module 23 is used to receive sixth information from the network device or the first device, where the sixth information is used to indicate a measurement result of an uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device.

[0256] In a possible implementation, the receiving module 23 is used to receive the seventh information from the network device, and the seventh information is used to indicate the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the terminal device, and / or the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the network device.

[0257] The terminal device provided in the embodiment of the present application can execute the actions of the terminal device in the above method embodiment. Its implementation principles and technical effects are similar and will not be repeated here.

[0258] It should be noted that it should be understood that the above sending module can be a transmitter when actually implemented, and the receiving module can be a receiver when actually implemented. The processing module can be implemented in the form of software calling through a processing element; it can also be implemented in the form of hardware. For example, the processing module can be a separately established processing element, or it can be integrated in a chip of the above-mentioned device for implementation. In addition, it can also be stored in the memory of the above-mentioned device in the form of program code, and called and executed by a processing element of the above-mentioned device. The functions of the above processing module. In addition, all or part of these modules can be integrated together, or they can be implemented independently. The processing element described here can be an integrated circuit with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method or each of the above modules can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in a processor element or instructions in the form of software.

[0259] For example, the above modules may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), or one or more microprocessors (DSP), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGA). For another example, when a module above is implemented in the form of a processing element scheduling program code, the processing element may be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or other processor that can call program code. For another example, these modules may be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0260] Fig. 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 9 As shown, the network device may include: a processor 31 (such as a CPU), a memory 32, a receiver 33, and a transmitter 34; the receiver 33 and the transmitter 34 are both coupled to the processor 31, the processor 31 controls the receiving action of the receiver 33, and the processor 31 controls the sending action of the transmitter 34; the memory 32 may include a high-speed random access memory (random-access memory, RAM), and may also include a non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory, NVM), such as at least one disk memory, and the memory 32 may store various instructions for completing various processing functions and implementing the method steps of the present application. Optionally, the network device involved in the present application may also include: a power supply 35, a communication bus 36 and a communication port 37. The receiver 33 and the transmitter 34 may be integrated in the transceiver of the network device, or may be an independent transceiver antenna on the network device. The communication bus 36 is used to realize the communication connection between components. The above-mentioned communication port 37 is used to realize the connection and communication between the network device and other peripherals.

[0261] In the embodiment of the present application, the above-mentioned memory 32 is used to store computer executable program code, and the program code includes instructions; when the processor 31 executes the instructions, the instructions enable the processor 31 of the network device to perform the processing action of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment, enable the receiver 33 to perform the receiving action of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment, and enable the transmitter 34 to perform the sending action of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The implementation principles and technical effects are similar and will not be repeated here.

[0262] Fig.10This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig.10 As shown, the terminal device may include: a processor 41 (such as a CPU), a memory 42, a receiver 43, and a transmitter 44; the receiver 43 and the transmitter 44 are both coupled to the processor 41, the processor 41 controls the receiving action of the receiver 43, and the processor 41 controls the sending action of the transmitter 44; the memory 42 may include a high-speed RAM memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory NVM, such as at least one disk memory, and various instructions may be stored in the memory 42 to complete various processing functions and implement the method steps of the present application. Optionally, the terminal device involved in the present application may also include: a power supply 45, a communication bus 46, and a communication port 47. The receiver 43 and the transmitter 44 may be integrated in the transceiver of the terminal device, or may be an independent transceiver antenna on the terminal device. The communication bus 46 is used to realize the communication connection between components. The above-mentioned communication port 47 is used to realize the connection and communication between the terminal device and other peripherals.

[0263] In the present application, the above-mentioned memory 42 is used to store computer executable program code, and the program code includes instructions; when the processor 41 executes the instructions, the instructions enable the processor 41 of the terminal device to perform the processing action of the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiment, enable the receiver 43 to perform the receiving action of the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiment, and enable the transmitter 44 to perform the sending action of the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The implementation principles and technical effects are similar and will not be repeated here.

[0264] 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 loading and executing computer program instructions on a computer, the process or function according to the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can 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 can be transmitted from a website site, a computer, a server or a data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, 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 can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server, a data center, etc. that contains one or more available media integrated. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state hard disk Solid State Disk (SSD)), etc.

[0265] The term "plurality" in this article refers to two or more than two. The term "and / or" in this article is only a description of the association relationship of 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 previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in a formula, the character " / " indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in a "division" relationship.

[0266] It should be understood that the various numerical numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only used for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0267] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A delay measurement method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The core network device sends first information to the network device, where the first information is used to request the network device to measure the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device; The core network device receives second information from the network device within a first preset duration, where the second information is used to indicate a first transmission delay measurement result, wherein the first preset duration is a valid time for the network device to transmit the first transmission delay measurement result when the network device performs transmission delay measurement corresponding to a quality of service flow with the terminal device; The core network device determines the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device according to the first transmission delay measurement result; the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device includes: an uplink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, the uplink transmission delay is measured by the terminal device based on first indication information from the network device, and the first indication information is used to trigger the terminal device to perform uplink transmission delay measurement within a third preset time length; The method further comprises: The core network device sends third information to the network device, where the third information is used to indicate the first preset duration.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The core network device receives a second transmission delay measurement result from the network device, where the second transmission delay measurement result includes a time when the network device receives a data packet from the core network device and a time when the network device sends the second transmission delay measurement result; The core network device determines the transmission delay between the network device and the core network device according to the second transmission delay measurement result.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first transmission delay measurement result includes an uplink transmission delay value.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device includes: the downlink transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device; the first transmission delay measurement result includes the downlink transmission delay value.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The core network device sends fourth information to the network device, where the fourth information is used to indicate the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the terminal device, and / or the transmission delay measurement result between the core network device and the network device.

6. A core network device, comprising a unit or module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by the communication device, the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

8. A communication device, comprising a processor, characterized in that: The processor is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

9. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises computer instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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