A quality of service (QoS) management method and apparatus

Abstract

The application provides a quality of service (QoS) management method, which comprises the following steps: a first device sends first information, the first information is used for requesting a QoS for a first service; the first device receives second information, the second information is used for indicating a QoS control mode and a QoS parameter of a first QoS flow, wherein the first QoS flow is used for transmitting a data flow of the first service, and the QoS control mode comprises a first control mode based on packet group control; and the first device performs QoS control on the data flow of the first service according to the second information. According to the application, the first device can perform QoS control on the data flow of the first service with packet group as granularity, the flexibility of QoS management is improved, the requirements of different services are met, the user experience is improved, and the waste of network resources is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for Quality of Service (QoS) management. Background Technology

[0002] With the continuous development of communication technology, services requiring high-speed, low-latency transmission are becoming increasingly popular. For example, extended reality (XR) technology is constantly evolving and improving. XR technology includes virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). These services require high-speed, low-latency transmission, and existing Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms are unable to meet these requirements, potentially causing issues such as stuttering and screen tearing in XR services. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This application provides a QoS management method and apparatus, which can perform QoS control on the data flow of a service at the granularity of data packet groups and perform joint QoS control on multiple QoS flows, thereby improving the flexibility of QoS control and providing better adaptability to different services.

[0004] In a first aspect, a QoS management method is provided, the method comprising: a first device sending first information, the first information being used to request QoS for a first service; the first device receiving second information, the second information being used to indicate a QoS control method and QoS parameters for a first QoS stream, wherein the first QoS stream is used to transmit a data stream of the first service, and the QoS control method includes a first control method based on packet group control; and the first device performing QoS control on the data stream of the first service according to the second information.

[0005] The QoS management method implemented in this application allows the first device to request a QoS control mode based on packet group control, which enriches the flexibility of QoS management, meets the needs of different services, improves user experience, and reduces the waste of network resources.

[0006] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the QoS control method also includes a second control method based on packet control.

[0007] Based on the above technical solution, the first device can request different QoS control methods to adapt to different services.

[0008] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the second information includes a first QoS parameter, which includes N QoS parameters based on data packet groups, where N ≥ 1 and N is a positive integer.

[0009] Based on the above technical solution, this application embodiment defines a QoS parameter based on data packet groups. When the first device receives the QoS parameter based on data packet groups, it performs QoS control on the data stream of the first service at the granularity of data packet groups.

[0010] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the second information includes first indication information and second QoS parameters, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the QoS control method of the first QoS stream, and the second QoS parameters are used to indicate the QoS parameters of the first QoS stream.

[0011] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, when the first indication information indicates that the QoS control mode of the first QoS flow is the first control mode, the second QoS parameter includes at least one QoS parameter based on a packet group; or when the second indication information indicates that the QoS control mode of the first QoS flow is the second control mode, the second QoS parameter includes at least one QoS parameter based on a packet.

[0012] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the second QoS parameter includes at least one packet-based QoS parameter.

[0013] Based on the above scheme, this application embodiment reuses packet-based QoS parameters and indicates the QoS control method through indication information, so that the first device determines the QoS control method according to the indication information and uses packet-based QoS parameters to ensure the QoS requirements of the QoS flow.

[0014] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information is specifically used to indicate the preferred QoS control method for the first QoS flow.

[0015] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first device receiving service information of the first service, the service information being used to determine the QoS parameters corresponding to the first QoS flow.

[0016] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the service information includes the encoding parameters of the first service and / or the weighting factor of each data packet group in the first service.

[0017] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the terminal device determining the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow based on the second information and the service information.

[0018] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the second information includes second indication information, a third QoS parameter, and a fourth QoS parameter. The second indication information is used to indicate the priority QoS control method of the first QoS flow. The third QoS parameter includes M QoS parameters based on data packet groups, where M ≥ 1 and M is a positive integer. The fourth QoS parameter includes L QoS parameters based on data packets, where L ≥ 1 and L is a positive integer.

[0019] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first QoS parameter includes at least one of group priority, group delay budget, group error rate, aggregated group error rate, maximum group loss rate, and maximum aggregated group loss rate.

[0020] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the priority group is used to indicate the priority of scheduling different packet groups in the first QoS flow;

[0021] The delay budget is used to indicate the upper limit of the delay between the first device and the second network element in the first QoS flow, where the second network element is the user plane network element UPF; the error rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the number of data packets that were not successfully transmitted in the first QoS flow; the aggregated group error rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the number of weighted data packets that were not successfully transmitted in the first QoS flow; the maximum group loss rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the number of data packets that can be dropped in the first QoS flow; and the maximum aggregated group loss rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the number of weighted data packets that can be dropped in the first QoS flow.

[0022] Secondly, a QoS management method is provided, the method comprising: a first network element receiving first information sent by a first device, the first information being used to request QoS for a first service; the first network element sending second information, the second information being used to indicate the QoS control mode and QoS parameters of a first QoS flow, wherein the first QoS flow is used to transmit the data flow of the first service, and the QoS control mode includes a first control mode based on packet group control.

[0023] The QoS management method implemented in this application allows the first network element to instruct the first device to perform QoS control at the packet group level according to the request of the first device. This enriches the flexibility of QoS management, meets the needs of different services, improves user experience, and reduces the waste of network resources.

[0024] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the QoS control method also includes a second control method based on packet control.

[0025] Based on the above technical solutions, the embodiments of this application include a variety of different QoS control methods, which can be adapted to different services.

[0026] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the second information includes a first QoS parameter, which includes N packet group-based QoS parameters, where N ≥ 1 and N is a positive integer.

[0027] Based on the above technical solution, this application embodiment defines a QoS parameter based on data packet groups. When the first device receives the QoS parameter based on data packet groups, it performs QoS control on the data stream of the first service at the granularity of data packet groups.

[0028] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the second information includes first indication information and second QoS parameters, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the QoS control method of the first QoS stream, and the second QoS parameters are used to indicate the QoS parameters of the first QoS stream.

[0029] In conjunction with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, when the first indication information indicates that the QoS control mode of the first QoS flow is the first control mode, the second QoS parameter includes at least one QoS parameter based on packet groups; or,

[0030] When the second indication information indicates that the QoS control mode of the first QoS flow is the second control mode, the second QoS parameter includes at least one packet-based QoS parameter.

[0031] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the second QoS parameter includes at least one packet-based QoS parameter.

[0032] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information is specifically used to indicate the preferred QoS control method for the first QoS flow.

[0033] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the first network element acquiring service information of the first service, the service information being used to determine the QoS parameters corresponding to the first QoS flow.

[0034] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the service information includes the encoding parameters of the first service and / or the weighting factor of each data packet group in the first service.

[0035] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the first network element sending the service information.

[0036] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the second information includes second indication information, a third QoS parameter, and a fourth QoS parameter. The second indication information is used to indicate the preferred QoS control method for the first QoS flow. The third QoS parameter includes M packet group-based QoS parameters, where M ≥ 1 and M is a positive integer. The fourth QoS parameter includes L packet-based QoS parameters, where L ≥ 1 and L is a positive integer.

[0037] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, before the first network element sends the second information, the method further includes:

[0038] The first network element determines the QoS control method for the first QoS flow based on the first service.

[0039] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, before the first network element sends the second information, the method further includes: the first network element determining the QoS control method of the first QoS flow based on whether the first device supports the first control method.

[0040] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first QoS parameter includes at least one of group priority, group delay budget, group error rate, aggregate group error rate, maximum group loss rate, and maximum aggregate group loss rate.

[0041] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, this set of priorities is used to indicate the priority of scheduling different packet groups in the first QoS flow;

[0042] The delay budget is used to indicate the upper limit of the delay between the first device and the second network element in the first QoS flow, where the second network element is the user plane network element UPF; the error rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the number of data packets that were not successfully transmitted in the first QoS flow; the aggregated group error rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the number of weighted data packets that were not successfully transmitted in the first QoS flow; the maximum group loss rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the number of data packets that can be dropped in the first QoS flow; and the maximum aggregated group loss rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the number of weighted data packets that can be dropped in the first QoS flow.

[0043] Thirdly, a QoS management method is provided, comprising: a first device sending third information for requesting QoS for a second service; the first device receiving fourth information including QoS parameters for jointly controlling a second QoS stream and a third QoS stream, wherein the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream are used to transmit data streams of the second service; and the first device performing joint QoS control on the data streams of the second service according to the fourth information.

[0044] The QoS management method implemented in this application allows the first device to perform joint control on the multiple QoS flows when the data flow of the second service is carried by multiple QoS flows. This improves the flexibility of QoS management, meets the needs of different services, and enhances the user experience.

[0045] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the fourth information includes a fifth QoS parameter, which includes K joint QoS parameters, where K ≥ 1 and K is a positive integer.

[0046] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the fourth information includes third indication information and a sixth QoS parameter. The third indication information is used to indicate joint control of the second QoS flow and the third QoS flow. The sixth QoS parameter is a parameter used for joint QoS control. The sixth QoS parameter includes L packet group-based QoS parameters, where L ≥ 1 and L is a positive integer; or the sixth QoS parameter includes J packet-based QoS parameters, where J ≥ 1 and J is a positive integer.

[0047] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the fifth QoS parameter includes at least one of the following: joint error rate, aggregated joint error rate, joint maximum loss rate, aggregated joint maximum loss rate, and joint maximum bit rate.

[0048] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the joint error rate is used to indicate the upper limit of groups or packets of packets that were not successfully delivered in the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream;

[0049] The aggregated combined error rate is used to indicate the upper limit of weighted packet groups or packets that are not successfully delivered in the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream; the combined maximum loss rate is used to indicate the upper limit of tolerable dropped packet groups or packets in the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream; the aggregated combined maximum loss rate is used to indicate the upper limit of tolerable dropped weighted packet groups or weighted packets in the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream; and the combined maximum bit rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the maximum aggregated bit rate in the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream.

[0050] Fourthly, a QoS management method is provided, the method comprising: a first network element receiving third information sent by a first device, the third information being used to request QoS for a second service; the first network element sending fourth information, the fourth information including QoS parameters for jointly controlling a second QoS flow and a third QoS flow, wherein the second QoS flow and the third QoS flow are used to transmit data flows of the second service.

[0051] The QoS management method implemented in this application allows a first network element to instruct a first device to perform joint control on the multiple QoS flows when the data flow of a service is carried by multiple QoS flows. This improves the flexibility of QoS management, meets the needs of different services, and enhances the user experience.

[0052] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the fourth information includes a fifth QoS parameter, which includes K joint QoS parameters, where K ≥ 1 and K is a positive integer.

[0053] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the fourth information includes third indication information and a sixth QoS parameter. The third indication information is used to indicate joint control of the second QoS flow and the third QoS flow. The sixth QoS parameter is a parameter used for joint QoS control. The sixth QoS parameter includes L packet-based QoS parameters, where L ≥ 1 and L is a positive integer; or the sixth QoS parameter includes J packet-based QoS parameters, where J ≥ 1 and J is a positive integer.

[0054] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the fifth QoS parameter includes at least one of: joint error rate, aggregated joint error rate, joint maximum loss rate, aggregated joint maximum loss rate, and joint maximum bit rate.

[0055] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the joint error rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the groups or packets of data that were not successfully delivered in the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream; the aggregated joint error rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the weighted groups or packets of data that were not successfully delivered in the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream; the joint maximum loss rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the groups or packets of data that can be tolerably dropped in the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream; the aggregated joint maximum group loss rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the weighted groups or weighted packets of data that can be tolerably dropped in the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream; and the joint maximum bit rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the maximum aggregated bit rate of the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream.

[0056] Fifthly, a communication apparatus is provided for performing the methods in any of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects. Specifically, the apparatus may include units and / or modules for performing the methods in any of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects, such as processing units and / or communication units. In one implementation, the apparatus is a communication device (e.g., a terminal device, or a network device). When the apparatus is a communication device, the communication unit may be a transceiver, or an input / output interface; the processing unit may be at least one processor. Optionally, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit. In another implementation, the apparatus is a chip, chip system, or circuit for a communication device (e.g., a terminal device, or a network device). When the apparatus is a chip, chip system, or circuit for a communication device, the communication unit may be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip, chip system, or circuit; the processing unit may be at least one processor, processing circuit, or logic circuit.

[0057] A sixth aspect provides a communication apparatus comprising: at least one processor for executing a computer program or instructions stored in a memory to perform the method in any of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects described above.

[0058] Optionally, the device further includes a memory for storing computer programs or instructions. Optionally, the device further includes a communication interface through which the processor reads the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory.

[0059] In one implementation, the device is a communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device).

[0060] In another implementation, the device is a chip, chip system, or circuit for communication equipment (such as terminal equipment or network equipment).

[0061] Seventhly, this application provides a processor for performing the methods provided in the first to fourth aspects above. Unless otherwise specified, or unless contradicted by its actual function or internal logic in the relevant description, the transmission and acquisition / reception operations involved in the processor can be understood as processor output and reception, input, etc., or as transmission and reception operations performed by radio frequency circuits and antennas; this application does not limit these operations.

[0062] Eighthly, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores program code for execution by a device, the program code including methods for performing any of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects described above.

[0063] Ninth aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method in any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects described above.

[0064] In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, including the aforementioned terminal equipment and network equipment.

[0065] For the beneficial effects in aspects five through ten, please refer to the beneficial effects in aspects one through four, which will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0066] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the 5G mobile communication system architecture.

[0067] Figure 2 This is a diagram of data packets and data packet groups.

[0068] Figure 3 A diagram illustrating QoS flows in a PDU session.

[0069] Figure 4 This is a schematic flowchart of a QoS management method provided in this application.

[0070] Figure 5 This is a schematic flowchart of a QoS management method provided in this application.

[0071] Figure 6 This is a schematic flowchart of a QoS management method provided in this application.

[0072] Figure 7 This is a schematic flowchart of a QoS management method provided in this application.

[0073] Figure 8 This is a schematic flowchart of a QoS management method provided in this application.

[0074] Figure 9 This application provides a schematic block diagram of an apparatus.

[0075] Figure 10 This application provides a schematic block diagram of an apparatus. Detailed Implementation

[0076] The technical solutions in this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0077] The technical solutions of this application embodiment can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Global System of Mobile communication (GSM) system, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) system, 5th Generation (5G) system or New Radio (NR) system, and future evolution communication systems, etc.

[0078] Figure 1 This illustration shows a network architecture diagram of a communication system applicable to embodiments of this application. The network architecture includes terminal devices, access network devices, access management network elements, session management network elements, user plane network elements, policy control network elements, network slice selection network elements, network repository function network elements, network data analysis network elements, unified data management network elements, unified data storage network elements, authentication service function network elements, network capability opening network elements, application function network elements, and a data network (DN) connecting to the operator's network. Terminal devices can send service data to and receive service data from the data network through access network devices and user plane network elements.

[0079] The terminal device is a wireless transceiver that can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable, or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on water (such as on ships); and it can be deployed in the air (such as on airplanes, balloons, and satellites). The terminal device can communicate with the core network via a radio access network (RAN) to exchange voice and / or data with the RAN. The terminal device can be a mobile phone, tablet, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, mobile internet device (MID), wearable device, virtual reality (VR) terminal device, augmented reality (AR) terminal device, wireless terminal in industrial control, wireless terminal in self-driving, wireless terminal in remote medical care, wireless terminal in smart grid, wireless terminal in transportation safety, wireless terminal in smart city, and wireless terminal in smart home. Wireless terminals, drones, drone controllers, etc., in the home (e.g., mobile devices). The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenario. Terminal devices may sometimes be called user equipment (UE), mobile stations, and remote stations, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology, device form, or name used in the terminal devices.

[0080] Access network equipment is a device used in a network to connect terminal devices to a wireless network. This access network equipment can be a node in a radio access network, also known as a base station, or a radio access network (RAN) node (or device). Network equipment may include evolved base stations (NodeBs, eNBs, or e-NodeBs) in long-term evolution (LTE) systems or evolved LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, such as traditional macro base stations (eNBs) and micro base stations (eNBs) in heterogeneous network scenarios. It may also include next-generation node Bs (gNBs) in 5th-generation (5G) new radio (NR) systems. Furthermore, it may include radio network controllers (RNCs), node Bs (NBs), base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission reception points (TRPs), home base stations (e.g., home evolved NodeBs or home Node Bs (HNBs), base band units (BBUs), base band pools, or WiFi access points (APs), and may also include cloud radio access networks. The centralized unit (CU) and distributed unit (DU) in the CloudRAN network system are not limited in the embodiments of this application. In the scenario where the access network equipment includes CU and DU deployed separately, the CU supports protocols such as radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU mainly supports radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC) and physical layer protocols.

[0081] Access management network elements are primarily used for terminal attachment, mobility management, and tracking area update procedures in mobile networks. They terminate non-access stratum (NAS) messages, complete registration management, connection management, reachability management, allocate tracking area lists (TA lists), and manage mobility. They also transparently route session management (SM) messages to session management network elements. In 5G communication systems, the access management network element can be an access and mobility management function (AMF). In future communication systems (such as 6G systems), the mobility management network element may remain an AMF element or have other names; this application does not limit this.

[0082] Session management network elements are primarily used for session management in mobile networks, such as session establishment, modification, and release. Specific functions include assigning Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to terminals and selecting user plane network elements that provide packet forwarding capabilities. In 5G communication systems, the session management network element can be a session management function (SMF). In future communication systems (such as 6G communication systems), the session management network element may still be an SMF element, or it may have other names; this application does not limit this.

[0083] User plane network elements are primarily used for processing user packets, such as forwarding, billing, and lawful interception. User plane network elements can also be called protocol data unit (PDU) session anchors (PSAs). In 5G communication systems, user plane network elements can be user plane functions (UPFs). In future communication systems (such as 6G communication systems), user plane network elements may still be UPF elements, or they may have other names; this application does not limit this.

[0084] The policy control network element includes user subscription data management functions, policy control functions, billing policy control functions, and quality of service (QoS) control. In 5G communication systems, the policy control network element can be a policy control function (PCF). In future communication systems (such as 6G communication systems), the policy control network element can still be a PCF network element, or it can have other names; this application is not limited to these.

[0085] The network slice selection function (NSSF) network element is mainly used to select the appropriate network slice for the services of terminal devices. In 5G communication systems, the network slice selection network element can be a network slice selection function (NSSF) network element. In future communication systems (such as 6G communication systems), the network slice selection network element can still be an NSSF network element, or it can have other names. This application does not limit this.

[0086] The network repository function (NRF) network element is mainly used to provide registration and discovery functions for network elements or the services provided by network elements. In 5G communication systems, the network repository function network element can be a network repository function (NRF). In future communication systems (such as 6G communication systems), the network repository function network element can still be an NRF network element, or it can have other names. This application does not limit this.

[0087] Network data analytics elements can collect, analyze, and predict data from various network functions (NFs), such as policy control elements, session management elements, user plane elements, access management elements, and application function elements (through network capability opening function elements). In 5G communication systems, network data analytics elements can be network data analytics functions (NWDAFs). In future communication systems (such as 6G communication systems), network data analytics elements may still be NWDAF elements, or they may have other names; this application is not limiting.

[0088] The unified data management network element is mainly used to manage the subscription information of terminal devices. In 5G communication systems, the unified data management network element can be a unified data management (UDM) network element. In future communication systems (such as 6G communication systems), the unified data management network element can still be a UDM network element, or it can have other names. This application does not limit it.

[0089] A unified data storage network element is primarily used to store structured data information, including subscription information, policy information, and network data or service data with standardized formats. In 5G communication systems, the unified data storage network element can be a unified data repository (UDR). In future communication systems (such as 6G communication systems), the unified data storage network element may still be a UDR network element, or it may have other names; this application does not limit this.

[0090] The authentication service function network element is mainly used for security authentication of terminal devices. In 5G communication systems, the authentication service function network element can be an authentication server function (AUSF). In future communication systems (such as 6G communication systems), the authentication service function network element can still be an AUSF network element, or it can have other names; this application does not limit this.

[0091] Network capability open elements can expose some network functions to applications in a controlled manner. In 5G communication systems, network capability open elements can be network exposure functions (NEF). In future communication systems (such as 6G communication systems), network capability open elements can still be NEF elements, or they can have other names. This application is not limited to these.

[0092] Application function network elements can provide various application service data to the control plane network elements of the operator's communication network, or obtain network data and control information from the control plane network elements of the communication network. In 5G communication systems, application function network elements can be application functions (AF). In future communication systems (such as 6G communication systems), application function network elements can still be AF network elements, or they can have other names; this application is not limited to these.

[0093] Data networks are primarily used to provide data transmission services for terminal devices. Data networks can be private networks, such as local area networks (LANs), public data networks (PDNs), such as the Internet, or dedicated networks jointly deployed by operators, such as configured IP multimedia corenetwork subsystems (IMS) services.

[0094] It should be understood that the aforementioned network element or function can be a network component in a hardware device, a software function running on dedicated hardware, or a virtualization function instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). Optionally, the aforementioned network element or function can be implemented by one device, multiple devices working together, or a functional module within a single device; this application embodiment does not specifically limit this.

[0095] The following explanations, in order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions proposed in this application, describe the relevant technical concepts involved in the applications in the embodiments of this application.

[0096] 1. XR technology refers to an interactive environment combining real and virtual elements, created through computer technology and wearable devices. XR technology boasts advantages such as multiple perspectives and strong interactivity, providing users with a completely new experience and possessing immense application value and commercial potential. XR encompasses technologies such as VR, AR, and MR, and can be widely applied in numerous fields including entertainment, gaming, healthcare, advertising, industry, online education, and engineering. VR technology primarily refers to rendering visual and audio scenes to simulate the sensory stimulation of the user in the real world as closely as possible. VR technology typically requires users to wear XR terminals (such as head-mounted displays) to simulate visual and / or auditory experiences. VR technology can also track user movements to update the simulated visual and / or auditory content in real time. AR technology primarily refers to providing additional visual and / or auditory information or artificially generated content within the user's perceived real-world environment. The user's acquisition of the real-world environment can be direct (e.g., without sensing, processing, or rendering) or indirect (e.g., transmitted through sensors), followed by further enhancement processing. MR (Mixed Reality) technology inserts virtual elements into physical scenes to provide users with an immersive experience where these elements are part of the real environment. Network devices can process and transmit data generated by XR services (referred to as XR data). For example, cloud-based network devices can render and encode XR source data (e.g., source coding), and transmit the XR data to XR terminals via core network and / or access network devices. XR terminals then process the XR data to provide users with diverse XR experiences (e.g., immersive, visual, interactive, or device-specific experiences). XR experiences have various evaluation dimensions, including one or more of the following: image clarity, image smoothness, image distortion, image stereoscopic effect, image black borders, image ghosting, sound quality, sound effects, field of view, stuttering, screen tearing, dizziness, audio-video synchronization, interactive freedom, interactive operation response speed, interactive operation accuracy, and interactive content loading speed.

[0097] For media services such as XR, during media encoding (e.g., H.263, H.264, MPEG4, etc.), the service data stream typically consists of a series of media units (MUs). Each media unit represents a complete data unit at the application layer, including one or more packets (such as IP packets). These packets are strongly correlated and have complete transmission requirements. If one or more packets fail to transmit, the receiving end may be unable to decode the entire media unit. In some embodiments, media units may also be referred to as packet groups, frames (e.g., keyframes (I-frames), forward difference frames (P-frames), bidirectional difference frames (B-frames), data fragments, application layer data units, data units, etc. For example, as... Figure 2As shown, the first data packet group includes a first data packet, a second data packet, a third data packet, and a fourth data packet, constituting a media unit. When the transmission of one or more of the above data packets fails, the receiving end may be unable to decode the first data packet group, thus affecting the XR service experience.

[0098] Furthermore, there may be correlations between multiple data packet groups in XR services. When the decoding of one data packet group fails, it may cause other data packet groups to also fail to decode. For example, if the decoding of an I-frame fails, it may cause the subsequent P-frames and B-frames to fail to decode as well.

[0099] 2. Quality of Service (QoS) is a technology used to address network latency and congestion. When network congestion occurs, data may be dropped. To meet users' different QoS requirements for various applications, the network needs to allocate and schedule resources according to user requests, providing different QoS levels for different data. In 5G systems, a flow-based QoS model is used. Data mapped to the same QoS flow will receive the same forwarding processing. For example... Figure 3 As shown, a PDU session is established between the UE and the UPF, a radio bearer exists between the UE and the NB, and a core network tunnel exists between the NB and the UPF. The PDU session includes multiple QoS flows, such as a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow. These multiple QoS flows can be used to transmit data streams for different services, or they can be used to transmit data streams for the same service. For example, the first QoS flow can be used to transmit data streams for the first service, and the second QoS flow can be used to transmit data streams for the second service; or the first QoS flow can be used to transmit the first data stream of the first service, and the second QoS flow can be used to transmit the second data stream of the first service.

[0100] 3. QoS parameters refer to QoS requirements associated with QoS, including but not limited to QoS parameters and QoS characteristics. QoS parameters can also be called QoS flow-level QoS parameters, QoS references, QoS flow descriptions, QoS information, etc. In other words, QoS parameters can quantify QoS requirements. In the embodiments of this application, QoS parameters not only include packet-based QoS parameters but also newly define packet group-based QoS parameters, joint QoS parameters, and hybrid QoS parameters.

[0101] Packet-based QoS parameters may include one or more of the following: 5G QoS Identifier (5QI), Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP), Reflective QoS Attribute (RQA), Notification Control, Flow Bit Rates (FBR), Aggregate Bit Rates (ABR), Default Values, Maximum Packet Loss Rate (MPLR), Resource Type, Priority Level (PL), Packet Delay Budget (PDB), Packet Error Rate (PER), Averaging Window, and Maximum Data Burst Volume (MDBV). Resource types include Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) and Non-Guaranteed Bit Rate (Non-GBR). Packet-based QoS parameters are currently in use and will not be described in detail here.

[0102] For detailed information on packet-based QoS parameters, joint QoS parameters, and hybrid QoS parameters, please refer to the following text.

[0103] Currently, because QoS streams are controlled at the packet level, they cannot meet the needs of some services requiring high-speed, low-latency transmission. Taking XR services as an example, the data generated by an XR service consists of three packet groups: Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3. Each packet group contains 100 packets, and there is a correlation between Group 1 and Group 2, and between Group 1 and Group 3. That is, if Group 1 cannot be decoded, Groups 2 and 3 also cannot be decoded. The first QoS stream is used to transmit this XR service, and its QoS parameters include the packet error rate (PER). Assuming a PER of 0.03, this means that the maximum number of erroneous packets transmitted by the first QoS stream when transmitting this XR service is nine. In other words, as long as the number of erroneous packets transmitted by the first QoS stream is less than nine, the QoS requirements of the first QoS stream are met. However, since there is a correlation between the first data packet group and the second data packet group, and between the first data packet group and the third data packet group, if a data packet in the first data packet group is transmitted incorrectly, the receiving end will not be able to decode the first data packet group. Even if the number of data packets with transmission errors in the first QoS stream is less than 9, the receiving end still cannot decode the above three data packet groups, thus wasting network resources and affecting user experience.

[0104] In summary, current methods for controlling QoS flows at the packet level cannot meet the needs of some services requiring high-speed, low-latency transmission. Therefore, this application proposes a QoS management method that controls QoS flows at the packet group level, avoiding waste of network resources and improving user experience.

[0105] Figure 4 A schematic flowchart of a QoS management method 400 provided in this application is shown.

[0106] S401, the first device sends first information to the first network element, the first information being used to request QoS for the first service.

[0107] Correspondingly, the first network element receives the first information sent by the first device.

[0108] Specifically, the first device sends first information to the first network element, which is used to request QoS for the first service.

[0109] One possible implementation is that the first information includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the first service (e.g., an application identifier, etc.), a 5-tuple (source IP address, source port number, destination IP address, destination port number, transport layer protocol), a 3-tuple (destination IP address, destination port number, transport layer protocol), and request information used to request QoS for the first service.

[0110] Optionally, in another possible implementation, the request information is also used to request the QoS flow control method. The QoS flow control method includes a first control method based on packet group control and a second control method based on packet control. The first control method based on packet group control can be understood as performing QoS control at the packet group level. For example, if a QoS flow transmission has 100 packets, the first 50 packets constitute the first packet group, and the last 50 packets constitute the second packet group. When data needs to be discarded, if the first control method is executed, the first packet group and / or the second packet group will be discarded at the packet group level; if the second control method is executed, one or more packets from the 100 packets will be discarded at the packet level. For ease of explanation, the following description will use packet group control as the first control method and packet control as the second control method.

[0111] This request can directly request the QoS flow control method or indirectly request the QoS flow control method.

[0112] In some embodiments, the request information may indirectly request a QoS flow control method. For example, the request information may request QoS parameters. It is understood that when the request information requests packet-based QoS parameters, the requested QoS control method is a first control method. Similarly, when the request information requests packet-based QoS parameters, the requested QoS control method is a second control method. When the request information requests mixed QoS parameters, the QoS control method can be determined based on the mixed QoS parameters requested (e.g., through the 5QI value of the mixed QoS parameters, as explained later).

[0113] It should be understood that the packet group-based QoS parameter and the hybrid QoS parameter are two new QoS parameters proposed in the embodiments of this application. The packet group-based QoS parameter and the hybrid QoS parameter provided in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below.

[0114] Packet group-based QoS parameters may include one or more of the following: Group-5G QoS Identifier (G-5QI), Group Priority Level (GPL), Group Delay Budget (GDB), Group Error Rate (GER), Aggregation Group Error Rate (AGER), Maximum Group Loss Rate (MGLR), Maximum Aggregation Group Loss Rate (MAGLR), Averaging Window, and Maximum Data Burst Volume.

[0115] It should be understood that the names of the QoS parameters based on packet groups mentioned above are merely examples and are not limited to them. For example, the group 5G QoS identifier can also be called the Media Unit 5G QoS Identifier (MU-5QI), the group priority can also be called the Media Unit Priority Level (MUPL), the group delay budget can also be called the Media Unit Delay Budget (MUDB), the group error rate can also be called the Media Unit Error Rate (MUER), the aggregated group error rate can also be called the Aggregation Media Unit Error Rate (AMUER), the maximum group loss rate can also be called the Maximum Media Unit Loss Rate (MMULR), and the maximum aggregated group loss rate can also be called the Aggregation Maximum Media Unit Loss Rate (MAMULR).

[0116] Group priority indicates the priority of a data packet group; different data packet groups within the same service flow can have different priorities. For example, an application server can define the importance of different data packet groups, and data packet groups of different importance can correspond to different GPLs. Similarly, media unit priority indicates the priority of a media unit; different media units within the same service can have different priorities.

[0117] The group delay budget indicates the upper limit of delay for a data packet group between the terminal device and the anchor UPF. The group delay budget can be understood as guaranteeing the delay for all data packets in a data group as a whole; that is, the delay of each data packet in the data group is the sum of the GDB (Gross Delay Budget) and the arrival time of the last data packet in the data group. For example, if the first data packet in the first data packet group arrives at 1ms and the last data packet arrives at 2ms, and the group delay budget is 10ms, then all data packets in the first data packet group need to be sent to the receiving end before 12ms. Similarly, the media unit delay budget indicates the upper limit of delay for a media unit between the terminal device and the anchor UPF; that is, the delay of each data packet in the media unit is the sum of the media unit delay budget and the arrival time of the last data packet in the media unit.

[0118] The group error rate indicates the upper limit of packet group transmission errors, or the upper limit of packet groups that fail to be transmitted. When one or more packets in a packet group experience transmission errors, making the packet group undecoding, it can be considered a transmission error and included in the group error rate. For example, with a group error rate of 0.02, assuming the first QoS stream contains 1000 packet groups, the number of packet groups with transmission errors in this first QoS stream needs to be kept below 20. Similarly, the media unit error rate indicates the upper limit of media unit transmission errors, or the upper limit of media units that fail to be transmitted.

[0119] The Aggregate Group Error Rate (AGER) indicates the upper limit of packet group transmission errors based on importance; it can also be understood as the upper limit of weighted packet groups that failed to be transmitted. Packet groups have different levels of importance, and different importance packet groups can correspond to different weighting factors. This weighting factor is included in the calculation along with the number of packet groups with transmission errors. For example, if the weighting factor for the first packet group is 0.5, then when the first packet group is transmitted incorrectly, it can be counted as 0.5 packet group transmission errors. Similarly, if the weighting factor for the second packet group is 1, then when the second packet group is transmitted incorrectly, it can be counted as 1 packet group transmission error. Taking an AGER of 0.02 as an example, assuming the first QoS stream transmits 1000 packet groups, with 15 packet groups with a weighting factor of 1 and 10 packet groups with a weighting factor of 0.4, this can be counted as 19 packet group transmission errors, thus satisfying the Aggregate Group Error Rate. Similarly, the aggregated media unit error rate is used to indicate the upper limit of media unit transmission errors based on importance, and can also be understood as the upper limit of weighted media units that failed to be transmitted.

[0120] The maximum group loss rate (MFR) indicates the upper limit of packet group loss, or the upper limit of tolerable dropped packet groups. When one or more packets in a packet group are lost, making the packet group undecoding, it is considered lost and included in the MFR. For example, with a MFR of 0.02, assuming the first QoS stream contains 1000 packet groups, the number of lost packet groups in this first QoS stream needs to be kept below 20. Similarly, the maximum media unit loss rate (MUN) indicates the upper limit of media unit loss, or the upper limit of tolerable dropped media units.

[0121] In some embodiments of this application, when the type of the QoS stream is a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) QoS stream, the group loss rate can be used.

[0122] The maximum aggregated group loss rate (MAP) indicates the upper limit of packet loss based on importance; it can also be understood as the upper limit of tolerable weighted packet drops. Packet groups have different levels of importance, and different importance packet groups can correspond to different weighting factors. This weighting factor is included in the calculation along with the number of lost packet groups. For example, if the weighting factor for the first packet group is 0.5, then when the first packet group is lost, it can be counted as 0.5 packet group losses. Similarly, if the weighting factor for the second packet group is 1, then when the second packet group is lost, it can be counted as 1 packet group loss. Taking a MAP of 0.02 as an example, assuming the first QoS flow contains 1000 packet groups, with 15 packet groups with a weighting factor of 1 and 10 packet groups with a weighting factor of 0.4 lost, this can be counted as 19 packet group losses, thus satisfying the MAP maximum group loss rate for the first QoS flow. Similarly, the maximum aggregated media unit loss rate is used to indicate the upper limit of media unit transmission loss based on importance, and can also be understood as the upper limit of the weighted media units that can be tolerably dropped.

[0123] It should be understood that the description of media units can be found in the description of data packet groups, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0124] G-5QI is an index value used to associate one or more packet-based QoS parameters. For example, Table 1 shows the packet-based QoS parameters. As shown in Table 1, when G-5QI = 100, the QoS flow type is Non-GBR, the group priority is 68, the group delay budget is 20ms, and the aggregated group error rate or group error rate is 0.01. When G-5QI = 101, the QoS flow type is GBR, the group priority is 25, the group delay budget is 20ms, and the aggregated group error rate or group error rate is 0.01.

[0125] In some embodiments, when the weighting factor for a packet group can be determined, the aggregated group error rate can be used; when the weighting factor for a packet group cannot be determined, the group error rate can be used. Similarly, when the weighting factor for a packet group can be determined, the aggregated maximum group loss rate can be used; when the weighting factor for a packet group cannot be determined, the maximum group loss rate can be used.

[0126] Table 1. QoS parameters based on packet groups.

[0127]

[0128] Alternatively, this application also proposes a hybrid QoS parameter, which refers to a QoS parameter that includes both packet-based and packet-group-based parameters. The hybrid QoS parameter may include one or more of the following: 5G QoS Identifier (5QI), allocation and retention priority (ARP), Reflective QoS Attribute (RQA), Notification Control, Flow Bit Rates, Aggregate Bit Rates, Default values, Maximum Loss Rate (MLR), Resource Type, Priority Level (PL), Delay Budget (DB), Error Rate (ER), Averaging Window, Maximum Data Burst Volume, etc.

[0129] One possible implementation is to determine the type of QoS parameter by the value of 5QI. Table 2 shows a hybrid QoS parameter form. For example, when the 5QI value is 1-100, the QoS parameter associated with 5QI is a packet-based QoS parameter. For example, when the 5QI value is 1, the error rate is essentially equivalent to the packet error rate. When the 5QI value is 200-300, the QoS parameter associated with 5QI is a packet group-based QoS parameter. For example, when the 5QI value is 200, the error rate is essentially equivalent to the group error rate. In other words, the QoS flow control method can be indicated by the 5QI value. For example, when the network device or terminal device receives a 5QI value of 1, the network device or terminal device can control the QoS flow at the packet level, and the QoS requirement of this QoS flow is the QoS parameter corresponding to 5QI=1; when the network device or terminal device receives a 5QI value of 200, the access network device can control the QoS flow at the packet group level, and the QoS requirement of this QoS flow is the QoS parameter corresponding to 5QI=200.

[0130] It is understandable that when the request information requests the QoS parameter 5QI=200, it can be interpreted as requesting the QoS control mode as the first control mode.

[0131] It should be noted that when the 5QI value is 1-100, the QoS parameter associated with 5QI is a packet-based QoS parameter, and when the 5QI value is 200-300, the QoS parameter associated with 5QI is a packet-group-based QoS parameter. This is just an example, and the embodiments of this application do not limit this.

[0132] Table 2. A hybrid QoS parameter

[0133]

[0134] One possible implementation is that the hybrid QoS parameters can also include a control mode. The control mode indicates the QoS flow control method. Table 3 shows one form of hybrid QoS parameters. For example, when 5QI is 1, the control mode is "packet," meaning the QoS flow control method is packet-based, and the corresponding QoS parameters are packet-based QoS parameters. As another example, when 5QI is 200, the control mode is "group" (or "media unit"), meaning the QoS flow control method is group-based, and the corresponding QoS parameters are group-based QoS parameters. In other words, the QoS flow control method can be indicated by 5QI. For example, when a network device or terminal device receives a 5QI value of 1, it can control the QoS flow at the packet level; when it receives a 5QI value of 200, it can control the QoS flow at the group level.

[0135] It is understandable that when the request information requests the QoS parameter corresponding to the control mode of "group", it can be understood that the request information requests the QoS control method of the first control mode.

[0136] Table 3. A hybrid QoS parameter

[0137]

[0138] One possible implementation is to indicate the type of hybrid QoS parameters through indication information. Table 4 shows one form of hybrid QoS parameters. For example, taking 5QI=1 as an example, when the indication information indicates that the control method of the QoS flow is based on packet control, the QoS parameter corresponding to 5QI=1 can be understood as a packet-based QoS parameter; when the indication information indicates that the control method of the QoS flow is based on packet group control, the QoS parameter corresponding to 5QI=1 can be understood as a packet group-based QoS parameter.

[0139] Table 4. A hybrid QoS parameter

[0140]

[0141] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this application, hybrid QoS parameters can be used to replace packet group-based QoS parameters and packet-based QoS parameters. Therefore, hybrid QoS parameters can also be called QoS parameters.

[0142] In other embodiments, the request information can directly request a QoS control method. For example, the request information includes a first parameter, which can be one bit or several bits, used to indicate the requested QoS control method. For instance, the request information includes a first parameter that is one bit, where 0 indicates a request for a first control method and 1 indicates a request for a second control method.

[0143] S402, the first network element sends second information, which is used to indicate the control mode and QoS parameters of the first QoS flow. The first QoS flow is used to transmit the data flow of the first service. The QoS control mode includes a first control mode based on packet group control.

[0144] Specifically, after receiving the first information, the first network element can determine the control method and QoS parameters of the first QoS flow based on the request of the first information, and then send one or more parameters (i.e., second information) to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element, so that the first device, the access network device, and the second network element can perform QoS control on the data flow of the first service according to the second information. The second information can be a single parameter, which is the QoS parameter of the first QoS flow; the second information can also be multiple parameters, such as two parameters, one of which is used to indicate the control method of the first QoS flow, and the other is the QoS parameter of the first QoS flow.

[0145] Optionally, in some embodiments, the second information includes a first QoS parameter, which comprises N packet-group-based QoS parameters, where N ≥ 1 and N is a positive integer. It is understood that the first network element can use this first QoS parameter to indicate the control mode of the first QoS flow. For example, when the first QoS parameter is G-5QI, it indicates that the control mode of the first QoS flow is the first control mode.

[0146] For example, the first device requests QoS for the first service. After receiving the first information, the first network element determines the control method of the first QoS flow as the first control method and the corresponding first QoS parameters based on the first information. Then, it sends the first QoS parameters to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element, thereby indicating the control method of the first QoS flow and the corresponding QoS parameters. For example, the first network element sends G-5QI to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element, so that the first device, the access network device, and the second network element can perform QoS control on the data flow of the first service at the packet group level according to the G-5QI. As another example, the first network element sends 5QI with a value of 200 to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element. This 5QI corresponds to the QoS parameters based on the packet group (for example, it is agreed in advance through the protocol that when 5QI is 200, the corresponding QoS parameters are QoS parameters based on the packet group). Thus, the first device, the access network device, and the second network element can perform QoS control on the data flow of the first service at the packet group level according to the 5QI. For example, the first network element sends a 5QI with a value of 200 to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element. The control mode corresponding to this 5QI is group. Thus, the first device, the access network device, and the second network element can perform QoS control on the data flow of the first service at the granularity of data packet groups according to this 5QI.

[0147] For example, a first device requests a first control method based on packet group control. After receiving the first information, a first network element determines the control method for the first QoS flow as the first control method and the corresponding first QoS parameters based on packet groups according to the first information. Then, it sends the first QoS parameters to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element, thereby indicating the control method and the corresponding QoS parameters for the first QoS flow. For example, the first network element sends G-5QI to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element, so that the first device, the access network device, and the second network element can perform packet group-level QoS control on the data flow of the first service according to the G-5QI. As another example, the first network element sends a 5QI with a value of 200 to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element. This 5QI corresponds to packet group-level QoS parameters (for example, it is agreed in advance through the protocol that when 5QI is 200, the corresponding QoS parameters are packet group-level QoS parameters), so that the first device, the access network device, and the second network element can perform packet group-level QoS control on the data flow of the first service according to the 5QI. For example, the first network element sends a 5QI with a value of 200 to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element. The control mode corresponding to this 5QI is group. Thus, the first device, the access network device, and the second network element can perform QoS control on the data flow of the first service at the granularity of data packet groups according to this 5QI.

[0148] For example, when a first device requests a second control method based on packet control, a first network element, upon receiving the first information, can determine the control method for the first QoS flow as a first control method based on packet group control and the corresponding first QoS parameters based on packet groups, according to the characteristics of the first service. For instance, if the first network element determines that the first service is a media service such as XR, it can determine the first control method as the first QoS flow control method. In other words, the first network element can ultimately determine the control method for the first QoS flow based on the characteristics of the service, and then indicate the control method for the first QoS flow through the first QoS parameters. For example, the first network element sends G-5QI to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element, so that the first device, the access network device, and the second network element can perform QoS control on the data flow of the first service at the packet group granularity according to the G-5QI. For example, the first network element sends a 5QI with a value of 200 to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element. This 5QI corresponds to a packet-group-based QoS parameter (for example, if the protocol pre-determines that when 5QI is 200, the corresponding QoS parameter is a packet-group-based QoS parameter). Thus, the first device, the access network device, and the second network element can perform packet-group-based QoS control on the data flow of the first service based on this 5QI. For another example, the first network element sends a 5QI with a value of 200 to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element. This 5QI corresponds to the control mode "group," thus, the first device, the access network device, and the second network element can perform packet-group-based QoS control on the data flow of the first service based on this 5QI.

[0149] Optionally, in some embodiments, the second information includes first indication information and second QoS parameters, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the QoS control mode of the first QoS flow, and the second QoS parameters are used to indicate the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0150] For example, a first device requests a first control method based on packet group control or a second control method based on packet control. After receiving the first information, a first network element determines the QoS control method for the first QoS flow as the first control method and the corresponding QoS parameters based on the first information. Then, it sends the first indication information and the second QoS parameters to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element. Thus, the first device, the access network device, and the second network element can perform QoS control on the data flow of the first service at the packet group granularity according to the first indication information to satisfy the second QoS parameters. For example, the second QoS parameter is any row in Table 4. When the first indication information indicates packet group control, the second QoS parameter can be understood as a packet group-based QoS parameter. As another example, the second QoS parameter is any row in Table 4. When the first indication information indicates packet control, the second QoS parameter can be understood as a packet-based QoS parameter. Yet another example, the second QoS parameter is a packet-based QoS parameter, but it is a packet-based QoS parameter applicable to the first control method. The first network element can determine the second QoS parameter based on the relationship between packets and packet groups in the data flow of the first service and / or the weighting factor of the packet groups. For example, when performing QoS control on the first QoS flow at the granularity of data packets, the QoS parameter is 5QI=5. The first network element can determine that the QoS parameter 5QI=100 is suitable for performing QoS control on the first QoS flow at the granularity of data packets and data packet groups based on the conversion relationship between data packets and data packet groups. Then, the QoS parameter 5QI=100 is the second QoS parameter.

[0151] It should be noted that the first network element can determine the relationship between data packets and data packet groups and / or the weighting factor of data packet groups of the data flow of the first service in the following ways.

[0152] Method 1: The server for the first service can directly indicate the relationship between data packets and data packet groups in the data flow of the first service and / or the weighting factor. For example, the server for the first service can indicate that the data flow of the first service includes 5 data packets, the 5 data packet groups include 500 data packets, and the weighting factor corresponding to the 5 data packet groups is 0.5.

[0153] Method 2: The first network element can determine the relationship between data packets and data packet groups in the data stream of the first service and / or the weighting factor through the service information of the first service. The service information includes the encoding parameters of the first service and / or the weighting factor for each data packet group in the first service. The encoding parameters of the first service include frame rate, resolution, bit rate, etc. The first network element can calculate the relationship between data packets and data packet groups based on the encoding parameters. For example, assuming that each frame of the first service is the same size, each frame is a data packet group, the size of a data packet is 10kb, the frames per second (FPS) of the first service is 10, and the bit rate is 10Mbps, then the size of each frame of the first service is 1mb, and the number of data packets contained in each frame is 100.

[0154] Furthermore, the encoding parameters can also include Group of Pictures (GoP), which allows the calculation of the number of keyframes (I-frames) and auxiliary frames (P-frames) for the first service, and thus assigns different weighting factors to the keyframes and auxiliary frames. For example, the weighting factor for a keyframe is 1, and the weighting factor for an auxiliary frame is 0.3.

[0155] For method two, method 400 further includes: the first network element obtaining service information of the first service. The first network element may obtain service information of the first service from the first device or other network elements, and the comparison of the embodiments in this application is not limited thereto.

[0156] Optionally, in some embodiments, the second information includes first indication information and second QoS parameters, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the QoS control method of the first QoS flow, and the second QoS parameters include at least one packet-based QoS parameter.

[0157] For example, the first device requests a first control method based on packet group control or a second control method based on packet group control. After receiving the first information, the first network element determines the QoS control method for the first QoS flow as the first control method and the second QoS parameter based on the first information. The second QoS parameter is a packet-based QoS parameter. It should be noted that the second QoS parameter determined by the first network element is one that can meet the QoS requirements of the first service's data flow at the packet group level. After receiving the first indication information and the second QoS parameter, the first device, the second network element, and the access network device can ultimately determine the QoS parameter that can meet the QoS control requirements at the packet group level based on the relationship between packets and packet groups in the first service's data flow. For example, if the packet error rate corresponding to 5QI in the second QoS parameter determined by the first network element is 0.0001, and after receiving the first indication information and the second QoS parameter, the first device, the second network element, and the access network device determine that the first service's data flow includes 10,000 packets, which can form 100 packet groups, then the first device, the second network element, and the access network device can ultimately determine that the group error rate is 0.01. In other words, the first network element can first determine the QoS parameters that satisfy the QoS control at the packet level, and the first device, the second network element, and the access network device will finally determine the QoS parameters that satisfy the QoS control at the packet group level.

[0158] In this embodiment, method 400 further includes: the first network element sending service information of the first service.

[0159] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first indication information is specifically used to indicate the preferred control method of the first QoS flow, which may also be referred to as the control method priority.

[0160] The first network element can indicate the preferred control method of the first QoS flow through the first indication information. The first device, the second network element, and the access network device will ultimately determine the corresponding QoS parameters based on the first indication information. Please refer to the following description for details.

[0161] Optionally, in some embodiments, the second information includes second indication information, a third QoS parameter, and a fourth QoS parameter, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate the preferred QoS control method of the first QoS flow, the third QoS parameter includes M packet group-based QoS parameters, M≥1 and M is a positive integer, and the fourth QoS parameter includes L packet-based QoS parameters, L≥1 and L is a positive integer.

[0162] The first network element can indicate the preferred QoS control method for the first QoS flow through the second indication information. The first device, the second network element, and the access network device will then determine whether to use the third or fourth QoS parameter based on the second indication information.

[0163] It should be understood that the second indication information indirectly indicates the QoS control method of the first QoS flow by indicating the preferred QoS control method of the first QoS flow; that is, the second information is used to indicate the control method of the first QoS flow.

[0164] S403, the first device performs QoS control on the data stream of the first service based on the second information.

[0165] Specifically, after receiving the second information, the first device can perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service based on the second information. The first device can perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service at the granularity of data packet groups. For example, when a data packet in the first data packet group in the data stream of the first service is lost, the first device can discard the other data packets in the first data packet group. Another example is that the first device can prioritize data packet groups with a high transmission ratio. Yet another example is that the first device can prioritize data packet groups with high importance.

[0166] Optionally, in some embodiments, the second information includes a first QoS parameter, which includes N packet-based QoS parameters, where N ≥ 1 and N is a positive integer.

[0167] After receiving the first QoS parameter, the first device can determine that the control mode of the first QoS flow is the first control mode of packet group control, and perform QoS control on the data flow of the first service based on the first QoS parameter. A description of the control mode of the first QoS flow indicated by the first QoS parameter can be found in the preceding description and will not be repeated here.

[0168] Optionally, in some embodiments, the second information includes first indication information and second QoS parameters, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the QoS control mode of the first QoS flow, and the second QoS parameters are used to indicate the QoS parameters of the first QoS flow.

[0169] After receiving the first indication information and the second QoS parameters, the first device can perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service according to the control method indicated by the first indication information to satisfy the second QoS parameters. The description of the second QoS parameters and the first indication information can be found in the preceding description and will not be repeated here.

[0170] Optionally, in some embodiments, the second information includes first indication information and second QoS parameters, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the QoS control method of the first QoS flow, and the second QoS parameters include at least one packet-based QoS parameter.

[0171] After receiving the first indication information and the second QoS parameters, the first device can perform QoS control according to the QoS control method indicated by the first indication information. For example, when the first indication information indicates the second control method based on packet control, the first device can perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service at the packet level to meet the second QoS parameters; when the first indication information indicates the first control method based on packet group control, the first device can determine the QoS parameters applicable to packet group-based control according to the relationship between packets and packet groups in the data stream of the first service and / or the weighting factor of packet groups, and then the first device performs QoS control on the data stream of the first service at the packet group level to meet the determined QoS parameters.

[0172] It should be noted that the first device can determine the relationship between data packets and data packet groups and / or the weighting factor of data packet groups in the data stream of the first service in the following ways.

[0173] Method 1: The server of the first service can directly indicate the relationship between data packets and data packet groups and / or weighting factors of the data flow of the first service.

[0174] Method 2: The first device can determine the relationship between data packets and data packet groups of the data stream of the first service and / or the weighting factor through the service information of the first service.

[0175] For method two, method 400 further includes: the first device obtaining service information of the first service. The first device can obtain service information of the first service from core network elements.

[0176] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first indication information is specifically used to indicate the preferred control method of the first QoS flow, which may also be referred to as the control method priority.

[0177] For example, after receiving the first indication information, if the first device supports the preferred QoS control method indicated by the first indication information, the first device executes the QoS control method indicated by the first indication information; if the first device does not support the QoS control method indicated by the first indication information, it executes another control method. For instance, if the preferred QoS control method indicated by the first indication information is the first control method, and the second QoS parameter is a packet-based QoS parameter, and the first device supports the first control method, then the first device determines the QoS parameter that satisfies the first control method based on the relationship between packets and packet groups in the data stream of the first service and / or the weighting factor of the packet groups; if the first device does not support the first control method, the first device executes the second control method, and the second QoS parameter is the QoS parameter that satisfies the QoS requirements.

[0178] Through the above technical solution, the first device can flexibly select a suitable QoS control method, thereby improving the flexibility of QoS management.

[0179] Optionally, in some embodiments, the second information includes second indication information, a third QoS parameter, and a fourth QoS parameter. The second indication information is used to indicate the preferred QoS control method of the first QoS flow. The third QoS parameter includes M QoS parameters based on packet groups, where M ≥ 1 and M is a positive integer. The fourth QoS parameter includes L QoS parameters based on packets, where L ≥ 1 and L is a positive integer.

[0180] After receiving the second indication information, the first device executes the preferred QoS control method indicated by the second indication information if it supports it; otherwise, it executes another control method. For example, if the preferred QoS control method indicated by the second indication information is the first control method, and the first device supports the first control method, then the first device executes the first control method, and the third QoS parameter is the QoS parameter that meets the QoS requirements. If the first device does not support the first control method, then the first device executes the second control method, and the fourth QoS parameter is the QoS parameter that meets the QoS requirements.

[0181] Through the above technical solution, the first device can flexibly select a suitable QoS control method, thereby improving the flexibility of QoS management.

[0182] S404, The access network device performs QoS control on the data stream of the first service based on the second information.

[0183] S405, the second network element performs QoS control on the data flow of the first service based on the second information.

[0184] It is understood that the description of the QoS control performed on the data flow of the first service by the access network equipment and the second network element based on the second information can be found in S403, and will not be repeated here.

[0185] Optionally, before the first network element sends the second information, method 400 further includes: the first network element determining the QoS control method of the first QoS flow based on the first service, or the first network element determining the QoS control method of the first QoS flow based on whether the first device supports the first control method.

[0186] The first network element can determine the first QoS reservation control method based on the characteristics of the first service or whether the first device supports the first control method. For example, if the first device does not support the first control method, the first network element will not instruct the first device to execute the first control method.

[0187] The QoS management method implemented in this application allows the first network element to determine different QoS control methods based on the characteristics of the first service after receiving the QoS request information. It can provide the first service with a QoS control method based on data packet groups and corresponding QoS parameters, thereby improving the flexibility of QoS management, meeting the needs of different services, improving user experience, and reducing the waste of network resources.

[0188] It should be understood that in steps S401-S405 above, (1) the first network element can be an SMF; (2) the second network element can be a UPF; and (3) the first device can be a terminal device or an application server. To facilitate understanding of the QoS management method provided in this application, the following, as an example and not a limitation, uses an SMF as the first network element, a UPF as the second network element, and a terminal device as the first device, with reference to... Figure 5 The specific example methods shown will provide a detailed explanation of S401-S405 in method 400.

[0189] It should be noted that some steps mentioned below are the same as those in Method 400 above. Details will not be repeated here; please refer to the relevant steps in Method 400 for the specific process. Method 500 will be explained using the following row data as an example.

[0190] S501, the terminal device sends first information to the SMF, which is used to request QoS for the first service.

[0191] In one possible implementation, the terminal device sends the first information to the SMF via the AMF.

[0192] It should be understood that before the terminal device sends the first information to the SMF, the terminal device has already established a PDU session through the SMF and established a connection with the application server through the PDU session. Therefore, the first information can be included in the session modification request information for modifying the PDU session.

[0193] S502, SMF sends second information, which is used to indicate the control method and QoS parameters of the first QoS stream. The first QoS stream is used to transmit the data stream of the first service. The QoS control method includes a first control method based on packet group control.

[0194] Specifically, the SMF sends the second information to the terminal equipment, access network equipment, and UPF.

[0195] In one possible implementation, the SMF sends second information to the access network device via the AMF, and then sends second information to the terminal device via the AMF and the access network device. The second information may be sent to the access network device in a QoS profile, to the terminal device in a QoS rule, or to the UPF device in a packet detection rule.

[0196] S503, the application server sends the data stream of the first service to the UPF.

[0197] Optionally, in some embodiments, the application server may indicate the relationship between data packets and data packet groups in the data stream of the first service in S503. For example, the data stream of the first service includes 100 data packets, which can be grouped into 3 data packet groups.

[0198] One possible implementation is that the application server adds indication information to the header of the data packet for the first service.

[0199] For example, the header of each data packet of the first service includes indication information, which indicates at least one of the following: which data packet group the data packet belongs to (i.e., the sequence number of the data packet group), the position of the data packet in the data packet group (i.e., the specific sequence number of the data packet in the data packet group), a start flag (i.e., the first data packet in the data packet group) and an end flag (i.e., the last data packet in the data packet group) of the data packet group to which the data packet belongs, and the importance of the data packet group to which the data packet belongs. For example, the indication information in the header of the first data packet indicates at least one of the following: the first data packet belongs to the first data packet group, the first data packet is located at the first position in the first data packet group, the first data packet group starts with the first data packet, and ends with the fourth data packet.

[0200] For example, the header of the first data packet in each data packet group of the first service includes indication information. This indication information indicates at least one of the following: which data packet group the data packet belongs to (i.e., the sequence number of the data packet group), the size of the data packet group to which the data packet belongs (i.e., how many data packets are in the data packet group), the start flag of the data packet group to which the data packet belongs (i.e., the first data packet in the data packet group), the end flag of the previous data packet group to which the data packet belongs, and the importance of the data packet group to which the data packet belongs. For example, if the first data packet group includes a first data packet, a second data packet, and a third data packet, and the first data packet is the first data packet in the first data packet group, then the header of the first data packet includes indication information indicating that the first data packet belongs to the first data packet group, the size of the first data packet group is 3 (the second and third data packets belong to the same first data packet group as the first data packet), the first data packet is located at the first position in the first data packet group, and the first data packet group starts with the first data packet and ends with the third data packet.

[0201] For example, the headers of the first and last data packets in each data packet group of the first service include indication information. This indication information indicates which data packet group the data packet belongs to (i.e., the sequence number of the data packet group), the size of the data packet group to which the data packet belongs (i.e., how many data packets are in the data packet group), the header indication information of the first data packet indicating that the data packet is the start of its data packet group, and the header indication information of the last data packet indicating that the data packet is the end of its data packet group. For example, if the first data packet group includes a first data packet, a second data packet, and a third data packet, and the first data packet is the first data packet of the first data packet group, and the third data packet is the last data packet of the first data packet group, then the headers of the first and third data packets include indication information indicating that the first and third data packets belong to the first data packet group, the size of the first data packet group is 3 (the second data packet, the first data packet, and the third data packet all belong to the first data packet group), the header indication information of the first data packet indicating that the first data packet is the start data packet of the first data packet group, and the header indication information of the third data packet indicating that the third data packet is the end data packet of the first data packet group, at least one of these items.

[0202] For example, the header of the first data packet of the first service includes indication information, which indicates at least one of the following: the data packet group to which all data packets of the first service belong, the start and end identifiers of each data packet group, and the position of each data packet within its data packet group. For instance, the first data packet is the first data packet of the first service, and the header of the first data packet includes indication information indicating that the first data packet, the second data packet, and the third data packet belong to the first data packet group, the first data packet group starts with the first data packet and ends with the third data packet, the first data packet is located at the first position in the first data packet group, the second data packet is located at the second position in the first data packet group, and the third data packet is located at the third position in the first data packet group.

[0203] Optionally, in some embodiments, the application server may also indicate a weighting factor for each data packet group in the data stream of the first service in S503. The weighting factor can correspond to different levels of importance, which can be understood as the degree of impact on the user. Taking XR service as an example, key frames of XR service have a greater impact on the user, while auxiliary frames have a smaller impact. Therefore, the weighting factor of the key frames of XR service is greater than the weighting factor of the auxiliary frames.

[0204] The description of the weighting factor for each data packet group indicated by the application server is similar to the description of the relationship between data packets and data packet groups in the data flow of the first service indicated by the application server. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0205] One possible implementation is that the application server can send a separate indication message to indicate the relationship between the data packets of the first service and / or the weighting factor of each data packet group.

[0206] S504, UPF sends the first service data stream to the access network equipment.

[0207] Specifically, the UPF can send the data of the first service to the access network device and perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service based on the second information.

[0208] Optionally, in some embodiments, the UPF may add marking information to the header of the data packets of the first service, for example, to the GTP-U header, to indicate the number of data packet groups of the first service and / or the start and end data packets of each data packet group and / or the weighting factor of each data packet and / or the number of data packets included in each data packet group.

[0209] One possible implementation is that the UPF can obtain the tag information through an instruction from the application server, i.e., by obtaining it through step S503.

[0210] One possible implementation is that the UPF can obtain the tag information based on the business information of the first business.

[0211] S505, the access network equipment sends the data stream of the first service to the terminal equipment.

[0212] Specifically, after receiving the data stream of the first service sent by the UPF, the access network device can perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service based on the second information. For example, the access network device can schedule the data packets of the first service based on the group delay budget to ensure that the delay of data packets in the same data packet group meets the group delay budget. Another example is that the access network device can schedule the data packets of the first service based on the group error rate; when a data packet in a data packet group is transmitted incorrectly, the access network device discards the other data packets in that data packet group. Yet another example is that the access network device can prioritize data packet groups with a high percentage of completed transmissions to avoid invalid transmission of already transmitted data packets.

[0213] S506, the terminal device performs QoS control on the data stream of the first service based on the second information.

[0214] Specifically, the terminal device can perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service based on the second information. For example, the terminal device can perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service based on the group error rate. When a data packet in a data packet group is transmitted incorrectly or the terminal device fails to decode it, the terminal device may stop receiving other data packets in that data packet group until the terminal device receives a retransmission data packet of the data packet that failed to be transmitted or decoded. Only then will the terminal device receive other data packets in that data packet group.

[0215] It should be understood that method 500 uses downlink data transmission as an example, but the embodiments of this application are not limited to this. The embodiments of this application can also be used to transmit uplink data. For example, the terminal device sends data of a first service to the access network device and performs QoS control on the data stream of the first service according to the second information.

[0216] It should be understood that when transmitting uplink data, the terminal device may, similar to an application server, indicate the relationship between data packets and data packet groups for the first service and / or the weighting factor for each data packet group.

[0217] It should also be understood that the description of sending the data of the first service to the terminal device and performing QoS control on the data stream of the first service according to the second information can be found in the previous text, and will not be repeated here.

[0218] The QoS management method implemented in this application allows the first network element to determine different QoS control methods based on the characteristics of the first service after receiving the QoS request information. It can provide the first service with a QoS control method based on data packet groups and corresponding QoS parameters, thereby improving the flexibility of QoS management, meeting the needs of different services, improving user experience, and reducing the waste of network resources.

[0219] The following example, not a limitation, uses SMF as the first network element, UPF as the second network element, and application server as the first device, for reference. Figure 6 The specific example methods shown will provide a detailed explanation of S401-S405 in method 400.

[0220] S601, the application server sends the first information to the SMF, which is used to request QoS for the first service.

[0221] In one possible implementation, the application server sends the first information to the SMF via the PCF.

[0222] In one possible implementation, the application server sends the first information to the SMF via NEF and PCF.

[0223] It should be understood that before the application server sends the first information to the SMF, the application server has already established a connection with the application server through a PDU session, so the first information can be included in the session modification request information.

[0224] S602, SMF sends second information, which is used to indicate the control method and QoS parameters of the first QoS stream. The first QoS stream is used to transmit the data stream of the first service. The QoS control method includes a first control method based on packet group control.

[0225] S603, the application server sends the data stream of the first service to the UPF.

[0226] S604, UPF sends the first service data stream to the access network equipment.

[0227] S605, the access network device sends the data stream of the first service to the terminal device.

[0228] S606, the terminal device performs QoS control on the data stream of the first service based on the second information.

[0229] It should be understood that the descriptions of steps S602-S606 can be found in the preceding descriptions, and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0230] The QoS management method implemented in this application allows the first network element to determine different QoS control methods based on the characteristics of the first service after receiving the QoS request information. It can provide the first service with a QoS control method based on data packet groups and corresponding QoS parameters, thereby improving the flexibility of QoS management, meeting the needs of different services, improving user experience, and reducing the waste of network resources.

[0231] It should be noted that in the methods 400-600 above, the terminal device has already established a connection with the application server before sending the first information, or the application server has already established a connection with the terminal device before sending the first information. However, this application is not limited to this. For example, the terminal device can send the first information when establishing a connection with the application server, so that after the terminal device establishes a connection with the application server, the corresponding QoS control method can be executed.

[0232] The above method takes the data flow of the first service being carried by a single QoS flow as an example, but this application is not limited to this. For example, the data flow of the first service can be carried by two QoS flows, and joint control can be performed on these two QoS flows. The QoS management method for performing joint QoS control on multiple QoS flows will be described in detail below.

[0233] Figure 7 The diagram shown is a schematic flowchart of a QoS management method 700 provided in this application.

[0234] S701, the first device sends third information, which is used to request QoS for the second service.

[0235] Specifically, the first device sends third information to the first network element, which is used to request QoS for the second service.

[0236] One possible implementation is that the first information includes at least one of the following: an identifier of a first service (e.g., an application identifier, etc.), a 5-tuple (source IP address, source port number, destination IP address, destination port number, transport layer protocol), a 3-tuple (destination IP address, destination port number, transport layer protocol), and request information used to request QoS for a second service.

[0237] Optionally, in another possible implementation, the request information can also be used to request a QoS control method for the flow. For example, the request information could be used to request joint QoS control for the data flow of a second service. Joint QoS control can be understood as performing QoS control on multiple related QoS flows to ensure that these multiple QoS flows jointly meet the corresponding QoS parameters. Assuming that the second QoS flow and the third QoS flow are related, where the data flow transmitted by the second QoS flow includes 1000 data packets, if joint QoS control is to be performed on the second QoS flow and the third QoS flow to ensure that the number of lost data packets is less than 40, then the sum of the lost data packets on the second QoS flow and the third QoS flow must be less than 40.

[0238] In some embodiments, the request information requests joint QoS parameters. It is understood that when the request information requests joint QoS parameters, the QoS control method requested is joint QoS control. The joint QoS parameters provided in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below.

[0239] Joint QoS parameters refer to the QoS requirements of multiple QoS flows that are related. Related QoS flows can be understood as data flows transmitted by QoS flows that are correlated. For example, a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow are related, where the first QoS flow transmits the first data flow of a first service, and the second QoS flow transmits the second data flow of the first service.

[0240] The joint QoS parameters may include one or more of the following: Joint 5G QoS Identifier (CQF-5QI), Joint QoS flow Error Rate (CQF-ER), Joint QoS flow Aggregation Error Rate (CQF-AER), Joint QoS flow Maximum Loss Rate (CQF-MLR), Joint QoS flow Maximum Aggregation Loss Rate (CQF-MALR), Joint QoS flow Maximum Bit Rate (CQF-MBR), and Joint Aggregation Maximum Bit Rate (CQF-AMBR). The joint QoS parameters will be described in detail below.

[0241] The joint error rate (JER) indicates the upper limit of packet group or packet transmission errors in associated QoS flows; it can also be called the upper limit of unsuccessfully transmitted packet groups or packet transmission errors. When an associated QoS flow transmits a single packet incorrectly, that packet can be considered a transmission error; or when an associated QoS flow transmits a group of packets incorrectly (e.g., a packet in that group is lost), that group of packets can be considered a transmission error. For example, with a JER of 0.02, assuming a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow are associated, where both the first and second QoS flows transmit 1000 packets, the number of erroneous packets in both flows must be below 40; or, if both the first and second QoS flows transmit 1000 packet groups, the number of erroneous packet groups in both flows must be below 40.

[0242] The aggregated joint error rate (AFR) indicates the upper limit of packet group or packet transmission errors in a QoS flow with correlation based on importance. It can also be understood as the upper limit of weighted packet groups or packets with failed transmission errors. Packet groups or packets have different levels of importance, and different weighting factors can be assigned to packet groups or packets of different importance. This weighting factor is included in the calculation along with the number of packet groups or packets with transmission errors. For example, if the weighting factor for the first packet group in a correlated QoS flow is 0.5, then when the first packet group is transmitted incorrectly, it can be counted as 0.5 packet group transmission errors. Similarly, if the weighting factor for the second packet group is 1, then when the second packet group is transmitted incorrectly, it can be counted as 1 packet group transmission error. Taking an aggregated joint error rate of 0.02 as an example, assuming the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow are correlated, where the first QoS flow transmits 1000 data packet groups, and the second QoS flow also transmits 1000 data packet groups, the first QoS flow has 10 data packet groups with a weighting factor of 1 and 5 data packet groups with a weighting factor of 0.4, and the second QoS flow has 5 data packet groups with a weighting factor of 1 and 5 data packet groups with a weighting factor of 0.4, totaling 19 data packet group transmission errors. Therefore, the first QoS flow satisfies the aggregated joint error rate. Similarly, when correlated QoS flows transmit data packets, the above description can be used as a reference, and will not be repeated here.

[0243] The joint loss rate indicates the upper limit of packet group or packet loss in a QoS flow based on association; it can also be understood as the upper limit of tolerable dropped packet groups or packets. When an associated QoS flow loses a single packet, that packet can be considered lost; or when an associated QoS flow loses a packet group (e.g., losing a single packet within that group), that packet group can be considered lost. For example, with a joint loss rate of 0.02, assuming a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow are associated, where both the first and second QoS flows transmit 1000 packets, the number of lost packets in both flows must be less than 40; or, if both the first and second QoS flows transmit 1000 packet groups, the number of erroneous packet groups in both flows must be less than 40.

[0244] The aggregated joint loss rate (AFR) indicates the upper limit of packet group or packet loss in a QoS flow with correlation based on importance. It can also be understood as the upper limit of tolerable packet group or packet loss. Packet groups or packets have different levels of importance, and different weighting factors can be assigned to packets of different importance. This weighting factor is included in the calculation along with the number of lost packet groups or packets. For example, if the weighting factor for the first packet group in a correlated QoS flow is 0.5, then the loss of the first packet group can be counted as 0.5 packet group transmission errors. Similarly, if the weighting factor for the second packet group is 1, then the loss of the second packet group can be counted as 1 packet group transmission error. Taking an aggregated joint loss rate of 0.02 as an example, assuming the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow are correlated, where the first QoS flow transmits 1000 data packet groups, and the second QoS flow also transmits 1000 data packet groups, the first QoS flow loses 10 data packet groups with a weighting factor of 1 and 5 data packet groups with a weighting factor of 0.4, and the second QoS flow loses 5 data packet groups with a weighting factor of 1 and 5 data packet groups with a weighting factor of 0.4, totaling 19 lost data packet groups. Therefore, the first QoS flow satisfies the aggregated joint loss rate. Similarly, when correlated QoS flows transmit data packets, the above description can be used as a reference, and will not be repeated here.

[0245] The joint aggregated maximum bit rate indicates the aggregated bit rate of all Non-GBR QoS flows within a set of associated QoS flows. The joint aggregated maximum bit rate can be calculated using an average window, i.e., the aggregated bit rate within an average window. For example, if a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow are associated, and both are Non-GBR QoS flows, with each flow having a bit rate of 50 Mbps, then the joint aggregated maximum bit rate of both is 100 Mbps.

[0246] The joint maximum bit rate is used to indicate the maximum bit rate of a set of related QoS flows. The joint maximum bit rate can be calculated using an average window, which is the aggregated bit rate of all QoS flows within that window. For example, if a first QoS flow and a second QoS flow are related, with the first QoS flow being a GBR QoS flow and the second QoS flow being a Non-GBR QoS flow, and both the first and second QoS flows have a bit rate of 50 Mbps, then the joint maximum bit rate of both is 100 Mbps.

[0247] CQF-5QI is an index value used to associate one or more joint QoS parameters. Similarly, other joint QoS parameters can be obtained through CQF-5QI.

[0248] It should be understood that the names of the joint QoS parameters mentioned above are merely examples and are not limited thereto.

[0249] It should also be understood that the aforementioned joint QoS parameters can be further divided into different QoS parameters based on packets and packet groups (or media units), respectively. For example, the Correlated QoS flow Maximum Packet Loss Rate (CQF-MPLR) and Correlated QoS flow Media Unit Maximum Loss Rate (CQF-MMULR) indicate the upper limits of data packets and media units that can be lost in a set of correlated QoS flows, respectively; the Correlated QoS flow Packet Error Rate (CQF-PER) and Correlated QoS flow Media Unit Error Rate (CQF-MUER) indicate the upper limits of erroneous data packets and media units that can be transmitted in a set of correlated QoS flows, respectively; the Correlated QoS flow Packet Aggregation Error Rate (CQF-APER) and Correlated QoS flow Media Unit Aggregation Error Rate (CQF-AMUER) indicate the upper limits of erroneous weighted data packets and weighted media units that can be transmitted in a set of correlated QoS flows, respectively; and the Correlated QoS flow Maximum Aggregation Packet Loss Rate (CQF-MPLR) indicates the upper limits of erroneous weighted data packets and weighted media units that can be transmitted in a set of correlated QoS flows, respectively. The CQF-MAPLR (Combined QoS Flow Maximum Aggregation Media Unit Loss Rate) and the Correlated QoS Flow Maximum Aggregation Media Unit Loss Rate (CQF-MAMULR) are used to indicate the upper limit of weighted packets and weighted media units that can be lost in a set of correlated QoS flows, respectively.

[0250] In other embodiments, the request information can directly request joint QoS control.

[0251] Alternatively, the request information can also request non-joint QoS control, but the first network element can determine to use joint QoS control based on the characteristics of the second service. For example, if the second service is a media service such as XR, and the I-frames of the second service are carried in the second QoS stream, while the P-frames are carried in the third QoS stream, then the first network element can determine to perform joint QoS control on the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream.

[0252] S702, the first network element sends fourth information, which includes QoS parameters for jointly controlling the second QoS flow and the third QoS flow.

[0253] Specifically, the first network element determines that the second QoS flow and the third QoS flow are related, that is, they both belong to the QoS flow for transmitting the second service. The first network element sends fourth information to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element. The fourth information includes QoS parameters for jointly controlling the second QoS flow and the third QoS flow.

[0254] Optionally, in some embodiments, the fourth information includes a fifth QoS parameter, which comprises K joint QoS parameters, where K ≥ 1 and K is a positive integer. It is understood that the first network element can use this fifth QoS parameter to instruct joint QoS control to be performed on the second and third QoS flows. For example, when the fifth QoS parameter is C-5QI, it instructs joint QoS control to be performed on the second and third QoS flows.

[0255] For example, the first network element sends a C-5QI to the first device, the access network device, and the second network element. The value of the C-5QI is 50, so that the first device, the access network device, and the second network element can perform joint control on the first QoS stream and the second QoS stream carrying the data stream of the first service according to the C-5QI.

[0256] Optionally, in some embodiments, the fourth information includes third indication information and a sixth QoS parameter. The third indication information is used to indicate joint control of the second QoS flow and the third QoS flow. The sixth QoS parameter is a parameter used for joint QoS control. The sixth QoS parameter includes L packet-based QoS parameters, where L ≥ 1 and L is a positive integer; or the sixth QoS parameter includes J packet-based QoS parameters, where J ≥ 1 and J is a positive integer.

[0257] S703, the first device performs joint QoS control on the data stream of the second service based on the fourth information.

[0258] Specifically, after receiving the fourth information, the first device can perform QoS control on the data stream of the second service based on the fourth information. For example, if the second QoS stream carries data packets or groups of data packets with a weighting factor of 1, and the third QoS stream carries data packets or groups of data packets with a weighting factor of 0.5, then the first device can prioritize the transmission of the second QoS stream.

[0259] Optionally, in some embodiments, the fourth information includes a fifth QoS parameter, which includes K joint QoS parameters, where K ≥ 1 and K is a positive integer.

[0260] After receiving the fifth QoS parameter, the first device can determine to perform joint control on the second and third QoS flows to satisfy the fifth QoS parameter.

[0261] Optionally, in some embodiments, the fourth information includes third indication information and a sixth QoS parameter. The third indication information is used to indicate joint control of the second QoS flow and the third QoS flow. The sixth QoS parameter is a parameter used for joint QoS control. The sixth QoS parameter includes L packet-based QoS parameters, where L ≥ 1 and L is a positive integer; or the sixth QoS parameter includes J packet-based QoS parameters, where J ≥ 1 and J is a positive integer.

[0262] After receiving the third indication information and the sixth QoS parameter, the first device determines, based on the third indication information, to perform joint control on the second QoS flow and the third QoS flow to satisfy the sixth QoS parameter. It should be understood that the sixth QoS parameter can be a packet-based QoS parameter or a packet-based QoS parameter, thus determining the granularity when performing joint control. For example, if the sixth QoS parameter is a packet-based QoS parameter, then the joint control of the third QoS flow of the second QoS flow is performed at the packet-based granularity.

[0263] S704, the access network device performs joint QoS control on the data stream of the second service based on the fourth information.

[0264] S705, the second network element performs joint QoS control on the data flow of the second service based on the fourth information.

[0265] It is understandable that the description of the QoS control performed on the data flow of the second service by the access network equipment and the second network element based on the fourth information can be found in S703, and will not be repeated here.

[0266] The QoS management method implemented in this application allows the first device to perform joint control on multiple QoS flows when the data flow of a service is carried by multiple QoS flows. This improves the flexibility of QoS management, meets the needs of different services, and enhances the user experience.

[0267] It should be understood that in steps S701-S705 above, (1) the first network element can be an SMF; (2) the second network element can be a UPF; and (3) the first device can be a terminal device or an application server. To facilitate understanding of the QoS management method provided in this application, the following, as an example and not a limitation, uses an SMF as the first network element, a UPF as the second network element, and a terminal device as the first device, with reference to... Figure 8 The specific example methods shown will provide a detailed explanation of S701-S705 in method 700.

[0268] It should be noted that some steps mentioned below are the same as those in Method 700 above. Details will not be repeated here; please refer to the relevant steps in Method 700 for the specific process. Method 800 will be explained using the following row data as an example.

[0269] S801, the terminal device sends third information to the SMF, which is used to request QoS for the first service.

[0270] In one possible implementation, the terminal device sends the first information to the SMF via the AMF.

[0271] It should be understood that before the terminal device sends the first information to the SMF, the terminal device has already established a connection with the application server through the PDU session, so the first information can be included in the session modification request information.

[0272] In step S802, the SMF sends fourth information, which indicates the joint control of the second and third QoS flows and the QoS parameters used for the joint control of the second and third QoS flows. The second and third QoS flows are used to transmit data flows for the second service.

[0273] Specifically, the SMF sends the fourth information to the terminal equipment, access network equipment, and UPF.

[0274] In one possible implementation, the SMF sends the fourth information to the access network device via the AMF, and then sends the fourth information to the terminal device via both the AMF and the access network device. The fourth information may be sent to the access network device within a QoS profile, or it may be sent to the terminal device within a QoS rule. Alternatively, the fourth information may be sent to the UPF device within a packet detection rule.

[0275] S803, the application server sends the data stream of the first service to the UPF.

[0276] Optionally, in some embodiments, the application server may indicate the relationship between data packets and data packet groups in the data stream of the second service in S803. For example, the data stream of the second service includes 100 data packets, which can be grouped into 3 data packet groups.

[0277] One possible implementation is that the application server adds indication information to the header of the data packet for the first service.

[0278] Optionally, in some embodiments, the application server may also indicate a weighting factor for each data packet group in the data stream of the first service in S803. The weighting factor can correspond to different levels of importance, which can be understood as the degree of influence on the user. Taking XR service as an example, key frames of XR service have a greater impact on the user, while auxiliary frames have a smaller impact. Therefore, the weighting factor of the key frames of XR service is greater than the weighting factor of the auxiliary frames.

[0279] It should be understood that the description of S803 can be found in the description of S503, and will not be repeated here.

[0280] S804, UPF sends the data stream of the second service to the access network equipment.

[0281] Specifically, the UPF transmits the data stream of the second service through the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream, and performs joint QoS control on the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream according to the fourth information.

[0282] Optionally, in some embodiments, the UPF may add marking information to the header of the data packets of the second service to indicate the number of data packet groups of the second service and / or the start and end data packets of each data packet group and / or the weighting factor of each data packet and / or the number of data packets included in each data packet group, so that the access network device and the terminal device can perform joint QoS control on the second QoS flow and the third QoS flow based on the data packet group granularity.

[0283] One possible implementation is that the UPF can obtain the tag information through an instruction from the application server, i.e., by obtaining it through step S803.

[0284] One possible implementation is that the UPF can obtain the tag information based on the business information of the second service.

[0285] S805, the access network device sends the data stream of the second service to the terminal device.

[0286] Specifically, the access network device receives data for the second service sent by the UPF, and performs QoS control on the data stream of the second service based on the second information. For example, the access network device can schedule the data packets of the second service based on the joint error rate. The access network device needs to ensure that the ratio of data packets (or groups of data packets) with transmission errors in the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream to the total data packets (or groups of data packets) is less than the joint error rate.

[0287] S806, the terminal device performs QoS control on the data stream of the second service based on the second information.

[0288] It should be understood that method 800 uses downlink data transmission as an example, but the embodiments of this application are not limited to this. The embodiments of this application can also be used to transmit uplink data. For example, the terminal device can schedule data packets of the second service based on the joint error rate. The terminal device needs to ensure that the ratio of data packets (or data packet groups) with transmission errors in the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream to the total data packets (or total data packet groups) is less than the joint error rate.

[0289] It should be understood that when transmitting uplink data, the terminal device may, similar to an application server, indicate the relationship between data packets and data packet groups for the second service and / or the weighting factor for each data packet group.

[0290] The QoS management method implemented in this application can perform joint control on multiple QoS flows when the data flow of a service is carried by multiple QoS flows, thereby improving the flexibility of QoS management, meeting the needs of different services, and improving the user experience.

[0291] Figure 9 and Figure 10 This is a schematic block diagram illustrating possible QoS management apparatuses provided for embodiments of this application. These apparatuses can implement the functions of terminal devices or any network element in the above method embodiments, and therefore can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the apparatus can be a terminal device, a first network element, a second network element, an access network device, or an application to a terminal device, a first network element, or a second network element (such as a chip).

[0292] Figure 9 This is a schematic block diagram of a QoS management device provided in an embodiment of this application. The device 900 includes a transceiver unit 901, and optionally, may also include a processing unit 902.

[0293] When device 900 is used to achieve Figure 4In the method embodiment, when the first device functions, the transceiver unit 901 is used to send first information, which is used to request QoS for a first service; the transceiver unit 901 is also used to receive second information, which is used to indicate the control method and QoS parameters of the first QoS stream, wherein the first QoS stream is used to transmit the data stream of the first service. The processing unit 902 is used to perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service according to the second information.

[0294] When device 900 is used to achieve Figure 4 In the method embodiment, when the first network element functions, the transceiver unit 901 is used to receive first information from the first device, which is used to request QoS for the first service; the transceiver unit 901 is also used to send second information, which is used to indicate the control mode and QoS parameters of the first QoS stream, wherein the first QoS stream is used to transmit the data stream of the first service. The processing unit 902 is used to determine the control mode and QoS parameters of the first QoS stream.

[0295] When device 900 is used to achieve Figure 4 In the method embodiment, when the second network element functions, the transceiver unit 901 is used to receive second information, which indicates the control mode and QoS parameters of the first QoS stream, wherein the first QoS stream is used to transmit the data stream of the first service. The processing unit 902 is used to perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service according to the second information.

[0296] When device 900 is used to achieve Figure 4 In the method embodiment, when the access network device functions as described, the transceiver unit 901 is used to receive second information, which indicates the control mode and QoS parameters of the first QoS stream, wherein the first QoS stream is used to transmit the data stream of the first service. The processing unit 902 is used to perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service according to the second information.

[0297] When device 900 is used to achieve Figure 7 In the method embodiment, when the first device functions as described, the transceiver unit 901 is used to send third information, which requests QoS for a second service; the transceiver unit 901 is also used to receive fourth information, which instructs joint control of the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream, and QoS parameters for joint control of the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream, wherein the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream are used to transmit the data stream of the second service. The processing unit 902 is used to perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service according to the fourth information.

[0298] When device 900 is used to achieve Figure 7In the method embodiment, when the first network element functions, the transceiver unit 901 is used to receive third information from the first device, which is used to request QoS for the second service; the transceiver unit 901 is also used to send fourth information, which is used to indicate the joint control of the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream, as well as the QoS parameters for the joint control of the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream, wherein the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream are used to transmit the data stream of the second service. The processing unit 902 is used to determine the QoS parameters for the joint control of the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream.

[0299] When device 900 is used to achieve Figure 7 In the method embodiment, when the second network element functions, the transceiver unit 901 is used to receive fourth information. This fourth information indicates joint control of the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream, as well as QoS parameters for jointly controlling the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream. The second QoS stream and the third QoS stream are used to transmit the data stream of the second service. The processing unit 902 is used to perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service according to the fourth information.

[0300] When device 900 is used to achieve Figure 7 In the method embodiment, when the access network device functions as described, the transceiver unit 901 is used to receive second information, and the fourth information is used to indicate joint control of the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream, as well as QoS parameters for joint control of the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream, wherein the second QoS stream and the third QoS stream are used to transmit the data stream of the second service. The processing unit 902 is used to perform QoS control on the data stream of the first service according to the fourth information.

[0301] For a more detailed description of the transceiver unit 901 and the processing unit 902, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments 400 to 800, which will not be repeated here.

[0302] Figure 10 A schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1000 applying an embodiment of this application is shown. Any network element involved in any of the methods 400 to 800 described above can be [details omitted]. Figure 10 The device shown is used to achieve this.

[0303] It should be understood that device 1000 can be a physical device, a component of a physical device (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.), or a functional module in a physical device.

[0304] like Figure 10As shown, the device 1000 includes one or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 can store execution instructions for performing the methods of the embodiments of this application. Optionally, the processor 1001 can invoke an interface to implement receiving and transmitting functions. The interface can be a logical interface or a physical interface, without limitation. For example, the interface can be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit or interface circuit used to implement receiving and transmitting functions can be separate or integrated together. The aforementioned transceiver circuit or interface circuit can be used for reading and writing code / data, or it can be used for transmitting or relaying signals.

[0305] Optionally, the interface can be implemented using a transceiver. Optionally, the device 1000 may also include a transceiver 1003. The transceiver 1003 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiver circuit, or transceiver, etc., and is used to implement transceiver functions.

[0306] Optionally, the device 1000 may further include a memory 1002. This application embodiment does not specifically limit the deployment location of the memory 1002; the memory may be integrated into the processor or may be independent of the processor. In cases where the device 1000 does not include a memory, the device 1000 only needs to have processing capabilities, and the memory can be deployed in other locations (e.g., a cloud system).

[0307] The processor 1001, memory 1002 and transceiver 1003 communicate with each other through internal connection paths to transmit control and / or data signals.

[0308] It is understood that, although not shown, device 1000 may also include other devices, such as input devices, output devices, batteries, etc.

[0309] Optionally, in some embodiments, the memory 1002 may store execution instructions for performing the methods of the embodiments of this application. The processor 1001 may execute the instructions stored in the memory 1002 in conjunction with other hardware (e.g., transceiver 703) to complete the steps of the method execution shown below. For specific working processes and beneficial effects, please refer to the description in the method embodiments below.

[0310] The methods disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be applied to or implemented by processor 1001. Processor 1001 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the method can be completed by the integrated logic circuit in the hardware of the processor or by instructions in the form of software. The processor mentioned above may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly embodied in the execution of a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can reside in a mature storage medium in the field, such as random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, or registers. This storage medium is located in memory, and the processor reads instructions from the memory and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the above method.

[0311] It is understood that memory 1002 can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which serves as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0312] Furthermore, in this application, device 900 is presented in the form of a functional module. Here, "module" can refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), circuit, processor and memory executing one or more software or firmware programs, integrated logic circuit, and / or other devices that can provide the aforementioned functions. In a simple embodiment, those skilled in the art will understand that device 900 can employ... Figure 9 The processing unit 901 can be configured as shown in the diagram. Figure 10 The processor 1001 shown is used for implementation. Optionally, if Figure 10 The computer device shown includes a memory 1002, and a processing unit 902 can be implemented using a processor 1001 and a memory 1002. A transceiver unit 901 can be implemented using... Figure 10The transceiver 1003 shown is used for implementation. The transceiver 1003 includes receiving and transmitting functions. Specifically, the processor implements this by executing a computer program stored in memory. Optionally, when the device 900 is a chip, the function and / or implementation process of the transceiver unit 1001 can also be implemented through pins or circuits, etc. Optionally, the memory can be a storage unit within the chip, such as a register or cache, or the storage unit can be a storage unit located outside the chip within the computer device, such as... Figure 10 The memory 1002 may be a storage unit deployed in other systems or devices, not within the computer device. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0313] Various aspects or features of this application can be implemented as methods, apparatus, or articles of manufacture using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. As used herein, the term "article of manufacture" encompasses a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or medium. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, or magnetic tapes), optical discs (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMs), cards, sticks, or key drives, etc.). Additionally, the various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0314] This application also provides a computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a computer, implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0315] This application also provides a computer program product that, when executed by a computer, implements the functions of any of the above-described method embodiments. In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved wholly or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented wholly or partially as a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible to a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video discs (DVDs)), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state disks (SSDs)).

[0316] It should be understood that the term "embodiment" used throughout the specification means that a specific feature, structure, or characteristic related to an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of this application. Therefore, various embodiments throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, these specific features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the sequence numbers of the above processes do not imply a sequential 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 this application.

[0317] It should also be understood that in this application, “when…”, “if” and “if” all refer to the UE or base station taking corresponding actions under certain objective circumstances, and are not time-limited, nor do they require the UE or base station to perform a judgment action, nor do they imply any other limitations.

[0318] Furthermore, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably in this paper. The term "and / or" in this paper is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone.

[0319] In this document, the terms “at least one of…” or “at least one of…” refer to all or any combination of the listed items. For example, “at least one of A, B and C” can mean: A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, B and C together, and A, B and C together.

[0320] Unless otherwise specified in this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more.

[0321] It should be understood that in the embodiments of this application, "B corresponding to A" means that B is associated with A, and B can be determined based on A. However, it should also be understood that determining B based on A does not mean that B is determined solely based on A; B can also be determined based on A and / or other information.

[0322] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0323] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0324] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0325] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0326] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0327] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0328] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A Quality of Service (QoS) management method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive second information, the second information includes first QoS parameters of a first QoS stream, the first QoS parameters include N QoS parameters based on data packet groups, the first QoS parameters are used to indicate the QoS control mode of the first QoS stream, the first QoS stream is used to transmit the data stream of a first service, the QoS control mode includes a first control mode based on data packet group control, and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; QoS control is performed on the data stream of the first service based on the second information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of performing QoS control on the data stream of the first service based on the second information includes: The QoS control based on packet group control is performed on the data stream of the first service according to the first QoS parameter.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the first QoS parameter, the QoS control method of the first QoS flow is determined to be the first control method based on packet group control.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first QoS parameter includes at least one of group priority, group delay budget, group error rate, aggregate group error rate, maximum group loss rate, and maximum aggregate group loss rate.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The group priority is used to indicate the priority of scheduling different packet groups in the first QoS flow; The group delay budget is used to indicate the upper limit of the delay of a data packet group in the first QoS flow between the terminal device and the second network element, where the second network element is a user plane network element. The group error rate is used to indicate the upper limit of groups of data packets that were not successfully transmitted in the first QoS stream; The aggregate group error rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the weighted data packet group that was not successfully transmitted in the first QoS flow; The maximum group loss rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the number of packet groups that can be tolerated in the first QoS flow; The maximum aggregate group loss rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the weighted packet groups that can be tolerably dropped in the first QoS flow.

6. A Quality of Service (QoS) management method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive first information sent by the first device, the first information being used to request QoS for the first service; Send a second message, the second message including a first QoS parameter of a first QoS stream, the first QoS parameter including N QoS parameters based on data packet groups, the first QoS parameter being used to indicate the QoS control mode of the first QoS stream, wherein the first QoS stream is used to transmit the data stream of the first service, the QoS control mode including a first control mode based on data packet group control, and N being a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The first QoS parameter is used to perform the packet group-based QoS control on the data stream of the first service.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, The method further includes: Obtain the service information of the first service, and use the service information to determine the first QoS parameter.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The service information includes the encoding parameters of the first service and / or the weighting factor of each data packet group in the first service.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send the aforementioned service information.

11. The method according to any one of claims 6, 7, 9, and 10, characterized in that, Before sending the second information, the method further includes: The QoS control method for the first QoS stream is determined based on the first service.

12. The method according to any one of claims 6, 7, 9, and 10, characterized in that, Before sending the second information, the method further includes: The QoS control method for the first QoS stream is determined based on whether the first device supports the first control method.

13. The method according to any one of claims 6, 7, 9, and 10, characterized in that, The first QoS parameter includes at least one of group priority, group delay budget, group error rate, aggregate group error rate, maximum group loss rate, and maximum aggregate group loss rate.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The group priority is used to indicate the priority of scheduling different packet groups in the first QoS flow; The group delay budget is used to indicate the upper limit of the delay of a data packet group in the first QoS flow between the terminal device and the second network element, where the second network element is a user plane network element. The group error rate is used to indicate the upper limit of groups of data packets that were not successfully transmitted in the first QoS stream; The aggregate group error rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the weighted data packet group that was not successfully transmitted in the first QoS flow; The maximum group loss rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the number of packet groups that can be tolerated in the first QoS flow; The maximum aggregate group loss rate is used to indicate the upper limit of the weighted packet groups that can be tolerably dropped in the first QoS flow.

15. An apparatus, characterized in that, It includes modules or units for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, or modules or units for performing the method according to any one of claims 6 to 14.

16. An apparatus, characterized in that, Includes a processor for executing a computer program or instructions stored in a memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 5, or to perform the method of any one of claims 6 to 14.

17. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, or the method as described in any one of claims 6 to 14.

18. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, or includes a computer program or instructions for performing the method as described in any one of claims 6 to 14.

19. A chip, characterized in that, The chip is coupled to a memory for reading and executing program instructions stored in the memory to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, or to implement the method as described in any one of claims 6 to 14.

20. A communication system, characterized in that, It includes means for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 5 and means for performing the method as described in any one of claims 6 to 14.

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