A synchronization scheduling method, a communication device and a communication system

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a synchronization scheduling method, a communication device and a communication system. The method comprises: an access network device receiving a plurality of data packets of a target service from a user plane network element; the access network device determining at least two data packets containing the same marking information from the plurality of data packets; the access network device determining at least two target data packets from the at least two data packets containing the same marking information, the at least two target data packets corresponding to at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; and the access network device performing synchronization scheduling on data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the at least two target data packets. According to the scheme, the access network device performs synchronization scheduling on data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, so that the data packets of the plurality of QoS flows of the target service maintain a reasonable sending speed, and user experience is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of communication, and in particular, to a synchronization scheduling method, a communication device and a communication system. BACKGROUND

[0002] In an application scenario of extended reality (XR), virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR), one service can generate multiple data streams, and a user can receive the multiple data streams through one or more terminal devices (such as glasses, a handle, a glove, a fingertip device, a motion pad or a fitness ring) at the same time, the multiple data streams including a video data stream, an audio data stream and a perception data stream, so that the user obtains a stronger sense of immersion and a feeling of being in the scene, and the user experience is greatly enhanced. SUMMARY

[0003] Embodiments of the present application provide a synchronization scheduling method, a communication device and a communication system, which are used to implement synchronization scheduling between multiple QoS flows of the same service, thereby improving user experience.

[0004] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a synchronization scheduling method, which can be executed by an access network device or a module (such as a chip) applied to the access network device. Taking the access network device as an example, the method includes: the access network device receives multiple data packets of a target service from a user plane network element, the multiple data packets belong to multiple QoS flows, each data packet in the multiple data packets contains a QFI, the QFI is used to identify the QoS flow to which the data packet belongs, and the multiple QoS flows include at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; the access network device determines at least two data packets containing the same marking information from the multiple data packets, the marking information corresponds to a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; the access network device determines at least two target data packets from the at least two data packets containing the same marking information, the at least two target data packets correspond to the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; and the access network device performs synchronization scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the at least two target data packets.

[0005] According to the scheme, the access network device synchronously schedules data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the at least two target data packets, so that the sending speed between the multiple QoS flows of the target service is reasonable, and coordination between the multiple QoS flows is maintained, and user experience is improved. Moreover, the method is to first identify the at least two data packets that may contain the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized from the multiple data packets of the target service, and then identify the at least two target data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized from the at least two data packets, through the two-step search method, the search range of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized is reduced, blind search of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized from a large number of QoS flows is avoided, and thus the synchronization speed can be improved, fast synchronous scheduling is implemented, and user experience is further improved.

[0006] In a possible implementation method, before the access network device receives the multiple data packets of the target service from the user plane network element, the access network device receives an association identifier from a session management network element, the association identifier is associated with a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; the access network device determines the marking information for the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong according to the association identifier; and the access network device sends the marking information to the user plane network element through the session management network element.

[0007] According to the scheme, the multiple data connection sessions to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong are associated through the association identifier, the access network device learns that the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized will be transmitted in the multiple data connection sessions and will not be transmitted in other data connection sessions, so that the access network device can determine the marking information for the multiple data connection sessions and send the marking information to the user plane network element, so that the user plane network element adds the marking information in data packets of QoS flows in the multiple data connection sessions. The access network device determines whether the data packet is the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized or not according to whether the marking information is contained in the received data packet, so that the access network device can reduce the search range of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized through the marking information, and further help to improve the speed of synchronous scheduling and improve user experience.

[0008] In a possible implementation method, the marking information is a group identifier allocated by the access network device, and the group identifier corresponds to the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

[0009] The above scheme, the access network device assigns a group identifier as the marking information, can ensure the uniqueness of the group identifier, helps to ensure the accuracy and improve the search speed of the access network device searching the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the group identifier, and further helps to improve the speed of synchronous scheduling and improve user experience.

[0010] In a possible implementation method, the marking information is an access network tunnel endpoint identifier, and the access network tunnel endpoint identifier is used to identify a GTP-U tunnel used to transmit QoS flows in a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

[0011] The above scheme, the access network device assigns an access network tunnel endpoint identifier as the marking information, and the GTP-U tunnel indicated by the access network tunnel endpoint identifier is used to transmit QoS flows in a plurality of data connection sessions to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, that is, the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized are transmitted through the same GTP-U tunnel, so that the access network device only needs to search the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the GTP-U tunnel, and does not need to search the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in other GTP-U tunnels, and further helps to improve the speed of synchronous scheduling and improve user experience.

[0012] In a possible implementation method, the marking information includes an association identifier and identifier information of a network device, the association identifier is associated with a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, and the network device is a session management network element, a policy control network element, or an application function network element that generates the association identifier.

[0013] The above scheme, the combination of the association identifier and the identifier information of the network device is used as the marking information, can ensure the uniqueness of the marking information, helps to ensure the accuracy and improve the search speed of the access network device searching the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the marking information, and further helps to improve the speed of synchronous scheduling and improve user experience.

[0014] In a possible implementation method, the access network device receives, from a session management network element, QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; and the at least two target data packets refer to data packets containing a target QFI, and the target QFI is any one of the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0015] According to the scheme, the session management network element sends the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows required to be synchronized of the target service to the access network device, so that the access network device can accurately identify the data packets of the at least two QoS flows required to be synchronized of the target service according to the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows required to be synchronized of the target service, thereby helping to realize correct synchronization of the QoS flows of the target service and improving user experience.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the at least two target data packets refer to data packets containing a synchronization indication, and the synchronization indication is used to indicate that the QoS flow to which the data packet belongs is a QoS flow required to be synchronized of the target service.

[0017] According to the scheme, the access network device can accurately identify the data packets of the at least two QoS flows required to be synchronized of the target service according to whether the data packets carry the synchronization indication, thereby helping to realize correct synchronization of the QoS flows of the target service and improving user experience.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the access network device performs synchronization scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows required to be synchronized of the target service according to the at least two target data packets, and specifically includes: the access network device performs synchronization scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows required to be synchronized of the target service according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, and the synchronization state information is used to indicate a corresponding relationship between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows required to be synchronized of the target service in a synchronization state.

[0019] According to the scheme, the access network device can perform synchronization scheduling in a data packet granularity according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers in the target data packets, thereby helping to realize accurate synchronization between the at least two QoS flows required to be synchronized of the target service and improving user experience.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the access network device performs synchronization scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows required to be synchronized of the target service according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, and specifically includes: the access network device determines, according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, that the at least two QoS flows required to be synchronized of the target service do not satisfy synchronization accuracy, and then adjusts a sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows required to be synchronized of the target service, and the synchronization accuracy is used to indicate a deviation of the frame numbers of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows required to be synchronized of the target service in the synchronization state.

[0021] The method can realize flexible synchronization scheduling by setting the synchronization precision according to actual needs.

[0022] In a possible implementation method, the access network device receives the synchronization state information and the synchronization precision from a session management network element.

[0023] In the above solution, the session management network element sends the synchronization state information and the synchronization precision to the access network device, so that flexible configuration of the synchronization state information and the synchronization precision can be realized.

[0024] In a possible implementation method, the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization correspond to multiple terminal devices.

[0025] The above solution can realize synchronization scheduling between multiple QoS flows in the scenario of multiple terminal devices, so that user experience can be enhanced.

[0026] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a synchronization scheduling method, which can be executed by an access network device or a module (such as a chip) applied to the access network device. Taking the access network device as an example, the method comprises the following steps: the access network device receives multiple data packets of a target service from a user plane network element, the multiple data packets belong to multiple QoS flows, each data packet in the multiple data packets contains a QFI, the QFI is used to identify a QoS flow to which the data packet belongs, and the multiple QoS flows include at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization; the access network device determines at least two data packets containing the same access network tunnel endpoint identifier from the multiple data packets, the at least two data packets correspond to the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization, the access network tunnel endpoint identifier is used to identify a target tunnel, the target tunnel is a GTP-U tunnel that transmits the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization, and the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization correspond to a data connection session; and the access network device performs synchronization scheduling on data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization according to the at least two data packets.

[0027] According to the scheme, the access network device synchronously schedules data packets of at least two QoS flows of a target service that need to be synchronized according to the data packets, so that the sending speed between the multiple QoS flows of the target service is reasonable, and the multiple QoS flows are coordinated, and user experience is improved. Moreover, the method is a one-step search method, and at least two data packets of at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized are identified from multiple data packets of the target service, so that the synchronization speed is improved, fast synchronous scheduling is achieved, and user experience is further improved.

[0028] In a possible implementation method, before the access network device receives multiple data packets of a target service from a user plane network element, the access network device receives, from a session management network element, an association identifier and QFIs of at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, the association identifier being associated with a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; the access network device determines, according to the association identifier and the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, an access network tunnel endpoint identifier for the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; and the access network device sends the access network tunnel endpoint identifier to the user plane network element through the session management network element.

[0029] According to the scheme, multiple data connection sessions to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong are associated through the association identifier, the access network device learns that the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized will be transmitted in the multiple data connection sessions and will not be transmitted in other data connection sessions, and according to the received QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, the access network device learns which QoS flows of the multiple data connection sessions the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized are, determines an access network tunnel endpoint identifier for the QoS flows, and sends the access network tunnel endpoint identifier to the user plane network element, the access network tunnel endpoint identifier indicating that a GTP-U tunnel is specially used for transmitting the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, so that the QoS flows received by the access network device from the GTP-U tunnel are all the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, the access network device does not need to search for the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in other GTP-U tunnels, and the speed of synchronous scheduling is improved, and user experience is improved.

[0030] In a possible implementation, the access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the at least two data packets, and the synchronous scheduling specifically includes: the access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two data packets, where the synchronization state information is used to indicate the correspondence between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the synchronization state.

[0031] The above scheme can implement synchronous scheduling at the data packet granularity according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers in the target data packets, and can help to implement accurate synchronization between the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, thereby improving user experience.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two data packets, and the synchronous scheduling specifically includes: the access network device determines, according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two data packets, that the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized do not meet a synchronization accuracy, and then adjusts the sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, where the synchronization accuracy is used to indicate the deviation of the frame numbers of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the synchronization state.

[0033] The above scheme can determine whether the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized meet the synchronization accuracy, and when the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized do not meet the synchronization accuracy, the sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized is adjusted, and because the synchronization accuracy can be set according to actual needs, the method can implement flexibility of synchronous scheduling.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the access network device receives the synchronization state information and the synchronization accuracy from a session management network element.

[0035] The above scheme can implement flexible configuration of the synchronization state information and the synchronization accuracy by sending the synchronization state information and the synchronization accuracy from the session management network element to the access network device.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized correspond to a plurality of terminal devices.

[0037] The above scheme can implement synchronous scheduling between a plurality of QoS flows in a scenario of a plurality of terminal devices, and therefore can enhance user experience.

[0038] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a synchronization scheduling method, which can be executed by an access network device or a module (such as a chip) applied to the access network device. Taking the access network device as an example, the method comprises the following steps: the access network device receives a plurality of data packets of a target service from a user plane network element, the plurality of data packets belong to a plurality of QoS flows, each data packet in the plurality of data packets contains a QFI, the QFI is used to identify a QoS flow to which the data packet belongs, and the plurality of QoS flows include at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; the access network device determines at least two data packets from the plurality of data packets according to a synchronization relationship between a plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers, each data packet in the at least two data packets further contains any access network tunnel endpoint identifier in the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers, and the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers respectively indicate GTP-U tunnels that are used to transmit the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; the access network device determines at least two target data packets from the at least two data packets, the at least two target data packets correspond to the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; and the access network device performs synchronization scheduling on data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the at least two target data packets.

[0039] According to the above scheme, the access network device performs synchronization scheduling on data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the at least two target data packets, so that a reasonable sending speed is maintained between the plurality of QoS flows of the target service, and coordination is maintained between the plurality of QoS flows, thereby improving user experience. Moreover, the method first identifies at least two data packets that may contain the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized from the plurality of data packets of the target service, and then identifies at least two target data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized from the at least two data packets, thereby narrowing the search range of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized through a two-step search method, avoiding blind search of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized from a large number of QoS flows, and thus improving synchronization speed, realizing fast synchronization scheduling, and further improving user experience.

[0040] In a possible implementation, before the access network device receives a plurality of data packets of a target service from a user plane network element, the access network device receives an association identifier from a session management network element, the association identifier being associated with a data connection session to which at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; the access network device determines a plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers for the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers corresponding to the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong in a one-to-one manner; and the access network device establishes the synchronization relationship according to the association identifier.

[0041] The above scheme associates a plurality of data connection sessions to which at least two QoS flows of a target service that need to be synchronized belong by using an association identifier, and the access network device learns, according to the association identifier, that the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized will be transmitted in the plurality of data connection sessions but not in other data connection sessions, so that the access network device can allocate access network tunnel endpoint identifiers to the plurality of data connection sessions respectively and establish a synchronization relationship between the access network tunnel endpoint identifiers. After receiving data packets, the access network device determines, according to the synchronization relationship and an access network tunnel endpoint identifier contained in the data packets, whether the data packets are the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized or not, so that the access network device can gradually narrow the search range of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, thereby helping to improve the speed of synchronization scheduling and improve user experience.

[0042] In a possible implementation, before the access network device receives a plurality of data packets of a target service from a user plane network element, the access network device determines a plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers for a data connection session to which at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers corresponding to the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong in a one-to-one manner; the access network device sends the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers to a session management network element; and the access network device receives the synchronization relationship from the session management network element.

[0043] The session management network element determines a plurality of data connection sessions to which at least two QoS flows of a target service belong, establishes a synchronization relationship between access network tunnel endpoint identifiers corresponding to the plurality of data connection sessions respectively, and sends the synchronization relationship to the access network device. After receiving a data packet, the access network device determines whether the data packet is a data packet of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized or not according to the synchronization relationship and an access network tunnel endpoint identifier included in the data packet, so that the search range of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized can be gradually reduced, and the speed of synchronization scheduling can be improved, and user experience can be improved.

[0044] In a possible implementation method, the access network device receives QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized from the session management network element; wherein the at least two target data packets refer to data packets containing a target QFI, and the target QFI is any one of the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0045] In the above solution, the session management network element sends the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized to the access network device, so that the access network device can accurately identify data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, and correct synchronization of the QoS flows of the target service can be achieved, and user experience can be improved.

[0046] In a possible implementation method, the at least two target data packets refer to data packets containing a synchronization indication, and the synchronization indication is used to indicate that a QoS flow to which the data packet belongs is a QoS flow of the target service that needs to be synchronized.

[0047] In the above solution, the access network device can accurately identify data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to whether the data packets carry the synchronization indication, and correct synchronization of the QoS flows of the target service can be achieved, and user experience can be improved.

[0048] In a possible implementation method, the access network device performs synchronization scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the at least two target data packets, and the synchronization scheduling specifically includes: the access network device performs synchronization scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to synchronization state information and frame numbers included in the at least two target data packets, and the synchronization state information is used to indicate a corresponding relationship between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in a synchronization state.

[0049] According to the scheme, the access network device can realize synchronization scheduling of data packets according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers in the target data packets, which helps to realize precision synchronization between at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization, thereby improving user experience.

[0050] In a possible implementation method, the access network device performs synchronization scheduling on data packets of at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization according to the synchronization state information and frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, and specifically includes the following steps: the access network device determines, according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, that the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization do not meet a synchronization precision, and then adjusts a sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization, where the synchronization precision is used to indicate a deviation of the frame numbers of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization in the synchronization state.

[0051] According to the scheme, the access network device determines whether the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization meet the synchronization precision, and adjusts the sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization when the at least two QoS flows do not meet the synchronization precision. Since the synchronization precision can be set according to actual needs, the method can realize flexibility of synchronization scheduling.

[0052] In a possible implementation method, the access network device receives the synchronization state information and the synchronization precision from a session management network element.

[0053] According to the scheme, the session management network element sends the synchronization state information and the synchronization precision to the access network device, which can realize flexible configuration of the synchronization state information and the synchronization precision.

[0054] In a possible implementation method, the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization correspond to a plurality of terminal devices.

[0055] According to the scheme, synchronization scheduling between a plurality of QoS flows in a scenario of a plurality of terminal devices can be realized, thereby enhancing user experience.

[0056] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a synchronization scheduling method, which can be executed by a user plane network element or a module (such as a chip) applied to the user plane network element. Taking the user plane network element as an example, the method comprises the following steps: the user plane network element receives a plurality of data packets of a target service from an application function network element, the plurality of data packets belong to a plurality of QoS flows, and the plurality of QoS flows comprise at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; the user plane network element adds marking information and a quality of service flow identifier (QFI) in at least two data packets of the plurality of data packets, the QFI in each data packet of the at least two data packets is used to identify a quality of service (QoS) flow to which the data packet belongs, and the marking information corresponds to a plurality of protocol data unit (PDU) session connections to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; and the user plane network element sends the plurality of data packets comprising the at least two data packets with the added marking information and QFI to an access network device.

[0057] In the above scheme, the user plane network element adds marking information in at least two data packets of a plurality of data packets of a target service, so that the access network device can learn, according to the marking information, that the data packets carrying the marking information are data packets of at least two QoS flows of the target service that may need to be synchronized, and the data packets not carrying the marking information are not data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, thereby narrowing the search range of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, avoiding the access network device from blindly searching the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized from a large number of QoS flows, and thus the synchronization speed can be improved, fast synchronization scheduling can be implemented, and user experience can be further improved.

[0058] In a possible implementation method, the user plane network element receives the marking information from the access network device.

[0059] In the above scheme, the marking information is allocated by the access network device, which can ensure the uniqueness of the marking information, help to ensure the accuracy and improve the search speed when the access network device searches the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the marking information, and thus help to improve the speed of synchronization scheduling and improve user experience.

[0060] In a possible implementation method, the marking information is a group identifier allocated by the access network device, and the group identifier corresponds to a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

[0061] In the above scheme, the group identifier allocated by the access network device is used as the marking information, which can ensure the uniqueness of the group identifier, help to ensure the accuracy and improve the search speed when the access network device searches the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the group identifier, and thus help to improve the speed of synchronization scheduling and improve user experience.

[0062] In a possible implementation, the marking information is an access network tunnel endpoint identifier, and the access network tunnel endpoint identifier is used to identify a GTP-U tunnel used to transmit QoS flows in a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

[0063] In the foregoing solution, the access network device allocates an access network tunnel endpoint identifier as the marking information, and the access network tunnel endpoint identifier indicates a GTP-U tunnel used to transmit QoS flows in multiple data connection sessions to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, that is, the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized are transmitted through the same GTP-U tunnel, so that the access network device only needs to search for the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the GTP-U tunnel, and does not need to search for the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in other GTP-U tunnels, thereby helping to improve the speed of synchronous scheduling and improve user experience.

[0064] In a possible implementation, the marking information includes an association identifier and identification information of a network device, the association identifier is associated with a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, and the network device is a session management network element, a policy control network element, or an application function network element that generates the association identifier.

[0065] In the foregoing solution, the combination of the association identifier and the identification information of the network device is used as the marking information, which can ensure the uniqueness of the marking information, help to ensure the accuracy and improve the search speed when the access network device searches for data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the marking information, and thereby help to improve the speed of synchronous scheduling and improve user experience.

[0066] In a possible implementation, the user plane network element receives QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized from the session management network element; and before the user plane network element sends multiple data packets including at least two data packets of the target service that need to be synchronized, the user plane network element adds a synchronization indication in at least two target data packets of the at least two data packets according to the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, the at least two target data packets correspond to the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, and the synchronization indication is used to indicate that a QoS flow to which the target data packet belongs is the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0067] According to the scheme, the access network device can accurately identify the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to whether the data packets carry the synchronization indication, thereby helping to realize correct synchronization of the QoS flows of the target service and improving user experience.

[0068] In a possible implementation, the at least two target data packets each contain a frame number, and the frame number is used for synchronization scheduling of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0069] According to the scheme, the access network device can realize synchronization scheduling at the data packet granularity according to the frame number in the target data packet, thereby helping to realize accurate synchronization between the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized and improving user experience.

[0070] In a possible implementation, the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized correspond to a plurality of terminal devices.

[0071] The scheme can realize synchronization scheduling between a plurality of QoS flows in a scenario of a plurality of terminal devices, thereby improving user experience.

[0072] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a synchronization scheduling method, which can be executed by a session management network element or a module (such as a chip) applied to the session management network element. Taking the case that the method is executed by the session management network element as an example, the method includes: the session management network element generates an association identifier, the association identifier being associated with a data connection session to which at least two QoS flows of a target service that need to be synchronized belong; and the session management network element sends the association identifier to an access network device, the association identifier being used for synchronization scheduling of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0073] According to the scheme, the association identifier is used to associate a plurality of data connection sessions to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, the access network device learns, according to the association identifier, that the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized will be transmitted in the plurality of data connection sessions but not in other data connection sessions, thereby helping the access network device to narrow the search range of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the association identifier, and further helping to improve the speed of synchronization scheduling and improve user experience.

[0074] In a possible implementation, the session management network element sends synchronization precision and synchronization state information to the access network device, the synchronization state information being used to indicate a corresponding relationship between frame numbers in data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in a synchronization state, and the synchronization precision being used to indicate a deviation of the frame numbers of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the synchronization state.

[0075] According to the scheme, the session management network element sends the synchronization precision and the synchronization state information to the access network device, so that the access network device can determine whether the at least two QoS flows required by the target service to be synchronized meet the synchronization precision according to the synchronization state information and the synchronization precision, and adjust the sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows required by the target service to be synchronized when the synchronization precision is not met. Since the synchronization precision can be set according to actual needs, the method can realize the flexibility of synchronization scheduling.

[0076] In a possible implementation method, the session management network element receives a PCC rule from a policy control network element, and the PCC rule includes the identification information of the target service and the synchronization state information.

[0077] In a possible implementation method, the session management network element sends the QFI of the at least two QoS flows required by the target service to be synchronized to a user plane network element.

[0078] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a synchronization scheduling method, which can be executed by a session management network element or a module (such as a chip) applied to the session management network element. Taking the case that the method is executed by the session management network element as an example, the method includes the following steps: the session management network element determines a data connection session to which at least two QoS flows required by a target service belong; the session management network element receives, from an access network device, a plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers corresponding to the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows required by the target service belong, the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows required by the target service belong corresponding to the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers in a one-to-one manner; the session management network element establishes a synchronization relationship between the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers; and the session management network element sends the synchronization relationship to the access network device, and the synchronization relationship is used for synchronization scheduling of the at least two QoS flows required by the target service.

[0079] According to the scheme, the session management network element determines a plurality of data connection sessions to which at least two QoS flows required by a target service belong, establishes a synchronization relationship between access network tunnel endpoint identifiers corresponding to the plurality of data connection sessions respectively, and sends the synchronization relationship to an access network device. After receiving a data packet, the access network device can determine whether the data packet is the at least two QoS flows required by the target service to be synchronized or not the at least two QoS flows required by the target service to be synchronized according to the synchronization relationship and the access network tunnel endpoint identifier contained in the data packet, so that the access network device can gradually narrow the search range of the at least two QoS flows required by the target service to be synchronized, and thus the speed of synchronization scheduling is improved and the user experience is improved.

[0080] In a possible implementation, the session management network element sends the synchronization precision and the synchronization state information to the access network device, the synchronization state information is used to indicate the correspondence between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the synchronization state, and the synchronization precision is used to indicate the deviation of the frame numbers of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the synchronization state.

[0081] According to the above scheme, the session management network element sends the synchronization precision and the synchronization state information to the access network device, so that the access network device can determine whether the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized meet the synchronization precision according to the synchronization state information and the synchronization precision, and adjust the sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized when the synchronization precision is not met. Since the synchronization precision can be set according to actual needs, the flexibility of the synchronization scheduling can be realized.

[0082] In a possible implementation, the session management network element receives the PCC rule from the policy control network element, and the PCC rule includes the identification information of the target service and the synchronization state information.

[0083] In a possible implementation, the session management network element sends the QFI of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized to the user plane network element.

[0084] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which can be an access network device or a module (such as a chip) applied to the access network device. The apparatus has the function of implementing any implementation method of the first aspect to the third aspect. The function can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0085] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which can be a user plane network element or a module (such as a chip) applied to the user plane network element. The apparatus has the function of implementing any implementation method of the fourth aspect. The function can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0086] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which can be a session management network element or a module (such as a chip) applied to the session management network element. The apparatus has the function of implementing any implementation method of the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect. The function can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0087] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer instructions; when the apparatus is running, the processor executes the computer instructions stored in the memory, so that the apparatus executes any implementation method in the first aspect to the sixth aspect.

[0088] In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including units or means for executing each step of any implementation method in the first aspect to the sixth aspect.

[0089] In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including a processor and an interface circuit; the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses through the interface circuit, and execute any implementation method in the first aspect to the sixth aspect. The processor includes one or more.

[0090] In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including a processor coupled with a memory; the processor is configured to invoke a program stored in the memory, so as to execute any implementation method in the first aspect to the sixth aspect. The memory can be located in the apparatus or outside the apparatus. The processor can be one or more.

[0091] In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores instructions; when the instructions are running on a communication apparatus, any implementation method in the first aspect to the sixth aspect is executed.

[0092] In a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes computer programs or instructions; when the computer programs or instructions are running on a communication apparatus, any implementation method in the first aspect to the sixth aspect is executed.

[0093] In a sixteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, including a processor, which is configured to execute any implementation method in the first aspect to the sixth aspect.

[0094] In a seventeenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, including a user plane network element, and an access network device configured to execute any implementation method in the first aspect to the third aspect; the user plane network element is configured to send a plurality of data packets of a target service to the access network device.

[0095] In a possible implementation method, the communication system further includes a session management network element configured to execute any implementation method in the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect.

[0096] In an eighteenth aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a communication system, comprising: an access network device, and a user plane network element configured to perform any implementation method of the fourth aspect; the access network device is configured to receive a plurality of data packets from the user plane network element.

[0097] In a possible implementation method, the communication system further comprises a session management network element configured to perform any implementation method of the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect.

[0098] In a nineteenth aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a communication system, comprising: an access network device configured to perform any implementation method of the first aspect to the third aspect, and a user plane network element configured to perform any implementation method of the fourth aspect.

[0099] In a possible implementation method, the communication system further comprises a session management network element configured to perform any implementation method of the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0100] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a service-oriented architecture;

[0101] FIG. 2(a) is a flowchart of a synchronization scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0102] FIG. 2(b) is a flowchart of a synchronization scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0103] FIG. 2(c) is a flowchart of a synchronization scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0104] FIG. 3(a) is a schematic diagram of an example according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0105] FIG. 3(b) is an example diagram of GTP-U tunnel allocation according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0106] FIG. 3(c) is another example diagram of GTP-U tunnel allocation according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0107] FIG. 3(d) is another example diagram of GTP-U tunnel allocation according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0108] Figure 4 FIG. 4(a) is a flowchart of a synchronization scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0109] Figure 5 FIG. 4(b) is a flowchart of a synchronization scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0110] Figure 6 FIG. 5(a) is a flowchart of a synchronization scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0111] Figure 7 A synchronous scheduling method flowchart provided for an embodiment of the application;

[0112] Figure 8 A synchronous scheduling method flowchart provided for an embodiment of the application;

[0113] Figure 9 A synchronous scheduling method flowchart provided for an embodiment of the application;

[0114] Figure 10 A communication device schematic diagram provided for an embodiment of the application;

[0115] Figure 11 A communication device schematic diagram provided for an embodiment of the application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0116] Figure 1 A 5G network architecture based on a service-oriented architecture is shown. Figure 1 The 5G network architecture shown can include terminal devices, access networks, and core networks. Terminal devices access a data network (DN) through access networks and core networks.

[0117] The terminal device can be a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. The terminal device can be widely applied in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, an urban air vehicle (such as a pilotless plane, a helicopter, etc.), a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, etc. Hereinafter, the UE is taken as an example of the terminal device, and the UE appearing anywhere hereinafter can be replaced by the terminal device or other examples of the terminal device.

[0118] The access network is used to implement access-related functions, can provide network access functions for authorized users in a specific area, and can determine transmission links of different qualities to transmit user data according to the level of a user, the demand of a service, and the like. The access network forwards control signals and user data between the UE and the core network. The access network can include access network devices, which can be devices providing access for UEs, and can include radio access network (RAN) devices and wired access network devices. The RAN device is mainly responsible for functions such as radio resource management, quality of service (QoS) management, data compression, and encryption on the air interface side. The RAN device can include various forms of base stations, such as macro base stations, micro base stations (also referred to as small stations), relay stations, access points, balloon stations, and the like. In systems using different wireless access technologies, the names of devices with base station functions can be different, for example, in a 5G system, referred to as a RAN or a next-generation base station (gNB), and in a long term evolution (LTE) system, referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB).

[0119] The access network device and the UE can be fixed in position or mobile. The access network device and the UE can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface; and can also be deployed on aircraft, balloons, and artificial satellites in the air. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the access network device and the UE.

[0120] The core network is responsible for maintaining the subscription data of the mobile network, and provides session management, mobility management, policy management, security authentication and other functions for the UE. The core network includes but is not limited to one or more of the following network elements: an application function (AF) network element, a unified data management (UDM) network element, a unified data repository (UDR) network element, a policy control function (PCF) network element, a session management function (SMF) network element, an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, a network repository function (NRF) network element, an authentication server function (AUSF) network element, a network exposure function (NEF) network element, and a user plane function (UPF) network element.

[0121] The AMF network element is mainly responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as user location update, user registration network, user handover, etc.

[0122] The SMF network element is mainly responsible for session management in the mobile network, such as session establishment, modification, and release. Specific functions include allocating an internet protocol (IP) address for a user, selecting a UPF that provides message forwarding functions, etc.

[0123] The UPF network element is mainly responsible for forwarding and receiving user data, and can receive user data from a data network and transmit it to the UE through an access network device. It can also receive user data from the UE through an access network device and forward it to a data network.

[0124] The UDM network element contains functions such as managing subscription data and user access authorization.

[0125] The UDR network element contains functions such as accessing subscription data, policy data, and application data.

[0126] The NEF network element is mainly used to support the opening of capabilities and events.

[0127] AF network element, which delivers application-side requirements for the network side, such as QoS requirements or user state event subscription, etc. The AF can be a third-party functional entity or an application service deployed by an operator, such as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) voice call service.

[0128] PCF network element, which mainly supports providing a unified policy framework to control network behavior, providing policy rules to control layer network functions, and being responsible for obtaining user subscription information related to policy decision. The PCF network element can provide policies, such as QoS policies and slice selection policies, to the AMF network element and the SMF network element.

[0129] NRF network element, which can be used to provide a network element discovery function and provide network element information corresponding to a network element type based on a request of another network element. The NRF also provides network element management services, such as network element registration, update, deregistration, and network element state subscription and push.

[0130] AUSF network element, which is responsible for authenticating a UE and verifying the legitimacy of the UE.

[0131] DN, on which various services can be deployed, and which can provide data and / or voice services for UEs. For example, the DN is a private network of a certain smart factory, and sensors installed in a workshop of the smart factory are UEs. A control server of the sensors is deployed in the DN, and the control server can provide services for the sensors. The sensors can communicate with the control server, obtain instructions from the control server, and transmit collected sensor data to the control server according to the instructions. For another example, the DN is an internal office network of a certain company, and mobile phones or computers of employees of the company are UEs. The mobile phones or computers of the employees can access information and data resources on the internal office network of the company.

[0132] Among them, the AF network element, the UDM network element, the UDR network element, the PCF network element, the SMF network element, the AMF network element, the NRF network element, the AUSF network element, the NEF network element, and the UPF network element can also be referred to as AF, UDM, UDR, PCF, SMF, AMF, NRF, AUSF, NEF, and UPF, respectively.

[0133] Figure 1 Nausf, Nnef, Nnrf, Namf, Npcf, Nsmf, Nudm, Nudr, and Naf are service interfaces provided by the above-mentioned AUSF, NEF, NRF, AMF, PCF, SMF, UDM, UDR, and AF, respectively, and are used to invoke corresponding service operations. N1, N2, N3, N4, and N6 are interface sequence numbers, and the meanings of these interface sequence numbers are as follows:

[0134] 1), N1: the interface between the AMF and the UE, which can be used to deliver non access stratum (NAS) signaling (such as including the QoS rule from the AMF) to the UE and the like.

[0135] 2), N2: the interface between the AMF and the access network device, which can be used to deliver the radio bearer control information from the core network side to the access network device and the like.

[0136] 3), N3: the interface between the access network device and the UPF, which is mainly used to deliver the uplink and downlink user plane data between the access network device and the UPF.

[0137] 4), N4: the interface between the SMF and the UPF, which can be used to deliver information between the control plane and the user plane, including the delivery of the forwarding rule, the QoS rule, the traffic statistics rule and the like from the control plane to the user plane and the information reporting of the user plane.

[0138] 5), N6: the interface between the UPF and the DN, which is used to deliver the uplink and downlink user data flow between the UPF and the DN.

[0139] It can be understood that the above network element or function can be a network element in a hardware device, or a software function running on a special hardware, or a virtualized function instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform). As a possible implementation method, the above network element or function can be implemented by one device, or can be implemented by multiple devices together, or can be a functional module in one device, and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations thereto.

[0140] The scheme of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to Figure 1 the 5G network architecture as shown in the figure, and can also be applied to the network architecture of future communication, such as the 6th generation (6G) network, and the present application does not make limitations thereto.

[0141] In the embodiments of the present application, the data connection session includes a protocol data unit (PDU) session, an IP connectivity access network (IP-CAN) session or other forms of sessions, for the convenience of description, the embodiments of the present application will be described by taking the PDU session as an example hereinafter.

[0142] In the embodiments of the present application, the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized refers to at least two QoS flows that need to be synchronized, that is, two or more QoS flows need to be synchronized. Wherein, two or more QoS flows need to be synchronized, specifically refers to the data packets or data flows between two or more QoS flows need to be synchronized.

[0143] In the embodiments of the present application, the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized are scheduled synchronously, which can also be referred to as the data streams of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized are scheduled synchronously, or referred to as the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized are scheduled synchronously, which have the same meaning.

[0144] In the embodiments of the present application, the tunnel between the UPF and the base station for transmitting the QoS flow can be a GPRS Tunnelling Protocol User Plane (GTP-U), and the GPRS is an abbreviation of general packet radio service, or can be other tunnels, which are not limited in the present application. For ease of description, the GTP-U tunnel is taken as an example for description below.

[0145] In the embodiments of the present application, the marking information corresponds to the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, which can also be expressed as: the marking information is used to associate the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong. The group identifier corresponds to the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, which can also be expressed as: the group identifier is used to associate the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

[0146] FIG. 2(a) is a flow diagram of a synchronous scheduling method provided by the embodiments of the present application, which includes the following steps:

[0147] In step 201a, the UPF sends a plurality of data packets of a target service to a base station, the plurality of data packets belong to a plurality of QoS flows, and the plurality of QoS flows include at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0148] For example, the plurality of data packets include data packet 1 to data packet 20, wherein data packet 1 to data packet 5 belong to QoS flow 1, data packet 5 to data packet 10 belong to QoS flow 2, and data packet 11 to data packet 20 belong to QoS flow 3. Among them, QoS flow 2 and QoS flow 3 are the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0149] The target service here can be, for example, an XR service, a VR service, or an AR service, and part or all of the data streams of the target service need to be scheduled synchronously.

[0150] The data flow of the target service corresponding to the plurality of data packets can be a data flow that needs to be synchronized or a data flow that does not need to be synchronized. The data flow of the target service can belong to the same session or belong to different sessions. For example, the target service includes an audio data flow 1, a video data flow 2, a perception data flow 3, and a perception data flow 4, wherein the audio data flow 1, the video data flow 2, and the perception data flow 3 need to be synchronized, and the perception data flow 4 does not need to be synchronized. Then, the plurality of data packets of the target service sent by the UPF to the base station in step 201a can be data packets of the audio data flow 1, data packets of the video data flow 2, data packets of the perception data flow 3, or data packets of the perception data flow 4. Therefore, some of the plurality of data packets need to be synchronized, and some of the plurality of data packets do not need to be synchronized.

[0151] Each of the plurality of data packets contains a QFI, and the QFI is used to identify a QoS flow to which the data packet belongs.

[0152] The relationship between the data flow of the target service and the QoS flow of the target service is that one data flow of the target service can be mapped to one QoS flow by the SMF. Therefore, the above four data flows are mapped to four QoS flows. Here, a unified description is made, and the following will not be described again.

[0153] In step 202a, the base station determines at least two data packets containing the same marking information from the plurality of data packets.

[0154] The marking information corresponds to a plurality of PDU sessions to which the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized of the target service belongs. The relationship between the PDU session and the QoS flow is that one or more QoS flows can be carried in one PDU session.

[0155] In this embodiment, the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized of the target service is mapped to a plurality of PDU sessions for transmission. The plurality of PDU sessions can be referred to as sessions carrying the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized of the target service. Of course, the PDU session can also carry the QoS flow that does not need to be synchronized of the target service or carry the QoS flow of other services. The above marking information associates the plurality of PDU sessions, and the meaning is that if the marking information is contained in a certain data packet of the target service, it indicates that the QoS flow to which the data packet belongs can be the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized of the target service; if the marking information is not contained in a certain data packet of the target service, it indicates that the QoS flow to which the data packet belongs is not the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized of the target service.

[0156] The QoS flow that needs to be synchronized of the target service corresponds to one or more UEs, that is, the plurality of PDU sessions are PDU sessions of one or more UEs.

[0157] The following is described in conjunction with specific examples. FIG. 3(a) is a schematic diagram of an example provided by an embodiment of the present application. Assume that the data streams that need to be synchronized in a certain target service include an audio data stream 1, a video data stream 2, and a perception data stream 3. The SMF maps the audio data stream 1 to QoS flow 2 and carries it in PDU session 1 of UE 1 for transmission, maps the video data stream 2 to QoS flow 4 and carries it in PDU session 2 of UE 1 for transmission, and maps the perception data stream 3 to QoS flow 8 and carries it in PDU session 4 of UE 2 for transmission. In addition, PDU session 1 of UE 1 also carries QoS flow 1 and QoS flow 3, PDU session 2 of UE 1 also carries QoS flow 5, UE 1 also establishes PDU session 3, which carries QoS flow 6 and QoS flow 7. PDU session 4 of UE 2 also carries QoS flow 9, and UE 2 also establishes PDU session 5, which carries QoS flow 10 and QoS flow 11. It should be noted that the numbers of the PDU sessions and the QoS flows in this example do not represent the order, but are only used to distinguish from each other. The relationship between UE 1 and UE 2 is that UE 1 and UE 2 can receive or send different data streams of the same target service. For example, in this example, UE 1 receives or sends the audio data stream 1 and the video data stream 2 of the target service, and UE 2 receives or sends the perception data stream 3 of the target service.

[0158] Therefore, the relationship between each data stream of the target service and the PDU session and the QoS flow of the UE is as follows:

[0159] QoS flow 1, QoS flow 2, and QoS flow 3 are carried in PDU session 1 of UE 1;

[0160] QoS flow 4 and QoS flow 5 are carried in PDU session 2 of UE 1;

[0161] QoS flow 6 and QoS flow 7 are carried in PDU session 3 of UE 1;

[0162] QoS flow 8 and QoS flow 9 are carried in PDU session 4 of UE 2;

[0163] QoS flow 10 and QoS flow 11 are carried in PDU session 5 of UE 2.

[0164] The QoS flow 2, QoS flow 4, and QoS flow 8 described above are the QoS flows that need to be synchronized for the target service, also referred to as the QoS flows corresponding to the data streams that need to be synchronized for the target service, and the QoS flow 1, QoS flow 3, QoS flow 5 to QoS flow 7, and QoS flow 9 to QoS flow 11 are the QoS flows that do not need to be synchronized for the target service, or the QoS flows of other services.

[0165] Since the data flows required to be synchronized by the target service are mapped to QoS flow 2 belonging to PDU session 1, QoS flow 4 belonging to PDU session 2, and QoS flow 8 belonging to PDU session 4, the marking information corresponds to the PDU sessions to which the QoS flows required to be synchronized by the target service belong, such as PDU session 1, PDU session 2, and PDU session 4, or is understood as the QoS flows required to be synchronized by the target service being transmitted by PDU session 1, PDU session 2, and PDU session 4. It should be noted that the PDU session 1, PDU session 2, and PDU session 4 are not only used to transmit the QoS flows required to be synchronized by the target service, but also can be used to transmit the QoS flows not required to be synchronized by the target service or the QoS flows of other services, such as QoS flow 1, QoS flow 3, QoS flow 5, QoS flow 9, and the like. In the embodiment of the present application, one or more PDU sessions in a UE can be used to carry the data flows of the target service. For example, in FIG. 3(a), two PDU sessions of UE 1 carry the audio data flow 1 and the video data flow 2 of the target service, and one PDU session of UE 2 carries the perception data flow 3 of the target service. In other examples, one PDU session of UE 1 can carry the audio data flow 1 and the video data flow 2 of the target service, and one PDU session of UE 2 can carry the perception data flow 3 of the target service.

[0166] Based on the example of FIG. 3(a), the multiple data packets of the target service sent by the UPF to the base station in step 201a include at least the data packets of QoS flow 2, the data packets of QoS flow 4, and the data packets of QoS flow 8, and can also include the data packets of the QoS flows not required to be synchronized by the target service, such as the data packets of QoS flow 1, the data packets of QoS flow 3, the data packets of QoS flow 6, the data packets of QoS flow 7, and the like. The at least two data packets containing the same marking information in step 202a are part or all of the multiple data packets, and the at least two data packets include the data packets of the QoS flows in PDU session 1, PDU session 2, or PDU session 4, and do not include the data packets of the QoS flows in other PDU sessions.

[0167] It can be understood that, through step 202a, the at least two data packets filtered out by the base station from the received multiple data packets are the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that can be required to be synchronized, and the other data packets in the multiple data packets except the at least two data packets are the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that are not required to be synchronized. Therefore, through step 202a, the search range of the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that are required to be synchronized is narrowed, and blind search of the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that are required to be synchronized from a large number of QoS flows is avoided.

[0168] Step 203a, the base station determines at least two target data packets from the at least two data packets containing the same marking information, the at least two target data packets correspond to the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0169] That is, the at least two target data packets only include the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, and the data packets other than the at least two target data packets in the at least two data packets do not include the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized. Taking FIG. 3(a) as an example, the at least two data packets include the data packets of QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 5 and the data packets of QoS flow 8 to QoS flow 9, the at least two target data packets include the data packet of QoS flow 2, the data packet of QoS flow 4 and the data packet of QoS flow 8, and the at least two target data packets do not include the data packet of QoS flow 1, the data packet of QoS flow 3, the data packet of QoS flow 5 and the data packet of QoS flow 9.

[0170] Through the step 203a, the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized are screened out from the at least two data packets, so that the base station can perform the synchronous scheduling according to the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0171] Step 204a, the base station performs the synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the at least two target data packets.

[0172] In an implementation method, the base station performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, that is, each of the at least two target data packets contains a frame number, and the base station performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization according to the frame number in each of the at least two target data packets and the synchronization state information obtained in advance. The synchronization state information is used to indicate the correspondence between the frame numbers in the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization in the synchronization state. If the base station determines that the QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization do not meet the synchronization accuracy, which is used to indicate the deviation of the frame numbers in the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization in the synchronization state, the base station adjusts the sending speed of the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization, indicating that the QoS flows are not in the synchronization state. For example, for the data packets of the QoS flow with a slow sending speed, the base station can allocate more resources to the QoS flow to promote the sending speed of the data packets of the QoS flow, or discard the unimportant data packets of the QoS flow to promote the sending speed of the data packets of the QoS flow. For the data packets of the QoS flow with a fast sending speed, the base station can reduce the resources allocated to the QoS flow to reduce the sending speed of the data packets of the QoS flow, or suspend the sending of the data packets of the QoS flow to reduce the sending speed of the data packets of the QoS flow. If the base station determines that the QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization meet the synchronization accuracy, the base station can not adjust the sending speed of the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need synchronization, but send the data packets at the current sending speed. The synchronization state information and the synchronization accuracy can be preconfigured on the base station or received from the SMF, and the SMF can receive a policy and charging control (PCC) rule from the PCF, wherein the PCC rule includes the identification information of the target service, the synchronization state information, and / or the synchronization accuracy.

[0173] The following is described in conjunction with the example of FIG. 3(a). Assume that the synchronization accuracy is 2 frames, and the frame rates of the audio data stream 1, the video data stream 2, and the perception data stream 3 are 50 frames per second, 60 frames per second, and 30 frames per second, respectively. The synchronization state information received by the base station is 5:6:3, which indicates that, in the synchronization state, when the frame number of the audio data stream 1 is a multiple of 5, the frame numbers of the video data stream 2 and the perception data stream 3 are the same multiples of 6 and 3, respectively. In a certain time period, the frame numbers in the downlink data packets of the QoS streams corresponding to the audio data stream 1, the video data stream 2, and the perception data stream 3 received by the base station are 50, 61, and 35, respectively. Since the synchronization state information is 5:6:3, when the frame number in the downlink data packet of the audio data stream 1 is 50, if the QoS streams corresponding to these data streams remain in the synchronization state, the frame number in the downlink data packet of the video data stream 2 should be any one of 58 to 62, and the frame number in the downlink data packet of the perception data stream 3 should be any one of 28 to 32. Therefore, in this example, the audio data stream 1 is synchronized with the video data stream 2, but the perception data stream 3 is not synchronized with the audio data stream 1 and the video data stream 2, so the transmission speed of the perception data stream 3 can be reduced to keep the QoS streams corresponding to the three data streams synchronized.

[0174] In the above scheme, the base station synchronously schedules the data packets of the QoS streams of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the at least two target data packets, so that the data packets of the multiple QoS streams of the target service maintain reasonable transmission speeds and are coordinated among the multiple QoS streams, thereby improving the user experience. Taking the VR scenario as an example, when the audio data stream, the video data stream, and the perception data stream of the VR service are transmitted to one or more UEs (such as a handle, a VR glasses, and a VR fingertip device) through multiple QoS streams, the base station synchronously schedules the data packets of the QoS streams corresponding to the audio data stream, the video data stream, and the perception data stream, so that these QoS streams can be transmitted to the one or more UEs at appropriate speeds, thereby enabling the user to experience synchronization among the video, the audio, and the haptics, and improving the user experience. Conversely, if the base station does not perform the synchronous scheduling, the user will experience asynchronization among the video, the audio, and the haptics, which can cause the user to feel dizzy and reduce the user experience.

[0175] The following describes various specific implementation methods for the embodiment of FIG. 2(a).

[0176] Method one, the above marking information is an access network Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (AN TEID), which is used to identify a GTP-U tunnel for transmitting QoS flows in multiple PDU sessions to which the target service's QoS flow requiring synchronization belongs. Wherein, GPRS is the abbreviation of general packet radio service.

[0177] The method one is suitable for the scenario that the multiple PDU sessions to which the target service's QoS flow requiring synchronization belongs correspond to the same SMF.

[0178] The method of allocating AN TEID allocates the QoS flows requiring synchronization in the same service to the same GTP-U tunnel, so that the base station only needs to detect the data packets in the GTP-U tunnel to identify the data packets requiring synchronization, and does not need to identify the data packets requiring synchronization in other GTP-U tunnels, which helps to improve the accuracy and efficiency of synchronization. In one implementation method, the SMF / PCF / AF generates an association identifier, and then the SMF sends the association identifier to the base station, the association identifier is associated with the multiple PDU sessions to which the target service's QoS flow requiring synchronization belongs, the base station determines the marking information, i.e. the AN TEID, for the multiple PDU sessions to which the target service's QoS flow requiring synchronization belongs according to the association identifier, and then the base station sends the AN TEID to the UPF through the SMF.

[0179] For other PDU sessions, the base station can normally allocate an AN TEID for each PDU session according to the existing method, and bind the corresponding QFI of the AN TEID.

[0180] Figure 3(b) is an example diagram of GTP-U tunnel allocation provided by embodiments of the present application. The example is based on the example of Figure 3(a) for GTP-U tunnel allocation. For example, the SMF allocates an association identifier for a plurality of PDU sessions to which a target service's synchronization-required QoS flow belongs, and sends the same association identifier to the base station through each of the plurality of PDU sessions, wherein the plurality of PDU sessions correspond to the same SMF. After the base station receives the same association identifier corresponding to the plurality of PDU sessions, the base station determines, according to the association identifier, that the plurality of PDU sessions are used to transmit the target service's synchronization-required QoS flow, so that the base station allocates the same AN TEID to the plurality of PDU sessions, and the AN TEID identifies a GTP-U tunnel. Referring to Figure 3(b), the base station allocates the same AN TEID1 to PDU session 1, PDU session 2, and PDU session 4 according to the association identifier, and the AN TEID1 is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 1. Moreover, the base station allocates an AN TEID to each PDU session according to the existing method, that is, the base station allocates AN TEID2 to PDU session 3, and the AN TEID2 is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 2, and the base station allocates AN TEID3 to PDU session 5, and the AN TEID3 is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 3. Wherein, the QFI of different QoS flows in each GTP-U tunnel is different, the QFI of QoS flows in different GTP-U tunnels can be the same or different, and the QFI of the QoS flow is allocated by the SMF. Wherein, the AN TEID1 in the example is the above-mentioned marking information.

[0181] After the base station allocates the AN TEID, the base station sends the allocated AN TEID to the UPF through the SMF, so that the UPF transmits the QoS flow in the corresponding GTP-U tunnel according to the AN TEID. For example, the UPF transmits QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 5 and QoS flow 8 and QoS flow 9 to the base station in GTP-U tunnel 1, that is, the UPF adds AN TEID1 to the GTP-U header of the data packet of QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 5 and QoS flow 8 and QoS flow 9. The UPF transmits QoS flow 6 and QoS flow 7 to the base station in GTP-U tunnel 2, that is, the UPF adds AN TEID2 to the GTP-U header of the data packet of QoS flow 6 and QoS flow 7. The UPF transmits QoS flow 10 and QoS flow 11 to the base station in GTP-U tunnel 3, that is, the UPF adds AN TEID3 to the GTP-U header of the data packet of QoS flow 10 and QoS flow 11. Moreover, the UPF also adds the corresponding QFI to the GTP-U header of each QoS flow packet, for details, refer to Figure 3(b).

[0182] Based on the example, the step 202a is specifically: the base station identifies at least two data packets carrying the AN TEID1 from the received multiple data packets, and the AN TEID1 is the marking information.

[0183] Method two, the marking information is a group identifier allocated by the base station, and the group identifier corresponds to multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized.

[0184] The method two is suitable for the scenario that the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized correspond to different SMF / PCF, and of course, it is also suitable for the scenario that they correspond to the same SMF / PCF.

[0185] For example, the SMF / PCF / AF generates an association identifier, for example, the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized correspond to the same SMF, but correspond to different PCFs, then the SMF or the AF generates the association identifier, for another example, the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized correspond to the same PCF, but correspond to different SMFs, then the PCF or the AF generates the association identifier, for another example, the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized correspond to the same SMF and the same PCF, then the SMF, the PCF or the AF generates the association identifier, for another example, the SMF and the PCF corresponding to the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized are different, then the AF generates the association identifier.

[0186] After the SMF / PCF / AF generates the association identifier, the SMF sends the association identifier to the base station, the association identifier is associated with the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized, the base station determines the marking information, that is, the group identifier, for the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized according to the association identifier, and then the base station sends the group identifier to the UPF through the SMF. The group identifier generated by the base station can be the same as the association identifier, or it can be different.

[0187] The reason why the base station needs to regenerate the group identifier according to the association identifier instead of directly using the association identifier sent by the SMF to the base station is that: there can be multiple SMF / PCF / AFs simultaneously performing synchronous scheduling of different services, and the SMF / PCF / AF can assign the same association identifier to the PDU session corresponding to different services, that is, the association identifier is not unique at the base station side. For example, SMF1 assigns association identifier 1 to the PDU session to which the QoS flow of service 1 that needs to be synchronized belongs, and SMF2 also assigns association identifier 1 to the PDU session to which the QoS flow of service 2 that needs to be synchronized belongs. If the base station directly uses the association identifier 1, it will cause the base station to identify the QoS flow of service 1 that needs to be synchronized based on the association identifier 1 in the future. Not only will the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized be identified in the PDU session of service 1, but also in the PDU session of service 2. However, there is actually no QoS flow in the PDU session of service 2 that needs to be synchronized with the QoS flow of service 1, causing resource waste and possibly incorrect identification. The same is true for the synchronization of the QoS flow of service 2.

[0188] In this method two, the base station does not follow the association identifier assigned by the SMF / PCF / AF, but reassigns a group identifier, which can ensure the uniqueness of the group identifier on the base station. The base station performs subsequent synchronization scheduling according to the unique group identifier. In the above example, the base station assigns a group identifier to the PDU session corresponding to the association identifier 1 from SMF1, and assigns another group identifier to the PDU session corresponding to the association identifier 1 from SMF2. Therefore, the group identifier corresponding to the QoS flow of service 1 is different from the group identifier corresponding to the QoS flow of service 2, and they will not be confused with each other.

[0189] Based on the second method, the base station can normally allocate an AN TEID for each PDU session according to the existing method, and bind the QFI corresponding to the AN TEID. FIG. 3(c) is another example of GTP-U tunnel allocation provided by the embodiments of the present application. This example is based on the example of FIG. 3(a). For example, the base station allocates an AN TEID for each PDU session according to the existing method, that is, allocates AN TEID1 for PDU session 1, the AN TEID1 is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 1, allocates AN TEID2 for PDU session 2, the AN TEID2 is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 2, allocates AN TEID3 for PDU session 3, the AN TEID3 is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 3, allocates AN TEID4 for PDU session 4, the AN TEID4 is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 4, and allocates AN TEID5 for PDU session 5, the AN TEID5 is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 5. Among them, the QFI of different QoS flows in each GTP-U tunnel is different, the QFI of QoS flows in different GTP-U tunnels can be the same or different, and the QFI of QoS flows is allocated by the SMF.

[0190] After the base station allocates the AN TEID and generates the group identifier, the base station sends the AN TEID and the group identifier to the UPF through the SMF, so that the UPF sends the QoS flow in the corresponding GTP-U tunnel according to the AN TEID, and the UPF also adds the group identifier in the GTP-U packet header of the data packet of each QoS flow in PDU session 1, PDU session 2 and PDU session 4. The UPF sends QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3 in GTP-U tunnel 1 to the base station, that is, adds AN TEID1 and the group identifier in the GTP-U packet header of the data packet of QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3. The UPF sends QoS flow 4 and QoS flow 5 in GTP-U tunnel 2 to the base station, that is, adds AN TEID2 and the group identifier in the GTP-U packet header of the data packet of QoS flow 4 and QoS flow 5. The UPF sends QoS flow 6 and QoS flow 7 in GTP-U tunnel 3 to the base station, that is, adds AN TEID3 in the GTP-U packet header of the data packet of QoS flow 6 and QoS flow 7. The UPF sends QoS flow 8 and QoS flow 9 in GTP-U tunnel 4 to the base station, that is, adds AN TEID4 and the group identifier in the GTP-U packet header of the data packet of QoS flow 8 and QoS flow 9. The UPF sends QoS flow 10 and QoS flow 11 in GTP-U tunnel 5 to the base station, that is, adds AN TEID5 in the GTP-U packet header of the data packet of QoS flow 10 and QoS flow 11. And the UPF also adds the corresponding QFI in the GTP-U packet header of the data packet of each QoS flow, for details, refer to FIG. 3(c).

[0191] Based on this example, the above step 202a is specifically: the base station identifies at least two data packets carrying the same group identifier from the received multiple data packets, and the group identifier is the marking information.

[0192] Method three, the above marking information includes an association identifier and identification information of a network device, and the network device is an SMF, a PCF or an AF that generates the association identifier.

[0193] The method three is applicable to a scenario where multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized correspond to different SMFs / PCFs, and of course is also applicable to a scenario where they correspond to the same SMF / PCF.

[0194] For example, the SMF / PCF / AF generates the association identifier. For example, the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized correspond to the same SMF but correspond to different PCFs, and then the SMF or the AF generates the association identifier. For another example, the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized correspond to the same PCF but correspond to different SMFs, and then the PCF or the AF generates the association identifier. For another example, the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized correspond to the same SMF and the same PCF, and then the SMF, the PCF or the AF generates the association identifier. For another example, the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized correspond to different SMFs and PCFs, and then the AF generates the association identifier.

[0195] After the SMF / PCF / AF generates the association identifier, the SMF sends the association identifier and identification information of the network device that generates the association identifier to the UPF and the base station, the association identifier is associated with the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the target service needs to be synchronized, and the network device is the SMF, the PCF or the AF.

[0196] In this method, the combination of the association identifier and the identification information of the network device is used as the marking information, rather than only using the association identifier as the marking information, and the reason is similar to the reason why the base station reassigns the group identifier in the above method two, that is, to ensure the uniqueness of the marking information. Different SMFs / PCFs / AFs may have assigned the same association identifier for the synchronization of QoS flows of different services, and therefore the identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF needs to be added to make the marking information unique at the base station side.

[0197] Based on this method three, the base station can normally assign an AN TEID to each PDU session according to the existing method, and bind the QFI corresponding to the AN TEID. The GTP-U tunnel allocation example shown in the above FIG. 3(c) is also applicable to this method three.

[0198] The UPF can receive the AN TEID from the base station and also receive the marking information including the association identifier and the identifier information of the SMF / PCF / AF from the SMF, so that the UPF sends the QoS flows in the corresponding GTP-U tunnels according to the AN TEID, and the UPF also adds the association identifier and the identifier information of the SMF / PCF / AF in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of each QoS flow in PDU session 1, PDU session 2 and PDU session 4. The UPF sends QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3 in GTP-U tunnel 1 to the base station, that is, adds AN TEID 1, the association identifier and the identifier information of the SMF / PCF / AF in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 3. The UPF sends QoS flow 4 and QoS flow 5 in GTP-U tunnel 2 to the base station, that is, adds AN TEID 2, the association identifier and the identifier information of the SMF / PCF / AF in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of QoS flow 4 and QoS flow 5. The UPF sends QoS flow 6 and QoS flow 7 in GTP-U tunnel 3 to the base station, that is, adds AN TEID 3 in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of QoS flow 6 and QoS flow 7. The UPF sends QoS flow 8 and QoS flow 9 in GTP-U tunnel 4 to the base station, that is, adds AN TEID 4, the association identifier and the identifier information of the SMF / PCF / AF in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of QoS flow 8 and QoS flow 9. The UPF sends QoS flow 10 and QoS flow 11 in GTP-U tunnel 5 to the base station, that is, adds AN TEID 5 in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of QoS flow 10 and QoS flow 11. Also, the UPF adds the corresponding QFI in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of each QoS flow, as shown in FIG. 3(c).

[0199] Based on the example, the step 202a is specifically that the base station identifies at least two data packets carrying the same association identifier and the same identifier information of the SMF / PCF / AF from the received multiple data packets, and the combination of the association identifier and the identifier information of the SMF / PCF / AF is the marking information.

[0200] Based on the above method one, method two or method three, in an implementation method, the SMF can further send the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized to the base station. Taking the example of FIG. 3(b), the SMF sends the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized to the base station, including the QFI of the QoS flow 2 (i.e., QFI2), the QFI of the QoS flow 4 (i.e., QFI4) and the QFI of the QoS flow 8 (i.e., QFI6), so that the base station learns the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized. Taking the example of FIG. 3(c), the SMF sends the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized to the base station, including the QFI of the QoS flow 2 (i.e., QFI2), the QFI of the QoS flow 4 (i.e., QFI1) and the QFI of the QoS flow 8 (i.e., QFI1), so that the base station learns the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized. Based on the implementation method, the above step 203a is specifically: determining, by the base station, a data packet containing a target QFI from at least two data packets, the data packet containing the target QFI being the at least two target data packets, and the target QFI being any one of the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized. Taking the example of FIG. 3(b) or FIG. 3(c), through the above step 202a, the base station obtains the data packets of the QoS flows 1 to 5 and the QoS flows 8 to 9 from the QoS flows 1 to 11, and through the above step 203a, the base station obtains the data packets of the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4 and the QoS flow 8 from the data packets of the QoS flows 1 to 5 and the QoS flows 8 to 9, and then the base station synchronously schedules the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the data packets of the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4 and the QoS flow 8.

[0201] In another implementation method based on the above method one, method two or method three, the SMF can further send the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized to the UPF. Taking the example of FIG. 3(b), the SMF sends the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized to the UPF, including the QFI of the QoS flow 2 (i.e., QFI2), the QFI of the QoS flow 4 (i.e., QFI4) and the QFI of the QoS flow 8 (i.e., QFI6), so that the UPF learns the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized. Taking the example of FIG. 3(c), the SMF sends the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized to the UPF, including the QFI of the QoS flow 2 (i.e., QFI2), the QFI of the QoS flow 4 (i.e., QFI1) and the QFI of the QoS flow 8 (i.e., QFI1), so that the UPF learns the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized. Based on this implementation method, the UPF subsequently adds a synchronization indication in the GTP-U header of the data packets of the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4 and the QoS flow 8, and the synchronization indication is used to indicate that the QoS flow to which the data packet belongs is the QoS flow of the target service that needs to be synchronized. Therefore, the above step 203a is specifically: determining, by the base station, the data packet containing the synchronization indication from the at least two data packets, and the data packet containing the synchronization indication is the at least two target data packets. Taking the example of FIG. 3(b) or FIG. 3(c), through the above step 202a, the base station obtains the data packets of the QoS flow 1 to the QoS flow 5 and the QoS flow 8 to the QoS flow 9 from the QoS flow 1 to the QoS flow 11, and through the above step 203a, the base station obtains the data packets of the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4 and the QoS flow 8 from the data packets of the QoS flow 1 to the QoS flow 5 and the QoS flow 8 to the QoS flow 9, and then the base station synchronously schedules the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the data packets of the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4 and the QoS flow 8.

[0202] FIG. 2(b) is a flow diagram of a synchronous scheduling method provided by an embodiment of the present application, and the method includes the following steps:

[0203] Step 201b: The UPF sends a plurality of data packets of a target service to a base station, and the plurality of data packets belong to a plurality of QoS flows, and the plurality of QoS flows include at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0204] The step 201b is the same as the above step 201a, and reference can be made to the foregoing description.

[0205] Step 202b: The base station determines at least two data packets containing the same access network tunnel endpoint identifier (AN TEID) from the plurality of data packets.

[0206] The at least two data packets correspond to the target service's synchronized QoS flows, the AN TEID is used to identify a target tunnel, the target tunnel is a tunnel (such as a GTP-U tunnel) for transmitting data flows of the target service's synchronized QoS flows, and the target service's synchronized QoS flows correspond to one or more PDU sessions. The at least two data packets are data packets of the target service's synchronized QoS flows. For example, in FIG. 3(a), the at least two data packets are data packets of QoS flow 2, data packets of QoS flow 4, and data packets of QoS flow 8.

[0207] In this embodiment, the target service's synchronized QoS flows are mapped to multiple PDU sessions for transmission, the multiple PDU sessions can be referred to as sessions carrying the target service's synchronized QoS flows, and of course, the PDU sessions can also carry the target service's non-synchronized QoS flows or QoS flows of other services. Among them, the target service's synchronized QoS flows correspond to one or more UEs, that is, the multiple PDU sessions are PDU sessions of one or more UEs.

[0208] Through step 202b, the base station screens data packets of the target service's synchronized QoS flows from the multiple data packets, so that the base station can perform synchronized scheduling according to the data packets of the target service's synchronized QoS flows.

[0209] Step 203b: The base station performs synchronized scheduling on the data packets of the target service's synchronized QoS flows according to the at least two data packets.

[0210] The implementation of step 203b is similar to the implementation of the aforementioned step 204a, and reference can be made to the foregoing description.

[0211] The above scheme transmits the data packets of the QoS flows that need to be synchronized of the target service through a dedicated GTP-U tunnel, so that the base station can quickly and conveniently identify the data packets of the QoS flows that need to be synchronized, and then the base station synchronously schedules the data packets of the QoS flows that need to be synchronized of the target service, so that the sending speed between the data packets of the multiple QoS flows of the target service is reasonable, and coordination between the multiple QoS flows is maintained, thereby improving the user experience. Taking the VR scenario as an example, when the audio data flow, the video data flow, and the perception data flow of the VR service are sent to one or more UEs (such as a handle, a VR glasses, and a VR fingertip device) through multiple QoS flows, after the base station synchronously schedules the data packets of the QoS flows corresponding to the audio data flow, the video data flow, and the perception data flow, the base station can ensure that the QoS flows are sent to the one or more UEs at a suitable speed, so that the user can experience the synchronization between the video, the audio, and the haptics, thereby improving the user experience. Conversely, if the base station does not perform the synchronous scheduling processing, the user will experience the asynchronization between the video, the audio, and the haptics, which may cause the user to feel dizzy and reduce the user experience.

[0212] In the embodiment of FIG. 2(b), the base station allocates the QoS flows that need to be synchronized in the target service to the same GTP-U tunnel, and the QoS flows in the GTP-U tunnel are all QoS flows that need to be synchronized, so that the base station can quickly determine the QoS flows that need to be synchronized of the target service, which helps to improve the accuracy and efficiency of synchronization. In one implementation method, the SMF / PCF / AF generates an association identifier, and then the SMF sends the association identifier to the base station, the association identifier is associated with multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flows that need to be synchronized of the target service belong, and the SMF also sends the QFI of the QoS flows that need to be synchronized of the target service to the base station. The base station identifies the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flows that need to be synchronized of the target service belong according to the association identifier, and obtains the QFI of the QoS flows that need to be synchronized of the target service from the multiple PDU sessions, and then the base station allocates the same ANTEID to these QoS flows, and the GTP-U tunnel identified by the ANTEID is used to transmit the QoS flows that need to be synchronized of the target service. The base station sends the ANTEID to the UPF through the SMF.

[0213] For other PDU sessions and other QoS flows in the PDU session corresponding to the association identifier except for the QoS flows that need to be synchronized of the target service, the base station can normally allocate an ANTEID according to the existing method, and bind the QFI corresponding to the ANTEID.

[0214] Figure 3(d) is another example of GTP-U tunnel allocation provided by the embodiments of the present application. The example is based on the example of Figure 3(a) for GTP-U tunnel allocation. The SMF allocates an association identifier for multiple PDU sessions to which the target service's synchronized QoS flow belongs, and sends the same association identifier to the base station through each of the multiple PDU sessions. The multiple PDU sessions correspond to the same SMF. In addition, the SMF also sends the QFI of the target service's synchronized QoS flow to the base station. When the base station receives the same association identifier corresponding to the multiple PDU sessions, it determines the multiple PDU sessions for transmitting the target service's synchronized QoS flow, and then the base station obtains the QFI of the target service's synchronized QoS flow from the multiple PDU sessions, and then the base station allocates the same AN TEID for the target service's synchronized QoS flow, which identifies a GTP-U tunnel. Referring to Figure 3(d), the base station allocates the same AN TEID 1 for QoS flow 2, QoS flow 4 and QoS flow 8 according to the association identifier, which is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 1. And the base station allocates an AN TEID for each PDU session according to the existing method, i.e. AN TEID 2 is allocated for QoS flow 1 and QoS flow 3 in PDU session 1, which is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 2, AN TEID 3 is allocated for QoS flow 5 in PDU session 2, which is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 3, AN TEID 4 is allocated for PDU session 3, which is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 4, AN TEID 5 is allocated for QoS flow 9 in PDU session 4, which is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 5, and AN TEID 6 is allocated for PDU session 5, which is used to identify GTP-U tunnel 6. Wherein the QFIs of different QoS flows in each GTP-U tunnel are different, the QFIs of QoS flows in different GTP-U tunnels can be the same or different, and the QFIs of QoS flows are all allocated by the SMF. Wherein the AN TEID 1 in the example is the above-mentioned marking information.

[0215] After the base station assigns the AN TEID, the base station sends the assigned AN TEID to the UPF through the SMF, so that the UPF sends the QoS flows in the corresponding GTP-U tunnels according to the AN TEIDs. The UPF sends the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4 and the QoS flow 8 to the base station in the GTP-U tunnel 1, that is, adds the AN TEID 1 in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4 and the QoS flow 8. The UPF sends the QoS flow 1 and the QoS flow 3 to the base station in the GTP-U tunnel 2, that is, adds the AN TEID 2 in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of the QoS flow 1 and the QoS flow 3. The UPF sends the QoS flow 5 to the base station in the GTP-U tunnel 3, that is, adds the AN TEID 3 in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of the QoS flow 5. The UPF sends the QoS flow 6 and the QoS flow 7 to the base station in the GTP-U tunnel 4, that is, adds the AN TEID 4 in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of the QoS flow 6 and the QoS flow 7. The UPF sends the QoS flow 9 to the base station in the GTP-U tunnel 5, that is, adds the AN TEID 5 in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of the QoS flow 9. The UPF sends the QoS flow 10 and the QoS flow 11 to the base station in the GTP-U tunnel 6, that is, adds the AN TEID 6 in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of the QoS flow 10 and the QoS flow 11. And, the UPF also adds the corresponding QFI in the GTP-U packet header of the data packets of each QoS flow, which can be referred to FIG. 3(d) for details.

[0216] Based on the example, the step 202b is specifically: the base station identifies at least two data packets carrying the AN TEID 1 from the received multiple data packets, the AN TEID 1 being used to represent a target tunnel, the target tunnel being a GTP-U tunnel specially used for transmitting the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0217] FIG. 2(c) is a flow diagram of a synchronization scheduling method provided by an embodiment of the present application, which includes the following steps:

[0218] Step 201c, the UPF sends multiple data packets of a target service to a base station, the multiple data packets belonging to multiple QoS flows, the multiple QoS flows including at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0219] The step 201c is the same as the aforementioned step 201a, which can be referred to the foregoing description.

[0220] Step 202c, the base station determines at least two data packets from the multiple data packets according to the synchronization relationship between multiple access network tunnel endpoint identifications.

[0221] Each of the at least two data packets comprises any of a plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identities, each of the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identities indicating a GTP-U tunnel for transmitting a need-to-be-synchronized QoS flow of the target service.

[0222] At step 203c, the base station determines at least two target data packets from the at least two data packets, the at least two target data packets corresponding to the need-to-be-synchronized QoS flow of the target service.

[0223] That is, the at least two target data packets only include data packets of the need-to-be-synchronized QoS flow of the target service, and other data packets in the at least two data packets except the at least two target data packets do not include data packets of the need-to-be-synchronized QoS flow of the target service. For example, in FIG. 3(a), the at least two data packets include data packets of QoS flow 1 to QoS flow 5 and data packets of QoS flow 8 to QoS flow 9, the at least two target data packets include a data packet of QoS flow 2, a data packet of QoS flow 4, and a data packet of QoS flow 8, and the at least two target data packets do not include a data packet of QoS flow 1, a data packet of QoS flow 3, data packets of QoS flow 5, and data packets of QoS flow 9.

[0224] Through the step 203c, data packets of the need-to-be-synchronized QoS flow of the target service are filtered from the at least two data packets, so that the base station can perform synchronized scheduling according to the data packets of the need-to-be-synchronized QoS flow of the target service.

[0225] At step 204c, the base station performs synchronized scheduling on the data packets of the need-to-be-synchronized QoS flow of the target service according to the at least two target data packets.

[0226] The implementation of the step 204c is similar to the implementation of the aforementioned step 204a, and reference can be made to the foregoing description.

[0227] According to the above scheme, the base station synchronously schedules the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the at least two target data packets, so that the sending speed between the data packets of the multiple QoS flows of the target service is reasonable, the coordination between the multiple QoS flows is maintained, and the user experience is improved. Taking the VR scenario as an example, when the audio data flow, the video data flow, and the perception data flow of the VR service are sent to one or more UEs (such as a handle, a VR glasses, and a VR fingertip device) through multiple QoS flows, after the base station synchronously schedules the data packets of the QoS flows corresponding to the audio data flow, the video data flow, and the perception data flow, the QoS flows can be sent to the one or more UEs at a suitable speed, so that the user can experience the synchronization between the video, the audio, and the haptics, and the user experience is improved. Conversely, if the base station does not perform the synchronous scheduling, the user will experience the asynchronization between the video, the audio, and the haptics, which may cause the user to feel dizzy and reduce the user experience.

[0228] In an implementation method, based on the embodiment of FIG. 2(c) above, the SMF / PCF / AF generates an association identifier, and then the SMF sends the association identifier to the base station, the association identifier is associated with multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, and then the base station identifies the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong according to the association identifier. The base station allocates an AN TEID for each PDU session according to the existing method, and the base station sends the AN TEID to the UPF through the SMF. Moreover, the base station also records the correspondence between the AN TEIDs of the PDU sessions corresponding to the association identifier. Taking the example of FIG. 3(a) as an example, the base station allocates an AN TEID for each PDU session according to the method shown in FIG. 3(c). The base station learns from the association identifier that PDU session 1, PDU session 2, and PDU session 4 are used to transmit the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, and the base station allocates AN TEID 1, AN TEID 2, and AN TEID 4 to PDU session 1, PDU session 2, and PDU session 4 respectively. Then, the base station records the synchronization relationship between AN TEID 1, AN TEID 2, and AN TEID 4. It can be understood that the base station determines that the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized will be transmitted in the GTP-U tunnels indicated by AN TEID 1, AN TEID 2, and AN TEID 4, and will not be transmitted in other GTP-U tunnels.

[0229] In another implementation method, based on the embodiment of FIG. 2(c) above, the SMF establishes the synchronization relationship between the AN TEIDs according to the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flows of the target service need to be synchronized, and the AN TEIDs respectively allocated by the base station for the multiple PDU sessions, and sends the synchronization relationship to the base station. Wherein, the base station allocates one AN TEID for each PDU session according to the existing method. Taking the example of FIG. 3(a), the base station allocates one AN TEID for each PDU session according to the method shown in FIG. 3(c). The SMF determines that PDU session 1, PDU session 2 and PDU session 4 are used to transmit the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, and the SMF receives AN TEID1, AN TEID2 and AN TEID4 respectively allocated by the base station for PDU session 1, PDU session 2 and PDU session 4, then the SMF records the synchronization relationship between AN TEID1, AN TEID2 and AN TEID4, and then sends the synchronization relationship to the base station, so that the base station determines that the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized will be transmitted in the GTP-U tunnels indicated by AN TEID1, AN TEID2 and AN TEID4 according to the synchronization relationship, and will not be transmitted in other GTP-U tunnels.

[0230] Based on the example, the step 202c above is specifically: the base station identifies at least two data packets carrying AN TEID1, AN TEID2 or AN TEID4 from the received multiple data packets according to the synchronization relationship between AN TEID1, AN TEID2 and AN TEID4, and the at least two data packets can be the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0231] In an implementation method, the SMF can further send the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized to the base station. Taking the example of FIG. 3(c), the SMF sends the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized to the base station, including the QFI of the QoS flow 2 (i.e., QFI2), the QFI of the QoS flow 4 (i.e., QFI1), and the QFI of the QoS flow 8 (i.e., QFI1), so that the base station learns the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized. Based on this implementation method, the step 203c is specifically that the base station determines, from the at least two data packets, a data packet containing a target QFI, the data packet containing the target QFI being the at least two target data packets, and the target QFI being any one of the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized. Taking FIG. 3(c) as an example, through the step 202c, the base station obtains the data packets of the QoS flows 1 to 5 and the QoS flows 8 to 9 from the QoS flows 1 to 11, and through the step 203c, the base station obtains the data packets of the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4, and the QoS flow 8 from the data packets of the QoS flows 1 to 5 and the QoS flows 8 to 9, and then the base station synchronously schedules the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the data packets of the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4, and the QoS flow 8.

[0232] In another implementation method, the SMF can further send the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized to the UPF. Taking the example of FIG. 3(c), the SMF sends the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized to the UPF, including the QFI of the QoS flow 2 (i.e., QFI2), the QFI of the QoS flow 4 (i.e., QFI1), and the QFI of the QoS flow 8 (i.e., QFI1), so that the UPF learns the QFIs of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized. Based on this implementation method, the UPF subsequently further adds a synchronization indication in the GTP-U header of the data packets of the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4, and the QoS flow 8, and the synchronization indication is used to indicate that the QoS flow to which the data packet belongs is the QoS flow of the target service that needs to be synchronized. Therefore, the step 203c is specifically that the base station determines, from the at least two data packets, a data packet containing a synchronization indication, the data packet containing the synchronization indication being the at least two target data packets. Taking FIG. 3(c) as an example, through the step 202c, the base station obtains the data packets of the QoS flows 1 to 5 and the QoS flows 8 to 9 from the QoS flows 1 to 11, and through the step 203c, the base station obtains the data packets of the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4, and the QoS flow 8 from the data packets of the QoS flows 1 to 5 and the QoS flows 8 to 9, and then the base station synchronously schedules the data packets of the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the data packets of the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4, and the QoS flow 8.

[0233] The following is combined Figures 4 to 9 Specific embodiments, for the above Figures 2(a) to 2(c) The following embodiments will be described. Figure 4 , Figure 5 and Figure 8 The embodiment is a specific example of the embodiment in Figure 2(a), and the following... Figure 6 and Figure 7 The embodiments shown below are specific examples of the embodiments shown in Figure 2(c). Figure 9 The embodiment is a specific example of the embodiment shown in Figure 2(b).

[0234] Figure 4 This is a schematic flowchart of a synchronization scheduling method provided in an embodiment of this application. In this embodiment, multiple PDU sessions belonging to QoS flows that need to be synchronized for a service are allocated to the same GTP-U tunnel. Therefore, data packets of the QoS flows that need to be synchronized for the service are all transmitted through this GTP-U tunnel. Furthermore, this GTP-U tunnel may also transmit data packets of QoS flows that do not need to be synchronized for the service, and / or data packets of QoS flows from other services. The data packets received by the base station from the GTP-U tunnel are data packets that may need to be synchronized. Then, the base station further determines the data packets that need to be synchronized from the data packets that may need to be synchronized, and performs synchronization scheduling on the data packets that need to be synchronized.

[0235] The method includes the following steps:

[0236] Step 401a: UE1 establishes one or more PDU sessions.

[0237] Step 401b: UE2 establishes one or more PDU sessions.

[0238] The PDU sessions established by UE1 and UE2 both correspond to the same SMF. UE1 and UE2 can receive or send different data streams of the same target service.

[0239] The order of steps 401a and 402a is not limited.

[0240] Step 402: AF sends the service identification information and the service synchronization information to PCF. The synchronization information includes a synchronization indication and the frame rate of each data stream of the service, including synchronization status information or the frame rate of each data stream of the service.

[0241] The synchronization indication is used to indicate that the data stream of the service needs to be synchronized, or to indicate that the QoS stream to which the data packet carrying the synchronization indication belongs is a QoS stream that needs to be synchronized. The data streams that need to be synchronized for a service can correspond to the same UE or different UEs. This embodiment of the application uses an example of a data stream that needs to be synchronized for a service corresponding to UE1 and UE2 for illustration.

[0242] The synchronization state information is used to indicate the correspondence between the frame numbers in the data packets of the data stream of the service in the synchronization state.

[0243] The frame rate of a data stream is used to indicate the number of frames transmitted per second by the data stream.

[0244] It should be noted that different data streams of the same service can correspond to different PCFs, for example, the above-mentioned audio data stream 1 corresponds to PCF1, the video data stream 2 corresponds to PCF2, and the perception data stream 3 corresponds to PCF3, or different data streams of the same service can correspond to the same PCF, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0245] When different data streams of the same service correspond to different PCFs, the AF can send the above-mentioned synchronization indication and synchronization state information to different PCFs, or the AF sends the synchronization indication and the frame rate of the data stream corresponding to the PCF in the service to different PCFs respectively.

[0246] In step 403, the PCF sends a PCC rule to the SMF, and the PCC rule includes the identification information of the service and the synchronization information of the service.

[0247] If multiple data streams of the service correspond to different PCFs respectively, then step 403 is that multiple PCFs respectively send PCC rules to the SMF.

[0248] One PCC rule corresponds to one PDU session. The PDU session is the PDU session of UE1 or the PDU session of UE2. For example, referring to FIG. 3(a), the audio data stream 1 of a certain service corresponds to the PDU session 1 of UE1, the video data stream 2 of the service corresponds to the PDU session 2 of UE1, and the perception data stream 3 of the service corresponds to the PDU session 4 of UE2.

[0249] In step 404, the SMF sends the association identification of the service and the synchronization rule of the service to the base station, and optionally, also sends the QFI of the QoS flow corresponding to the service that needs to be synchronized.

[0250] After the SMF receives one or more PCC rules, the SMF maps the data stream corresponding to the PCC rule to a QoS flow, and allocates a QFI to each QoS flow. Among them, one data stream can be mapped to one QoS flow, each QoS flow is carried in one PDU session for transmission, and one PDU session can carry one or more QoS flows.

[0251] The association identifier is associated with the PDU session corresponding to the QoS flow of the service that needs to be synchronized, that is, the association identifier identifies at a PDU session granularity. The PDU sessions corresponding to the same association identifier can be referred to as PDU sessions that need to be synchronized, or PDU sessions containing QoS flows that need to be synchronized. Taking the example of FIG. 3(a), the SMF assigns the same association identifier to the PDU session 1, the PDU session 2, and the PDU session 4, to indicate that the PDU session 1, the PDU session 2, and the PDU session 4 corresponding to the same association identifier contain QoS flows of the same service that need to be synchronized. It should be noted that if the PDU session 1, the PDU session 2, and the PDU session 4 correspond to the same PCF, the PCF can also assign the same association identifier to the PDU session 1, the PDU session 2, and the PDU session 4 and carry the association identifier in the PCC rule to the SMF.

[0252] In this embodiment, when the SMF assigns QFIs to the QoS flows, different QFIs are assigned to different QoS flows in the associated PDU session. For the QoS flows of other PDU sessions, the QFIs are normally assigned according to the existing method, for example, the QFIs of different QoS flows in the same PDU session are different, and the QFIs of the QoS flows of different PDU sessions can be the same or different. Taking the example of FIG. 3(a), in this embodiment, the assignment result is as shown in FIG. 3(b).

[0253] The synchronization rule of the service includes synchronization state information and / or synchronization accuracy. The synchronization state information is from the PCC rule of step 403, or is calculated by the SMF according to the frame rate of each data flow in the PCC rule of step 403. The synchronization accuracy is used to indicate the deviation of the frame numbers in the data packets of different data flows (or QoS flows) of the service in the synchronization state. For example, the synchronization accuracy is 2 frames. The synchronization accuracy can be preconfigured on the SMF, or requested by the SMF from other network elements, or actively sent by other network elements to the SMF, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0254] In an implementation method, the SMF can perform the above step 404 for each of the plurality of PDU sessions corresponding to the same association identifier. Taking the above example, the SMF sends a message 1 to the base station, the message 1 including the association identifier, the synchronization rule, and the QFIs of the QoS flows in the PDU session 1, the SMF sends a message 2 to the base station, the message 2 including the association identifier, the synchronization rule, and the QFIs of the QoS flows in the PDU session 2, and the SMF sends a message 3 to the base station, the message 3 including the association identifier, the synchronization rule, and the QFIs of the QoS flows in the PDU session 4. The association identifiers in the message 1, the message 2, and the message 3 are the same and the synchronization rules are the same.

[0255] Step 405, the SMF sends the QFI of the QoS flow corresponding to the service which needs synchronization and the synchronization indication to the UPF.

[0256] The step 405 is optional. When the base station determines whether the data flow of the service needs synchronization according to whether the synchronization indication is encapsulated in the GTP-U header of the data packet sent by the UPF, the step 405 needs to be performed. The meaning of the synchronization indication is referred to the description of step 404.

[0257] If the UPF receives the synchronization indication, when the UPF receives the data flow of the service which needs synchronization from the AF, the UPF encapsulates the synchronization indication in the GTP-U header of the data packet of the QoS flow corresponding to the data flow, and sends the data packet to the base station. The base station determines that the data flow needs synchronization according to the synchronization indication. When the UPF receives the data flow of the service which does not need synchronization from the AF, the UPF does not encapsulate the synchronization indication in the GTP-U header of the data packet of the QoS flow corresponding to the data flow. The base station determines that the GTP-U header does not carry the synchronization indication, and then determines that the data flow does not need synchronization.

[0258] If the UPF does not receive the synchronization indication, when the UPF receives the data flow of the service from the AF, the UPF performs according to the existing method. Therefore, the UPF does not perceive whether the data flow needs synchronization, and the GTP-U header of the data packet of the QoS flow corresponding to the data flow does not encapsulate the synchronization indication. After the base station receives the data packet of the QoS flow corresponding to the data flow of the service, the base station can determine whether the data flow needs synchronization by using other methods, such as the base station receiving the QFI corresponding to the data flow which needs synchronization from the SMF in advance. Therefore, if the QFI in the data packet received by the base station belongs to the QFI corresponding to the data flow which needs synchronization, the data flow needs synchronization. If the QFI in the data packet received by the base station does not belong to the QFI corresponding to the data flow which needs synchronization, the data flow does not need synchronization.

[0259] Step 406, the base station allocates the same access network tunnel endpoint identifier (AN TEID) to the PDU sessions corresponding to the same association identifier.

[0260] The method of allocating the AN TEID allocates the QoS flows which need synchronization in the same service to the same GTP-U tunnel, so that the base station only needs to detect the data packets in the GTP-U tunnel and identify the data packets which need synchronization, and does not need to identify the data packets which need synchronization in other GTP-U tunnels, which helps to improve the accuracy and efficiency of synchronization. For other PDU sessions, the base station can normally allocate an AN TEID to each PDU session according to the existing method, and bind the QFI corresponding to the AN TEID.

[0261] Taking FIG. 3(a) as an example, the result of the base station allocating the AN TEID for the PDU session is shown in FIG. 3(b).

[0262] Step 407, the base station sends AN tunnel information to the SMF, the AN tunnel information including the AN TEID.

[0263] Step 408a, the SMF sends AN tunnel information to the UPF, the AN tunnel information including the AN TEID.

[0264] Step 408b, the UPF sends response information to the SMF.

[0265] The response information is a response to step 408a.

[0266] Step 409, the SMF sends response information to the PCF.

[0267] The response information is a response to step 403.

[0268] Step 410, the PCF sends response information to the AF.

[0269] The response information is a response to step 402.

[0270] The above steps 408b, 409, and 410 are optional steps.

[0271] Step 411, the AF sends downlink data packets of the service to the UPF.

[0272] The service is the service indicated by the identification information of the service in step 402.

[0273] Taking the above example as an example, the downlink data packets here can be data packets of the audio data stream 1, data packets of the video data stream 2, or data packets of the perception data stream 3.

[0274] Step 412, the UPF encapsulates the downlink data packets.

[0275] The UPF adds a GTP-U header to the received downlink data packets, the GTP-U header including a frame number, a QFI, and an AN TEID. Optionally, if step 405 is performed, the GTP-U header of the downlink data packets of the synchronized QoS flow further includes a synchronization indication.

[0276] Step 413, the UPF sends the downlink data packets to the base station.

[0277] Step 414, the base station synchronously schedules the downlink data packets of the service.

[0278] In one implementation method, when the SMF sends the QFI of the QoS flow that needs synchronization corresponding to the service to the base station in step 404, the base station can know in advance which QoS flow of the service needs synchronization, and thus the base station can perform synchronization scheduling on the received downlink data packet after receiving the downlink data packet of the QoS flow.

[0279] In another implementation method, when the SMF does not send the QFI of the QoS flow that needs synchronization corresponding to the service to the base station in step 404, and step 405 is performed, the UPF adds a synchronization indication in the GTP-U header of the downlink data packet of the QoS flow that needs synchronization when encapsulating the downlink data packet of the service in step 412, so that the base station can determine whether the downlink data packet needs synchronization according to whether the downlink data packet carries the synchronization indication.

[0280] In this embodiment, the QoS flow that needs synchronization of one service is allocated to the same GTP-U tunnel for transmission, and thus the base station only needs to detect the QoS flow that needs synchronization of the service in one GTP-U tunnel. For example, in FIG. 3(b), the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4, and the QoS flow 8 that need synchronization are all allocated to the GTP-U tunnel 1 indicated by the AN TEID 1 for transmission, and thus the base station only needs to detect the QoS flow that needs synchronization of the service in the GTP-U tunnel 1.

[0281] For example, in the example of FIG. 3(b), it is assumed that the UPF adds a synchronization indication in the downlink data packet of the QoS flow that needs synchronization, and the base station receives the downlink data packet 1 to the downlink data packet 10 in a period of time. The information contained in the GTP-U header of the 10 downlink data packets is as follows:

[0282] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 1 carries the frame number 1, the QFI 1, and the AN TEID 1.

[0283] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 2 carries the frame number 2, the QFI 2, the AN TEID 1, and the synchronization indication.

[0284] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 3 carries the frame number 3, the QFI 3, and the AN TEID 1.

[0285] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 4 carries the frame number 4, the QFI 4, the AN TEID 1, and the synchronization indication.

[0286] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 5 carries the frame number 5, the QFI 5, and the AN TEID 1.

[0287] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 6 carries the frame number 6, the QFI 1, and the AN TEID 2.

[0288] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 7 carries the frame number 7, QFI 2, and AN TEID 2.

[0289] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 8 carries the frame number 8, QFI 6, AN TEID 1, and a synchronization indication.

[0290] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 9 carries the frame number 9, QFI 7, and AN TEID 1.

[0291] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 10 carries the frame number 10, QFI 1, and AN TEID 3.

[0292] After receiving the above 10 downlink data packets, the base station screens out the downlink data packets carrying the AN-TEID 1, i.e., the downlink data packets 1 to 5, and the downlink data packets 8 and 9, and then screens out the downlink data packets 2, 4, and 8 carrying the synchronization indication from the downlink data packets, and synchronizes the data flow (or QoS flow) of the service according to the frame numbers in the downlink data packets 2, 4, and 8.

[0293] Alternatively, after receiving the above 10 downlink data packets, the base station directly screens out the downlink data packets 2, 4, and 8 carrying the AN-TEID 1 and the synchronization indication, and synchronizes the data flow (or QoS flow) of the service according to the frame numbers in the downlink data packets 2, 4, and 8.

[0294] In the above scheme, the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flow corresponding to one service needs to be synchronized are allocated to the same GTP-U tunnel identified by the AN TEID, and the multiple PDU sessions are bound by the same association identifier. The base station synchronously schedules the data packets of the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized, which can ensure the synchronization of different data flows of the same service, thereby improving the user experience. Moreover, since the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized is allocated to the same GTP-U tunnel for transmission, the base station only needs to detect the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized of the service in one GTP-U tunnel, which can improve the synchronization speed and accuracy, thereby improving the user experience.

[0295] Figure 5 A synchronization scheduling method flowchart is provided for the embodiments of the present application. In this embodiment, the data packets of the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized corresponding to one service carry a group identifier, the base station determines that the data packets carrying the group identifier are data packets that may need to be synchronized, and the data packets not carrying the group identifier are data packets that do not need to be synchronized, and then the base station further determines the data packets that need to be synchronized from the data packets carrying the group identifier, and synchronously schedules the data packets that need to be synchronized.

[0296] The method comprises the following steps:

[0297] Step 501a, UE1 establishes one or more PDU sessions.

[0298] Step 501b, UE2 establishes one or more PDU sessions.

[0299] Wherein, the PDU sessions established by UE1 and UE2 correspond to the same SMF, and the corresponding PCFs are the same or different. Or, the PDU sessions established by UE1 and UE2 correspond to the same PCF, and the corresponding SMFs are the same or different. The UE1 and UE2 can receive or send different data streams of the same target service.

[0300] The order of the above steps 501a and 502a is not limited.

[0301] Step 502, the AF sends the identification information of the service and the synchronization information of the service to the PCF, the synchronization information includes a synchronization indication, and includes synchronization state information or the frame rate of each data stream of the service.

[0302] Wherein, the meanings of the synchronization indication, the synchronization state information and the frame rate can refer to the description in the aforementioned step 402, and will not be repeated here.

[0303] Step 503, the PCF sends the PCC rule to the SMF, the PCC rule includes the identification information of the service and the synchronization information of the service.

[0304] Wherein, if the PDU sessions to which the multiple data streams of the service that need to be synchronized belong correspond to the same PCF, the PCF can also allocate an association identifier to these PDU sessions, and send the association identifier and the identification information of the PCF to the SMF in the PCC rule, the association identifier is associated with the PDU sessions corresponding to the data streams of a certain service that need to be synchronized. That is, the PCC rule can also include the association identifier and the identification information of the PCF, and the PCF is the PCF that generates the association identifier.

[0305] Wherein, one PCC rule corresponds to one PDU session, and the PDU session is the PDU session of UE1 or the PDU session of UE2. For example, the audio data stream 1 of a certain service corresponds to the PDU session 1 of UE1, the video data stream 2 of the service corresponds to the PDU session 2 of UE1, and the perception data stream 3 of the service corresponds to the PDU session 4 of UE2.

[0306] Step 504, the SMF sends the association identifier of the service and the synchronization rule of the service to the base station.

[0307] Optionally, the step 504 also sends the QFI of the QoS flow corresponding to the service that needs to be synchronized.

[0308] Optionally, if the PCF generates the association identifier, the step 504 further sends the identification information of the PCF.

[0309] Optionally, if the SMF generates the association identifier, the step 504 further sends the identification information of the SMF.

[0310] After the SMF receives the one or more PCC rules, the SMF maps the data flow corresponding to the PCC rule as a QoS flow, and allocates a QFI to each QoS flow. Wherein, one data flow can be mapped as one QoS flow, each QoS flow is carried in a PDU session for transmission, and one PDU session can carry one or more QoS flows.

[0311] In this embodiment, when the SMF allocates the QFI to each QoS flow, the QFI is allocated to the QoS flow in the PDU session according to the existing method, and the SMF needs to ensure that the QFI of different QoS flows in the same PDU session is different, and the QFI of different QoS flows in different PDU sessions can be the same or different. Taking the example of FIG. 3(a) as an example, the QFI allocated by the SMF to the QoS flow in each PDU session can be as shown in FIG. 3(c).

[0312] The synchronization rule of the service includes synchronization state information and / or synchronization accuracy. The meanings of the synchronization state information and the synchronization accuracy are as described in other embodiments.

[0313] In an implementation method, the SMF can perform the above step 504 respectively for multiple PDU sessions corresponding to the same association identifier. Taking the above example as an example, the SMF sends a message 1 to the base station, the message 1 including the association identifier, the synchronization rule, and the QFI of each QoS flow in the PDU session 1, the SMF sends a message 2 to the base station, the message 2 including the association identifier, the synchronization rule, and the QFI of each QoS flow in the PDU session 2, and the SMF sends a message 3 to the base station, the message 3 including the association identifier, the synchronization rule, and the QFI of each QoS flow in the PDU session 4. Wherein, the association identifier in the message 1, the message 2 and the message 3 is the same and the synchronization rule is the same.

[0314] Step 505, the base station generates a group identifier according to the association identifier.

[0315] The meaning of the group identifier can refer to the related description in the embodiment of FIG. 2(a), and will not be repeated here.

[0316] One implementation method is that if the association identifier is allocated by the PCF, the base station allocates the group identifier according to the identifier information of the PCF and the association identifier. For example, PCF1 allocates association identifier 1 for the PDU session to which the QoS flow requiring synchronization of service 1 belongs, PCF2 allocates association identifier 1 for the PDU session to which the QoS flow requiring synchronization of service 2 belongs, and PCF3 allocates association identifier 2 for the PDU session to which the QoS flow requiring synchronization of service 3 belongs. Then, the base station generates group identifier 1 according to the identifier information of PCF1 and association identifier 1, generates group identifier 2 according to the identifier information of PCF2 and association identifier 1, and generates group identifier 3 according to the identifier information of PCF3 and association identifier 2.

[0317] Another implementation method is that if the association identifier is allocated by the SMF, the base station allocates the group identifier according to the identifier information of the SMF and the association identifier. For example, SMF1 allocates association identifier 1 for the PDU session to which the QoS flow requiring synchronization of service 1 belongs, SMF2 allocates association identifier 1 for the PDU session to which the QoS flow requiring synchronization of service 2 belongs, and SMF3 allocates association identifier 2 for the PDU session to which the QoS flow requiring synchronization of service 3 belongs. Then, the base station generates group identifier 1 according to the identifier information of SMF1 and association identifier 1, generates group identifier 2 according to the identifier information of SMF2 and association identifier 1, and generates group identifier 3 according to the identifier information of SMF3 and association identifier 2.

[0318] Step 506, the base station sends the group identifier and the AN TEID to the SMF.

[0319] The AN TEID is determined by the base station according to the existing method, that is, an AN TEID is allocated for each PDU session, and the corresponding QFI of the AN TEID is bound.

[0320] Taking the example of FIG. 3(a), the result of the base station allocating an AN TEID for each PDU session can be as shown in FIG. 3(c).

[0321] Step 507a, the SMF sends the group identifier and the AN TEID to the UPF, and optionally, also sends the QFI of the QoS flow requiring synchronization corresponding to the service to the UPF and a synchronization indication.

[0322] Step 507b, the UPF sends response information to the SMF.

[0323] The response information is a response to step 507a.

[0324] Step 508, the SMF sends response information to the PCF.

[0325] The response information is a response to step 503.

[0326] Step 509, the PCF sends response information to the AF.

[0327] The response information is a response to step 502.

[0328] The above steps 507b, 508 and 509 are optional steps.

[0329] Step 510, the AF sends downlink data packets of the service to the UPF.

[0330] The service is the service indicated by the identification information of the service in step 502.

[0331] Taking the above example as an example, the downlink data packets here can be data packets of the audio data stream 1, data packets of the video data stream 2 or data packets of the perception data stream 3.

[0332] Step 511, the UPF encapsulates the downlink data packets.

[0333] The UPF adds a GTP-U header to the received downlink data packets, and the GTP-U header includes a frame number, a QFI, an AN TEID and a group identifier. Optionally, if the UPF receives the QFI of the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized and the synchronization indication of the service from the SMF, the GTP-U header of the downlink data packets of the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized further includes the synchronization indication.

[0334] Step 512, the UPF sends the downlink data packets to the base station.

[0335] Step 513, the base station synchronously schedules the downlink data packets of the service.

[0336] In one implementation method, when the SMF sends the QFI of the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized of the service to the base station in step 504, the base station can know in advance which QoS flows of the service need to be synchronized, and thus the base station can synchronously schedule the received downlink data packets after receiving the downlink data packets of these QoS flows.

[0337] In another implementation method, when the SMF does not send the QFI of the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized of the service to the base station in step 504, and the QFI of the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized of the service and the synchronization indication are sent to the UPF in step 507a, the UPF adds the synchronization indication in the GTP-U header of the downlink data packets of the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized when encapsulating the downlink data packets of the service in step 511, so that the base station can determine whether the downlink data packets need to be synchronized according to whether the downlink data packets carry the synchronization indication.

[0338] Taking the example of FIG. 3(c), it is assumed that the UPF adds group identifier 1 and the synchronization indication in the downlink data packet of the QoS flow of service 1 that needs synchronization, and the base station receives downlink data packet 1 to downlink data packet 10 within a period of time, and the information contained in the GTP-U packet header of the 10 downlink data packets is as follows, respectively:

[0339] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 1 carries frame number 1, QFI 1, AN TEID 1, and group identifier 1;

[0340] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 2 carries frame number 2, QFI 2, AN TEID 1, group identifier 1, and the synchronization indication;

[0341] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 3 carries frame number 3, QFI 3, AN TEID 1, and group identifier 1;

[0342] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 4 carries frame number 4, QFI 1, AN TEID 2, group identifier 1, and the synchronization indication;

[0343] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 5 carries frame number 5, QFI 2, AN TEID 2, and group identifier 1;

[0344] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 6 carries frame number 6, QFI 1, AN TEID 3;

[0345] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 7 carries frame number 7, QFI 2, AN TEID 3;

[0346] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 8 carries frame number 8, QFI 1, AN TEID 4, group identifier 1, and the synchronization indication;

[0347] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 9 carries frame number 9, QFI 2, AN TEID 4, and group identifier 1;

[0348] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 10 carries frame number 10, QFI 1, and AN TEID 5.

[0349] After the base station receives the above 10 downlink data packets, it screens out the downlink data packets carrying group identifier 1, i.e., downlink data packet 1 to downlink data packet 5, and downlink data packet 8 and downlink data packet 9, and then screens out the downlink data packets carrying the synchronization indication from them, i.e., downlink data packet 2, downlink data packet 4, and downlink data packet 8, and synchronizes the data flow (or QoS flow) of the service according to the frame numbers in downlink data packet 2, downlink data packet 4, and downlink data packet 8.

[0350] Alternatively, after receiving the above-mentioned 10 downlink data packets, the base station directly screens out the downlink data packet 2, the downlink data packet 4 and the downlink data packet 8 carrying the group identifier 1 and the synchronization indication, and synchronizes the data stream (or QoS stream) of the service according to the frame number in the downlink data packet 2, the downlink data packet 4 and the downlink data packet 8.

[0351] The specific method of synchronously scheduling the data stream (or the data packet of the QoS stream) of the service by the base station can be referred to the description in step 414, and will not be described here.

[0352] In the above scheme, the base station allocates the same group identifier to the PDU sessions of the associated UEs according to the association identifier, so as to ensure that the group identifiers corresponding to the associated PDU sessions are unique. The PDU sessions corresponding to one group identifier are the PDU sessions to which the QoS streams of the same service belong. When the base station receives the QoS streams that need to be synchronized, the base station finds the QoS streams that need to be synchronized in the PDU sessions containing the same group identifier and synchronously schedules them according to the synchronization rule, so as to ensure the synchronization of different data streams of the same service, thereby improving the user experience.

[0353] Figure 6 A flowchart of a synchronously scheduling method provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown. In this embodiment, the base station records a plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers used for transmitting the data packets of the QoS streams of the same service that need to be synchronized, the base station determines the data packets received from the GTP-U tunnels corresponding to the access network tunnel endpoint identifiers as the data packets that may need to be synchronized, and then the base station further determines the data packets that need to be synchronized from the data packets that may need to be synchronized, and synchronously schedules the data packets that need to be synchronized. In this embodiment, the base station determines the synchronization relationship between the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers.

[0354] The method comprises the following steps:

[0355] Step 601a is the same as step 501a described above.

[0356] Step 601b is the same as step 501b described above.

[0357] Steps 602 to 604 are the same as steps 502 to 504 described above.

[0358] Step 605: The base station allocates an access network tunnel endpoint identifier (AN TEID) to each PDU session, and records the synchronization relationship between the AN TEIDs.

[0359] A method for implementation, the SMF / PCF / AF assigns an association identifier, and the base station determines the PDU sessions to which the QoS flows of the service that need to be synchronized belong according to the identifier information of the SMF / PCF / AF and the association identifier (i.e. the identifier information of the SMF and the association identifier, or the identifier information of the PCF and the association identifier, or the identifier information of the AF and the association identifier), and establishes the synchronization relationship between the AN TEIDs corresponding to the PDU sessions, which indicates that the QoS flows of the service that need to be synchronized are transmitted in the tunnels corresponding to the AN TEIDs. Optionally, if the SMF also sends the QFIs of the QoS flows of the service that need to be synchronized to the base station in the above step 604, the base station can also establish the correspondence between the AN TEIDs and the QFIs of the QoS flows that need to be synchronized.

[0360] Taking the example of FIG. 3(a) as an example, assuming that the SMF / PCF / AF assigns the association identifier 1 to the PDU session 1, the PDU session 2 and the PDU session 4, the base station can receive the association identifier 1 and the identifier information of the SMF / PCF / AF through the step 604, and determine that the PDU sessions to which the QoS flows of the service that need to be synchronized belong include the PDU session 1, the PDU session 2 and the PDU session 4 according to the association identifier 1 and the identifier information of the SMF / PCF / AF. Then the base station also allocates different AN TEIDs to each PDU session of the UE respectively, and the allocation result is shown in FIG. 3(c). And the base station establishes the synchronization relationship between the AN TEID1, the AN TEID2 and the AN TEID4 according to the association identifier, and the QoS flows of the service that need to be synchronized will be transmitted to the base station through the GTP-U tunnels corresponding to the AN TEID1, the AN TEID2 and the AN TEID4 in the future. If the SMF also sends the QFIs of the QoS flows of the service that need to be synchronized (i.e. the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4 and the QoS flow 8) to the base station in the above step 604, the base station establishes the following correspondence:

[0361] 1), the synchronization relationship between the AN TEID1, the AN TEID2 and the AN TEID4;

[0362] 2), the correspondence between the AN TEID1 and the QFI2, the QFI2 is the identifier information of the QoS flow 2;

[0363] 3), the correspondence between the AN TEID2 and the QFI1, the QFI1 is the identifier information of the QoS flow 4;

[0364] 4), the correspondence between the AN TEID4 and the QFI1, the QFI1 is the identifier information of the QoS flow 8.

[0365] Step 606, the base station sends the AN TEID to the SMF.

[0366] Step 607a, the SMF sends an AN TEID to the UPF, and optionally, sends a QFI of a QoS flow corresponding to the service and a synchronization indication to the UPF.

[0367] Step 607b, the UPF sends response information to the SMF.

[0368] The response information is a response to step 607a.

[0369] Step 608, the SMF sends response information to the PCF.

[0370] The response information is a response to step 603.

[0371] Step 609, the PCF sends response information to the AF.

[0372] The response information is a response to step 602.

[0373] The above steps 607b, 608, and 609 are optional steps.

[0374] Step 610, the AF sends a downlink data packet of the service to the UPF.

[0375] The service is the service indicated by the identification information of the service in step 602.

[0376] Step 611, the UPF encapsulates the downlink data packet.

[0377] The UPF adds a GTP-U header to the received downlink data packet, and the GTP-U header includes a frame number, a QFI, and an AN TEID. Optionally, if the UPF receives a synchronization indication from the SMF, the GTP-U header of the downlink data packet of the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized further includes the synchronization indication.

[0378] Step 612, the UPF sends the downlink data packet to the base station.

[0379] Step 613, the base station synchronously schedules the downlink data packet of the service.

[0380] In one implementation method, if step 607a does not send the QFI of the QoS flow corresponding to the service that needs synchronization and the synchronization indication, and if the downlink data packets sent by the UPF to the base station do not carry the synchronization indication, then the base station performs synchronized scheduling on the following types of downlink data packets according to the synchronization relationship between AN TEID1, AN TEID2 and AN TEID4, the correspondence between AN TEID1 and QFI2, the correspondence between AN TEID2 and QFI1, and the correspondence between AN TEID4 and QFI1: downlink data packets carrying AN TEID1 and QFI2, downlink data packets carrying AN TEID2 and QFI1, and downlink data packets carrying AN TEID4 and QFI1.

[0381] In another implementation method, if step 607a sends the QFI of the QoS flow corresponding to the service that needs synchronization and the synchronization indication, and if the downlink data packets of the QoS flow that need synchronization sent by the UPF to the base station all carry the synchronization indication, then the base station performs synchronized scheduling on the following types of downlink data packets according to the synchronization relationship between AN TEID1, AN TEID2 and AN TEID4: downlink data packets carrying AN TEID1 and the synchronization indication, downlink data packets carrying AN TEID2 and the synchronization indication, and downlink data packets carrying AN TEID4 and the synchronization indication.

[0382] Taking the example of FIG. 3(a) as an example, it is assumed that the UPF adds the synchronization indication in the downlink data packets of the QoS flow of service 1 that needs synchronization, and that the base station receives downlink data packet 1 to downlink data packet 10 in a period of time. The information contained in the GTP-U packet header of the 10 downlink data packets is as follows, respectively:

[0383] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 1 carries frame number 1, QFI1, and AN TEID1;

[0384] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 2 carries frame number 2, QFI2, AN TEID1, and the synchronization indication;

[0385] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 3 carries frame number 3, QFI3, and AN TEID1;

[0386] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 4 carries frame number 4, QFI1, AN TEID2, and the synchronization indication;

[0387] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 5 carries frame number 5, QFI2, and AN TEID2;

[0388] The GTP-U packet header of downlink data packet 6 carries frame number 6, QFI1, and AN TEID3;

[0389] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 7 carries the frame number 7, QFI 2, and AN TEID 3;

[0390] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 8 carries the frame number 8, QFI 1, AN TEID 4, and a synchronization indication;

[0391] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 9 carries the frame number 9, QFI 2, and AN TEID 4;

[0392] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 10 carries the frame number 10, QFI 1, and AN TEID 5.

[0393] After receiving the above 10 downlink data packets, the base station screens out the downlink data packets carrying AN TEID 1, AN TEID 2, or AN TEID 4, i.e., the downlink data packets 1 to 5, and the downlink data packets 8 and 9, and then screens out the downlink data packets 2, 4, and 8 carrying the synchronization indication from the downlink data packets, and synchronizes the data flow (or QoS flow) of the service according to the frame numbers in the downlink data packets 2, 4, and 8.

[0394] Alternatively, after receiving the above 10 downlink data packets, the base station directly screens out the downlink data packets 2, 4, and 8 carrying the synchronization indication and carrying AN TEID 1, AN TEID 2, or AN TEID 4, and synchronizes the data flow (or QoS flow) of the service according to the frame numbers in the downlink data packets 2, 4, and 8.

[0395] The specific method of synchronously scheduling the data flow of the service by the base station can refer to the description in step 414, and will not be described here.

[0396] In the above scheme, the base station generates AN TEIDs for each PDU session, and associates the AN TEIDs of the PDU sessions to which the QoS flows of the same service that need to be synchronized belong, i.e., establishes a synchronization relationship between the AN TEIDs of the PDU sessions to which the QoS flows of the same service that need to be synchronized belong. When the base station receives the QoS flows that need to be synchronized, the base station finds the QoS flows that need to be synchronized in the GTP-U tunnels corresponding to the AN TEIDs that have established a synchronization relationship, and synchronously schedules the QoS flows according to the synchronization rules, which can ensure the synchronization of different data flows of the same service, thereby improving the user experience.

[0397] Figure 7A synchronous scheduling method flowchart is provided for the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiments, a base station records a plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers of data packets of a QoS flow of a service that needs to be synchronized, the base station determines that the data packets received from the GTP-U tunnels corresponding to the access network tunnel endpoint identifiers are data packets that may need to be synchronized, then the base station further determines data packets that need to be synchronized from the data packets that may need to be synchronized, and performs synchronous scheduling according to the data packets that need to be synchronized. In the embodiments, the SMF determines the synchronization relationship between the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers, and sends the synchronization relationship to the base station.

[0398] The method comprises the following steps:

[0399] Step 701a is the same as step 501a described above.

[0400] Step 701b is the same as step 501b described above.

[0401] Steps 702 to 703 are the same as steps 502 to 503 described above.

[0402] Step 704: The SMF sends a synchronization rule to the base station.

[0403] The meaning of the synchronization rule can refer to the description of the foregoing embodiments.

[0404] Step 705: The base station allocates an access network tunnel endpoint identifier (AN TEID) for each PDU session, and sends the AN TEID to the SMF.

[0405] Step 706: The SMF sends the synchronization relationship between the AN TEIDs to the base station.

[0406] An implementation method is that the PCF / AF generates an association identifier and sends the association identifier directly or indirectly to the SMF, then the SMF determines the PDU sessions to which the QoS flow of the service that needs to be synchronized belongs according to the association identifier, and establishes the synchronization relationship between the AN TEIDs corresponding to the PDU sessions, which indicates that the QoS flow of the service that needs to be synchronized is transmitted in the tunnels corresponding to the AN TEIDs, then the SMF sends the synchronization relationship between the AN TEIDs to the base station. Optionally, the SMF can also send the correspondence between the AN TEID and the QFI of the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized to the base station.

[0407] In another implementation method, the SMF determines the PDU sessions to which the QoS flows of the service requiring synchronization belong, and establishes a synchronization relationship between the AN TEIDs corresponding to the PDU sessions, which indicates that the QoS flows of the service requiring synchronization are transmitted in the tunnels corresponding to the AN TEIDs, and then the SMF sends the synchronization relationship between the AN TEIDs to the base station. Optionally, the SMF can also send the correspondence between the AN TEIDs and the QFIs of the QoS flows requiring synchronization to the base station.

[0408] Assuming that the QFIs allocated by the SMF for the QoS flows and the AN TEIDs allocated by the base station are as shown in FIG. 3(c), the SMF determines (or the SMF determines by itself) that the PDU sessions to which the QoS flows of the service requiring synchronization belong include PDU session 1, PDU session 2 and PDU session 4 according to the association identifier allocated by the PCF / AF, the SMF establishes a synchronization relationship between AN TEID 1, AN TEID 2 and AN TEID 4, and the QoS flows of the service requiring synchronization will be transmitted to the base station through the GTP-U tunnels corresponding to AN TEID 1, AN TEID 2 and AN TEID 4 in the future, so the SMF sends the synchronization relationship between AN TEID 1, AN TEID 2 and AN TEID 4 to the base station. Optionally, the SMF can also send the correspondence between the AN TEIDs and the QFIs of the QoS flows requiring synchronization to the base station, that is, the SMF sends the following correspondence to the base station:

[0409] 1) the synchronization relationship between AN TEID 1, AN TEID 2 and AN TEID 4;

[0410] 2) the correspondence between AN TEID 1 and QFI 2, the QFI 2 being the identifier information of QoS flow 2;

[0411] 3) the correspondence between AN TEID 2 and QFI 1, the QFI 1 being the identifier information of QoS flow 4;

[0412] 4) the correspondence between AN TEID 4 and QFI 1, the QFI 1 being the identifier information of QoS flow 8.

[0413] Step 707a is the same as step 607a.

[0414] Step 707b is the same as step 607b.

[0415] Steps 708 to 713 are the same as steps 608 to 613.

[0416] Steps 707b, 708 and 709 are optional steps.

[0417] The above scheme, the base station generates AN TEIDs for each PDU session, and the SMF associates the AN TEIDs with synchronization relationship, that is, establishes synchronization relationship for the AN TEIDs of the PDU sessions to which the QoS flows corresponding to the same service need to be synchronized, and then the SMF sends the synchronization relationship to the base station. When the base station receives the QoS flows that need to be synchronized, the base station finds the QoS flows that need to be synchronized in the tunnels corresponding to the AN TEIDs with which the synchronization relationship is established, and synchronously schedules according to the synchronization rules, which can ensure the synchronization of different data flows of the same service, thereby improving the user experience.

[0418] Figure 8 A flowchart of a synchronization scheduling method is provided for the embodiments of the present application. In this embodiment, the base station records multiple access network tunnel endpoint identifiers used for transmitting data packets of QoS flows that need to be synchronized corresponding to a service, and the identification information of a network device that allocates the access network tunnel endpoint identifiers. When the data packets received by the base station contain the access network tunnel endpoint identifiers and the identification information of the network device, the base station determines that the data packets are possibly synchronized data packets. Then, the base station further determines the data packets that need to be synchronized from the possibly synchronized data packets, and performs synchronization scheduling according to the data packets that need to be synchronized. In this embodiment, the base station determines the synchronization relationship between the multiple access network tunnel endpoint identifiers.

[0419] The method comprises the following steps:

[0420] Step 801a is the same as step 501a described above.

[0421] Step 801b is the same as step 501b described above.

[0422] Steps 802 to 804 are the same as steps 502 to 504 described above.

[0423] Step 805, the base station establishes the correspondence between the identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF and the associated identification.

[0424] The base station allocates different access network tunnel endpoint identifiers (AN TEIDs) for different PDU sessions.

[0425] If the SMF allocates the association identifier, step 804 also sends the identification information of the SMF, and the base station establishes the correspondence between the identification information of the SMF and the association identifier. If the PCF allocates the association identifier, both step 803 and step 804 send the identification information of the PCF, and the base station establishes the correspondence between the identification information of the PCF and the association identifier. If the AF allocates the association identifier, both step 802, step 803 and step 804 send the identification information of the AF, and the base station establishes the correspondence between the identification information of the AF and the association identifier. Subsequently, if the base station receives a downlink data packet carrying the identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF and the association identifier, the base station will synchronously schedule the downlink data packet.

[0426] Step 806, the base station sends the AN TEID to the SMF.

[0427] Step 807a, the SMF sends the AN TEID, the association identifier and the identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF to the UPF. Optionally, the QFI of the QoS flow corresponding to the service and the synchronization indication are also sent to the UPF.

[0428] If the SMF allocates the association identifier, the SMF sends the AN TEID, the association identifier and the identification information of the SMF to the UPF. If the PCF allocates the association identifier, the SMF sends the AN TEID, the association identifier and the identification information of the PCF to the UPF. If the AF allocates the association identifier, the SMF sends the AN TEID, the association identifier and the identification information of the AF to the UPF.

[0429] Step 807b, the UPF sends response information to the SMF.

[0430] The response information is a response to step 807a.

[0431] Step 808, the SMF sends response information to the PCF.

[0432] The response information is a response to step 803.

[0433] Step 809, the PCF sends response information to the AF.

[0434] The response information is a response to step 802.

[0435] The above steps 807b, step 808 and step 809 are optional steps.

[0436] Step 810, the AF sends a downlink data packet of a service to the UPF.

[0437] The service is the service indicated by the identification information of the service in step 802.

[0438] Step 811, the UPF encapsulates the downlink data packet.

[0439] The UPF adds a GTP-U header to the received downlink data packet of the QoS flow requiring synchronization, the GTP-U header including a frame number, a QFI, an AN TEID, an association identifier, and identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF. Optionally, if the UPF receives a synchronization indication from the SMF, the GTP-U header of the downlink data packet of the QoS flow requiring synchronization further includes the synchronization indication.

[0440] Step 812, the UPF sends the downlink data packet to the base station.

[0441] Step 813, the base station synchronously schedules the downlink data packet of the service.

[0442] Taking FIG. 3(c) as an example, in one implementation method, if the step 807a does not send the QFI of the QoS flow requiring synchronization corresponding to the service and the synchronization indication, the downlink data packet sent by the UPF to the base station does not carry the synchronization indication, and the base station synchronously schedules the following types of downlink data packets according to the correspondence between the identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF and the association identifier: the downlink data packets carrying the QFI1, the identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF, and the association identifier, and the downlink data packets carrying the QFI2, the identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF, and the association identifier. The association identifiers carried in these downlink data packets are the same, and the identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF is the same.

[0443] In another implementation method, if the step 807a sends the QFI of the QoS flow requiring synchronization corresponding to the service and the synchronization indication, the downlink data packet of the QoS flow requiring synchronization sent by the UPF to the base station carries the synchronization indication, and the base station synchronously schedules the downlink data packets carrying the synchronization indication, the same identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF, and the same association identifier according to the correspondence between the identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF and the association identifier. The association identifiers carried in these downlink data packets are the same, and the identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF is the same.

[0444] Taking the example of FIG. 3(c) as an example, assuming that the UPF adds the synchronization indication in the downlink data packet of the QoS flow requiring synchronization of the service 1, the association identifier 1 is allocated by the SMF1, the identification information of the SMF1 is the SMF ID1, and the base station receives the downlink data packet 1 to the downlink data packet 10 in a period of time, and the information contained in the GTP-U header of the 10 downlink data packets is as follows:

[0445] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 1 carries frame number 1, QFI1, AN TEID1, SMF ID1, and association identifier 1.

[0446] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 2 carries frame number 2, QFI2, AN TEID1, SMF ID1, association identifier 1, and synchronization indication.

[0447] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 3 carries frame number 3, QFI3, AN TEID1, SMF ID1, and association identifier 1.

[0448] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 4 carries frame number 4, QFI1, AN TEID2, SMF ID1, association identifier 1, and synchronization indication.

[0449] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 5 carries frame number 5, QFI2, AN TEID2, SMF ID1, and association identifier 1.

[0450] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 6 carries frame number 6, QFI1, and AN TEID3.

[0451] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 7 carries frame number 7, QFI2, and AN TEID3.

[0452] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 8 carries frame number 8, QFI1, AN TEID4, SMF ID1, association identifier 1, and synchronization indication.

[0453] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 9 carries frame number 9, QFI2, AN TEID4, SMF ID1, and association identifier 1.

[0454] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 10 carries frame number 10, QFI1, and AN TEID5.

[0455] After receiving the above 10 downlink data packets, the base station screens out the downlink data packets carrying SMF ID1 and association identifier 1, i.e., downlink data packets 1 to 5, and downlink data packets 8 and 9, and then screens out the downlink data packets carrying synchronization indication from them, i.e., downlink data packets 2, 4, and 8, and synchronizes the data flow (or QoS flow) of the service according to the frame numbers in the downlink data packets 2, 4, and 8.

[0456] Alternatively, after receiving the 10 downlink data packets, the base station directly screens out the downlink data packet 2, the downlink data packet 4 and the downlink data packet 8 carrying the SMF ID1, the association identifier 1 and the synchronization indication, and synchronizes the data stream (or QoS flow) of the service according to the frame number in the downlink data packet 2, the downlink data packet 4 and the downlink data packet 8.

[0457] The specific method of synchronously scheduling the data stream of the service by the base station can be referred to the description in step 414, and will not be described here.

[0458] In the above scheme, the base station generates an AN TEID for each PDU session, and establishes a correspondence between the identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF and the association identifier. When the base station receives a QoS flow that needs to be synchronized, the base station determines the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized from the QoS flow carrying the identification information of the SMF / PCF / AF and synchronously schedules according to the synchronization rule, which can ensure the synchronization of different data streams of the same service and improve the user experience.

[0459] Figure 9 A flowchart of a synchronously scheduling method is provided for the embodiments of the present application. In this embodiment, the multiple PDU sessions to which the QoS flows that need to be synchronized of one service belong are allocated to the same GTP-U tunnel, so that the data packets of the QoS flows that need to be synchronized of the service are all transmitted through the GTP-U tunnel, and the GTP-U tunnel is dedicated to transmitting the data packets of the QoS flows that need to be synchronized of the service and does not transmit other data packets. The data packets received by the base station from the GTP-U tunnel are all data packets that need to be synchronized, and the base station synchronously schedules according to the data packets that need to be synchronized.

[0460] The method comprises the following steps:

[0461] Step 901a is the same as step 401a described above.

[0462] Step 901b is the same as step 401b described above.

[0463] Steps 902 to 903 are the same as steps 402 to 403 described above.

[0464] Step 904: The SMF sends the association identifier of the service, the synchronization rule of the service and the QFI of the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized corresponding to the service to the base station.

[0465] The meanings of the association identifier and the synchronization rule can be referred to the description in step 404.

[0466] Different from the step 404, in the step 904, when the SMF allocates the QFI for each QoS flow, the SMF allocates different QFIs for the QoS flows that need to be synchronized in the associated PDU session, and allocates the QFI according to the existing method for the QoS flows that do not need to be synchronized in the associated PDU session, that is, for the QoS flows that do not need to be synchronized in the associated PDU session, it is only required to ensure that the QFIs of the QoS flows that do not need to be synchronized in the same PDU session are different, and it is not required to ensure that the QFIs of the QoS flows that do not need to be synchronized in different PDU sessions are different. Taking the example of the FIG. 3(a) as an example, the QFIs allocated by the SMF in the embodiment are shown in the FIG. 3(d).

[0467] In the step 905, the base station allocates the same access network tunnel end point identifier (AN TEID) for the QoS flows that need to be synchronized in the PDU sessions corresponding to the same associated identifier.

[0468] The method of allocating the AN TEID allocates the QoS flows that need to be synchronized in the same service to the same GTP-U tunnel, so that the base station only needs to detect the data packets in the GTP-U tunnel and identify the data packets that need to be synchronized, and does not need to identify the data packets that need to be synchronized in other GTP-U tunnels, which helps to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the synchronization. Moreover, since the QoS flows in the GTP-U tunnel are all the QoS flows that need to be synchronized, the GTP-U tunnel does not contain the QoS flows that do not need to be synchronized, so the UPF does not need to add the synchronization indication in the GTP-U packet header after receiving the data packet from the AF, and the base station performs the synchronization scheduling processing on all the data packets received on the GTP-U tunnel.

[0469] For other PDU sessions, the base station can normally allocate an AN TEID for each PDU session according to the existing method, and bind the QFI corresponding to the AN TEID.

[0470] Taking the example of the FIG. 3(a) as an example, the AN TEIDs allocated by the base station in the embodiment can be shown in the FIG. 3(d).

[0471] The step 906 is the same as the step 407 described above.

[0472] The step 907a is the same as the step 408a described above.

[0473] The step 907b is the same as the step 408b described above.

[0474] The steps 908 to 910 are the same as the steps 409 to 411 described above.

[0475] The steps 907b, 908 and 909 described above are optional steps.

[0476] Step 911, the UPF encapsulates the downlink data packet.

[0477] The UPF adds a GTP-U header to the received downlink data packet, and the GTP-U header includes a frame number, a QFI, and an AN TEID.

[0478] Step 912, the UPF sends the downlink data packet to the base station.

[0479] Step 913, the base station synchronously schedules the downlink data packet of the service.

[0480] The base station synchronously schedules the downlink data packet in the GTP-U tunnel in which the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized is located, and the downlink data packet received through the GTP-U tunnel is the downlink data packet of the service that needs to be synchronized.

[0481] In this embodiment, the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized of one service is allocated to the same GTP-U tunnel for transmission, and the GTP-U tunnel does not include the QoS flow that does not need to be synchronized, so the base station only needs to detect the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized of the service in one GTP-U tunnel. For example, in FIG. 3(d), the QoS flow 2, the QoS flow 4, and the QoS flow 8 that need to be synchronized are all allocated to the GTP-U tunnel 1 indicated by the AN TEID 1 for transmission, so the base station only needs to detect the QoS flow that needs to be synchronized of the service in the GTP-U tunnel 1.

[0482] For example, in FIG. 3(d), it is assumed that the base station receives downlink data packet 1 to downlink data packet 10 in a period of time, and the information included in the GTP-U header of the 10 downlink data packets is as follows:

[0483] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 1 carries the frame number 1, the QFI 1, and the AN TEID 2.

[0484] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 2 carries the frame number 2, the QFI 1, and the AN TEID 1.

[0485] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 3 carries the frame number 3, the QFI 2, and the AN TEID 2.

[0486] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 4 carries the frame number 4, the QFI 2, and the AN TEID 1.

[0487] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 5 carries the frame number 5, the QFI 1, and the AN TEID 3.

[0488] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 6 carries the frame number 6, the QFI 1, and the AN TEID 4.

[0489] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 7 carries the frame number 7, the QFI 2, and the AN TEID 4.

[0490] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 8 carries the frame number 8, the QFI 3, and the AN TEID 1.

[0491] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 9 carries the frame number 9, the QFI 1, and the AN TEID 5.

[0492] The GTP-U header of the downlink data packet 10 carries the frame number 10, the QFI 1, and the AN TEID 6.

[0493] After receiving the above 10 downlink data packets, the base station screens out the downlink data packets carrying the AN-TEID 1, i.e., the downlink data packet 2, the downlink data packet 4, and the downlink data packet 8, and synchronizes the data flow (or QoS flow) of the service according to the frame numbers in the downlink data packet 2, the downlink data packet 4, and the downlink data packet 8.

[0494] The specific method of synchronously scheduling the data flow of the service by the base station can refer to the description in step 414, and will not be described herein again.

[0495] In the above scheme, the QoS flows of a service that need to be synchronized are allocated to the same GTP-U tunnel, the GTP-U tunnel is identified by the AN TEID, and the PDU sessions to which the QoS flows belong are bound by the same association identifier. The base station synchronously schedules the QoS flows that need to be synchronized, which can ensure the synchronization of different data flows of the same service, thereby improving the user experience. Moreover, since the QoS flows that need to be synchronized are allocated to the same GTP-U tunnel for transmission, and the GTP-U tunnel does not contain QoS flows that do not need to be synchronized, the QoS flows of the GTP-U tunnel are all QoS flows that need to be synchronized, and the downlink data packets of the QoS flows do not need to carry the synchronization indication, so the synchronization speed and accuracy can be improved, thereby improving the user experience.

[0496] The embodiments of the application have the following differences compared with the embodiments of the application described above. Figure 9 In the embodiments of the application, the QoS flows that need to be synchronized are allocated to the same GTP-U tunnel, and the GTP-U tunnel does not contain QoS flows that do not need to be synchronized. Figure 4 In the embodiments of the application, the QoS flows that need to be synchronized are allocated to the same GTP-U tunnel, but the GTP-U tunnel can also contain QoS flows that do not need to be synchronized. Figure 9 Figure 4

[0497] ​​It can be understood that, in order to realize the functions in the above embodiments, the access network device, the user plane network element or the session management network element comprises a hardware structure and / or a software module for performing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in the present application, the present application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is realized in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0498] Figure 10 and Figure 11 The structural schematic diagram of a possible communication apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application is shown. The communication apparatus can be used to realize the functions of the access network device, the user plane network element or the session management network element in the above method embodiments, and thus can also realize the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus can be an access network device, a user plane network element or a session management network element, or a module (such as a chip) applied to an access network device, a user plane network element or a session management network element.

[0499] Figure 10 The communication apparatus 1000 shown comprises a processing unit 1010 and a transceiver unit 1020. The communication apparatus 1000 is used to realize the functions of the access network device, the user plane network element or the session management network element in the above method embodiments.

[0500] When the communication apparatus 1000 is used to realize the functions of the access network device in the above method embodiments, the transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a plurality of data packets of a target service from a user plane network element, the plurality of data packets belonging to a plurality of QoS flows, each data packet in the plurality of data packets containing a QFI, the QFI being used to identify a QoS flow to which the data packet belongs, the plurality of QoS flows comprising at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; and the processing unit 1010 is configured to determine at least two data packets containing the same marking information from the plurality of data packets, the marking information corresponding to a plurality of data connection sessions to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; determine at least two target data packets from the at least two data packets, the at least two target data packets corresponding to the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; and perform synchronized scheduling on the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the at least two target data packets.

[0501] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1020 is further configured to receive, before receiving the multiple data packets of the target service from the user plane network element, an association identifier from a session management network element, the association identifier being associated with a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; and the processor 1010 is further configured to determine the marking information for the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, according to the association identifier; and the transceiver 1020 is further configured to send the marking information to the user plane network element through the session management network element.

[0502] In a possible implementation, the marking information is a group identifier allocated by the access network device, the group identifier being for the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

[0503] In a possible implementation, the marking information is an access network tunnel endpoint identifier, the access network tunnel endpoint identifier being used to identify a GTP-U tunnel used to transmit a QoS flow in the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

[0504] In a possible implementation, the marking information includes an association identifier and an identifier of a network device, the association identifier being associated with the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, and the network device being a session management network element, a policy control network element, or an application function network element that generates the association identifier.

[0505] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1020 is further configured to receive, from a session management network element, QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; and the at least two target data packets refer to data packets containing a target QFI, the target QFI being any one of the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0506] In a possible implementation, the at least two target data packets refer to data packets containing a synchronization indication, the synchronization indication being used to indicate that a QoS flow to which the data packet belongs is a QoS flow of the target service that needs to be synchronized.

[0507] In a possible implementation, the processor 1010 is specifically configured to perform synchronization scheduling on the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, according to synchronization state information and frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, the synchronization state information being used to indicate a correspondence relationship between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in a synchronization state.

[0508] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 1010 is specifically configured to determine, according to the synchronization state information and frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, that the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized do not meet a synchronization accuracy, wherein the synchronization accuracy is used to indicate a deviation of the frame numbers of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the synchronization state, and adjust a sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0509] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1020 is further configured to receive the synchronization state information and the synchronization accuracy from a session management network element.

[0510] In a possible implementation, the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized correspond to a plurality of terminal devices.

[0511] When the communication apparatus 1000 is configured to implement the functions of the access network device in the method embodiments, the transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a plurality of data packets of a target service from a user plane network element, wherein the plurality of data packets belong to a plurality of QoS flows, each data packet in the plurality of data packets contains a QFI, the QFI is used to identify a QoS flow to which the data packet belongs, and the plurality of QoS flows include at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; the processing unit 1010 is configured to determine, from the plurality of data packets, at least two data packets containing a same access network tunnel endpoint identifier, the at least two data packets correspond to the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, the access network tunnel endpoint identifier is used to identify a target tunnel, the target tunnel is a GTP-U tunnel that transmits the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, and the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized correspond to a data connection session; and the processing unit 1010 is configured to perform synchronization scheduling on the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the at least two data packets.

[0512] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1020 is further configured to receive, before receiving the plurality of data packets of the target service from the user plane network element, an association identifier and QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized from a session management network element, wherein the association identifier is associated with a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; the processing unit 1010 is further configured to determine, according to the association identifier and the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, the access network tunnel endpoint identifier for the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; and the transceiver unit 1020 is further configured to send the access network tunnel endpoint identifier to the user plane network element through the session management network element.

[0513] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 1010 is specifically configured to perform synchronization scheduling on the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the synchronization state information and frame numbers contained in the at least two data packets, where the synchronization state information is used to indicate a correspondence between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the synchronization state.

[0514] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 1010 is specifically configured to determine that the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized do not meet a synchronization precision according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two data packets, and adjust a sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, where the synchronization precision is used to indicate a deviation of the frame numbers of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the synchronization state.

[0515] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1020 is further configured to receive the synchronization state information and the synchronization precision from a session management network element.

[0516] In a possible implementation, the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized correspond to a plurality of terminal devices.

[0517] When the communication apparatus 1000 is configured to implement the functions of the access network device in the method embodiments, the transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a plurality of data packets of a target service from a user plane network element, where the plurality of data packets belong to a plurality of QoS flows, each data packet in the plurality of data packets contains a QFI, the QFI is used to identify a QoS flow to which the data packet belongs, and the plurality of QoS flows include at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; the processing unit 1010 is configured to determine at least two data packets from the plurality of data packets according to a synchronization relationship between a plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers, each data packet in the at least two data packets further contains any access network tunnel endpoint identifier in the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers, and the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers respectively indicate GTP-U tunnels that are all used to transmit the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; determine at least two target data packets from the at least two data packets, the at least two target data packets correspond to the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; and perform synchronization scheduling on the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to the at least two target data packets.

[0518] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1020 is further configured to receive, before receiving the plurality of data packets of the target service from the user plane network element, an association identifier from the session management network element, the association identifier being associated with a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; and the processor 1010 is further configured to determine, for the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, a plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers, the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers corresponding to the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong in a one-to-one manner; and establish the synchronization relationship according to the association identifier.

[0519] In a possible implementation, the processor 1010 is further configured to determine, before the transceiver 1020 receives the plurality of data packets of the target service from the user plane network element, a plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers for a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers corresponding to the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong in a one-to-one manner; and the transceiver 1020 is further configured to send, to the session management network element, the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers; and receive, from the session management network element, the synchronization relationship.

[0520] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1020 is further configured to receive, from the session management network element, QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; and the at least two target data packets refer to data packets containing a target QFI, the target QFI being any one of the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0521] In a possible implementation, the at least two target data packets refer to data packets containing a synchronization indication, the synchronization indication being used to indicate that a QoS flow to which the data packet belongs is a QoS flow of the target service that needs to be synchronized.

[0522] In a possible implementation, the processor 1010 is specifically configured to perform synchronization scheduling on the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized according to synchronization state information and frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, the synchronization state information being used to indicate a correspondence relationship between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in a synchronization state.

[0523] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 1010 is specifically configured to determine, according to the synchronization state information and frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, that the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized do not meet a synchronization precision, and adjust a sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, the synchronization precision being used to indicate a deviation of the frame numbers of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the synchronization state.

[0524] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1020 is further configured to receive the synchronization state information and the synchronization precision from a session management network element.

[0525] In a possible implementation, the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized correspond to a plurality of terminal devices.

[0526] When the communication apparatus 1000 is configured to implement the function of a user plane network element in the method embodiments, the transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a plurality of data packets of a target service from an application function network element, the plurality of data packets belonging to a plurality of QoS flows, and the plurality of QoS flows including at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; the processing unit 1010 is configured to add, in at least two data packets of the plurality of data packets, marking information and a quality of service flow identifier QFI, the QFI in each data packet of the at least two data packets being used to identify a quality of service QoS flow to which the data packet belongs, and the marking information corresponding to a plurality of protocol data unit data connection sessions to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; and the transceiver unit 1020 is further configured to send, to an access network device, the plurality of data packets of the at least two data packets containing the added marking information and QFI.

[0527] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1020 is further configured to receive the marking information from the access network device.

[0528] In a possible implementation, the marking information is a group identifier allocated by the access network device, and the group identifier corresponds to the data connection sessions to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

[0529] In a possible implementation, the marking information is an access network tunnel endpoint identifier, and the access network tunnel endpoint identifier is used to identify a GTP-U tunnel used to transmit the QoS flows in the data connection sessions to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

[0530] In a possible implementation, the marking information includes an association identifier and identification information of a network device, the association identifier is associated with a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, and the network device is a session management network element, a policy control network element, or an application function network element that generates the association identifier.

[0531] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1020 is further configured to receive, from a session management network element, QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; and the processor 1010 is further configured to, before sending, by the transceiver 1020, a plurality of data packets including the at least two data packets and the added marking information and QFIs to an access network device, add, according to the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, a synchronization indication in at least two target data packets of the at least two data packets, the at least two target data packets corresponding to the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, and the synchronization indication is used to indicate that a QoS flow to which the target data packet belongs is the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0532] In a possible implementation, the at least two target data packets each include a frame number, and the frame number is used for synchronization scheduling of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0533] In a possible implementation, the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized correspond to a plurality of terminal devices.

[0534] When the communication apparatus 1000 is configured to implement a function of a session management network element in the method embodiments, the processor 1010 is configured to generate an association identifier, the association identifier being associated with a data connection session to which at least two QoS flows of a target service that need to be synchronized belong; and the transceiver 1020 is configured to send, to an access network device, the association identifier, the association identifier being used for synchronization scheduling of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0535] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1020 is further configured to send, to the access network device, synchronization precision and synchronization state information, the synchronization state information being used to indicate a correspondence between frame numbers in data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in a synchronization state, and the synchronization precision being used to indicate a deviation of the frame numbers of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the synchronization state.

[0536] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1020 is further configured to receive, from a policy control network element, a PCC rule, the PCC rule including identification information of the target service and the synchronization state information.

[0537] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1020 is further configured to send, to a user plane network element, QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0538] When the communication apparatus 1000 is configured to implement the function of the session management network element in the method embodiments, the processor 1010 is configured to determine a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; and the transceiver 1020 is configured to receive, from an access network device, a plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers corresponding to the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, the data connection session and the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers corresponding to each other in a one-to-one manner; the processor 1010 is further configured to establish a synchronization relationship between the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers; and the transceiver 1020 is further configured to send, to the access network device, the synchronization relationship, the synchronization relationship being used for synchronization scheduling of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0539] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1020 is further configured to send, to the access network device, synchronization precision and synchronization state information, the synchronization state information being used to indicate a corresponding relationship between frame numbers in data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the synchronization state, and the synchronization precision being used to indicate a deviation of frame numbers of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the synchronization state.

[0540] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1020 is further configured to receive, from a policy control network element, a PCC rule, the PCC rule including identification information of the target service and the synchronization state information.

[0541] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 1020 is further configured to send, to a user plane network element, QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

[0542] For more detailed description of the processor 1010 and the transceiver 1020, refer to the related description in the method embodiments.

[0543] Figure 11 The communication apparatus 1100 shown includes a processor 1110 and an interface circuit 1120. The processor 1110 and the interface circuit 1120 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1120 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication apparatus 1100 can further include a memory 1130, used for storing instructions executed by the processor 1110 or storing input data required by the processor 1110 to execute instructions or storing data generated after the processor 1110 executes instructions.

[0544] When the communication apparatus 1100 is used to implement the above-described method embodiments, the processor 1110 is configured to implement the functions of the above-described processing unit 1010, and the interface circuit 1120 is configured to implement the functions of the above-described transceiving unit 1020.

[0545] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0546] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by means of hardware, or by means of a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an electrically programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. Of course, the processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the base station or the terminal.

[0547] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed entirely or partially. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a base station, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both types of storage media.

[0548] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0549] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between the preceding and following related objects; in the formulas of this application, the character " / " indicates a "division" relationship between the preceding and following related objects.

[0550] It is understood that the various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the process numbers described above does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A method of synchronisation scheduling, characterized in that, Comprising: The access network device receives a plurality of data packets of a target service from a user plane network element, the plurality of data packets belonging to a plurality of quality of service (QoS) flows, each data packet of the plurality of data packets containing a quality of service flow (QFI) identifier, the QFI identifier identifying a QoS flow to which the data packet belongs, the plurality of QoS flows including at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; The access network device determines, from the plurality of data packets, at least two data packets containing the same marking information, the marking information corresponding to a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; The access network device determines, from the at least two data packets containing the same marking information, at least two target data packets, the at least two target data packets corresponding to the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; The access network device synchronously schedules, according to the at least two target data packets, data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, Before the access network device receives the plurality of data packets of the target service from the user plane network element, the method further comprises: The access network device receives an association identifier from a session management network element, the association identifier associating a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; The access network device determines, according to the association identifier, the marking information for the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; The access network device sends the marking information to the user plane network element through the session management network element.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein: The marking information is a group identifier assigned by the access network device, the group identifier corresponding to the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein: The marking information is a group identifier assigned by the access network device, the group identifier corresponding to the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein: The marking information is an access network tunnel endpoint identifier, the access network tunnel endpoint identifier identifying a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) tunnel, the GTP-U tunnel being used to transmit a QoS flow of the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein: The marking information is an access network tunnel endpoint identifier, the access network tunnel endpoint identifier identifying a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) tunnel, the GTP-U tunnel being used to transmit a QoS flow of the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein: The marking information includes an association identifier and identification information of a network device, the association identifier is associated with a data connection session to which at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, and the network device is a session management network element, a policy control network element or an application function network element that generates the association identifier.

8. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, Also included are: The access network device receives, from a session management network element, QFIs of at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; The at least two target data packets are data packets containing target QFIs, and the target QFIs are any one of the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

9. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein The at least two target data packets are data packets containing synchronization indications, and the synchronization indications are used to indicate that the QoS flows to which the data packets belong are the QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

10. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, The access network device synchronously schedules, according to the at least two target data packets, data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, including: The access network device synchronously schedules, according to synchronization state information and frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, and the synchronization state information is used to indicate a correspondence relationship between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in a synchronization state.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, The access network device synchronously schedules, according to synchronization state information and frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, including: The access network device determines, according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, that the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized do not meet synchronization accuracy, and then adjusts a sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, and the synchronization accuracy is used to indicate a deviation of the frame numbers of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in the synchronization state.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein, The access network device synchronously schedules, according to the at least two target data packets, data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, including: The access network device synchronously schedules, according to synchronization state information and frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, and the synchronization state information is used to indicate a correspondence relationship between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized in a synchronization state.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein, The access network device synchronously schedules, according to the at least two target data packets, data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, including: The access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the synchronization state information and frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, the synchronization state information being used to indicate a correspondence between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service in a synchronization state.

14. The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein, The access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the synchronization state information and frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, including: The access network device determines, according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, that the at least two QoS flows of the target service do not satisfy a synchronization precision, and then adjusts a sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service, the synchronization precision being used to indicate a deviation of the frame numbers of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service in the synchronization state.

15. A method of synchronisation scheduling, characterised by, including: The access network device receives a plurality of data packets of a target service from a user plane network element, the plurality of data packets belonging to a plurality of quality of service (QoS) flows, each data packet in the plurality of data packets containing a QoS flow identifier (QFI) used to identify a QoS flow to which the data packet belongs, the plurality of QoS flows including at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; The access network device determines, from the plurality of data packets, at least two data packets containing a same access network tunnel endpoint identifier, the at least two data packets corresponding to the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, the access network tunnel endpoint identifier being used to identify a target tunnel, the target tunnel being a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) tunnel used to transmit the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, the at least two QoS flows of the target service corresponding to a plurality of data connection sessions; The access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the at least two data packets.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, Before the access network device receives the plurality of data packets of the target service from the user plane network element, the method further includes: The access network device receives, from a session management network element, an association identifier and QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, the association identifier being associated with data connection sessions to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service belong; The access network device determines, according to the association identifier and the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, the access network tunnel endpoint identifier for the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; The access network device sends the access network tunnel endpoint identifier to the user plane network element through the session management network element.

17. The method of claim 15 or 16, wherein, The access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the at least two data packets, including: The access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two data packets, the synchronization state information being used to indicate a correspondence between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service in the synchronization state.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, The access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two data packets, including: The access network device adjusts a sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two data packets, the synchronization precision being used to indicate a deviation of the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service in the synchronization state.

19. A method of synchronisation scheduling, characterised by, including: The access network device receives a plurality of data packets of a target service from a user plane network element, the plurality of data packets belonging to a plurality of quality of service (QoS) flows, each data packet in the plurality of data packets containing a QoS flow identifier (QFI) used to identify a QoS flow to which the data packet belongs, the plurality of QoS flows including at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; The access network device determines at least two data packets from the plurality of data packets according to a synchronization relationship between a plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers, each data packet in the at least two data packets further containing any access network tunnel endpoint identifier in the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers, the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers respectively indicating general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) tunnels that are all used to transmit the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; The access network device determines at least two target data packets from the at least two data packets, the at least two target data packets corresponding to the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; The access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the at least two target data packets.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein, Before the access network device receives the plurality of data packets of the target service from the user plane network element, the method further includes: The access network device receives an association identifier from a session management network element, the association identifier being associated with a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; The access network device determines the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers for the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers corresponding to the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong in a one-to-one manner; The access network device establishes the synchronization relationship according to the association identifier.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein, Before the access network device receives the plurality of data packets of the target service from the user plane network element, the method further includes: The access network device determines the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers for the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization belong, the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers corresponding one-to-one to the data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization belong; The access network device sends the plurality of access network tunnel endpoint identifiers to a session management network element; The access network device receives the synchronization relationship from the session management network element.

22. The method of any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein, Further comprising: The access network device receives the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization from a session management network element; The at least two target data packets refer to data packets containing target QFIs, the target QFIs being any one of the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization.

23. The method of any of claims 19 to 21, wherein The at least two target data packets refer to data packets containing synchronization indications, the synchronization indications indicating that the QoS flows to which the data packets belong are the QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein The at least two target data packets refer to data packets containing synchronization indications, the synchronization indications indicating that the QoS flows to which the data packets belong are the QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization.

25. The method of any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein, The access network device synchronously schedules the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization according to the at least two target data packets, comprising: The access network device synchronously schedules the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization according to synchronization state information and frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, the synchronization state information indicating a correspondence between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization in a synchronization state.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, The access network device synchronously schedules the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization according to synchronization state information and frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, comprising: The access network device determines, according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, that the at least two QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization do not satisfy synchronization precision, and adjusts a sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization, the synchronization precision indicating a deviation of the frame numbers of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization in a synchronization state.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein, The access network device synchronously schedules the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service requiring synchronization according to the at least two target data packets, comprising: The access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, the synchronization state information being used to indicate a correspondence between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service in a synchronization state.

28. The method of claim 23, wherein, The access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the at least two target data packets, including: The access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, the synchronization state information being used to indicate a correspondence between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service in a synchronization state.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein, The access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the at least two target data packets, including: The access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, the synchronization state information being used to indicate a correspondence between the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service in a synchronization state.

30. The method of any one of claims 27 to 29, wherein, The access network device performs synchronous scheduling on the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets, including: The access network device adjusts a sending speed of the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service according to the synchronization state information and the frame numbers contained in the at least two target data packets when the at least two QoS flows of the target service do not meet a synchronization precision, the synchronization precision being used to indicate a deviation of the frame numbers in the data packets of the at least two QoS flows of the target service in a synchronization state.

31. A method of synchronisation scheduling, the method comprising: including: The user plane network element receives a plurality of data packets of a target service from an application function network element, the plurality of data packets belonging to a plurality of quality of service (QoS) flows, the plurality of QoS flows including at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; The user plane network element adds marking information and a quality of service flow identifier (QFI) in at least two data packets of the plurality of data packets, the QFI in each data packet of the at least two data packets being used to identify a QoS flow to which the data packet belongs, and the marking information corresponding to a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong; The user plane network element sends the plurality of data packets including the at least two data packets with the added marking information and QFI to an access network device.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein: The user plane network element receives the marking information from the access network device.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein: The marking information is a group identity allocated by the access network device, and the group identity corresponds to a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein, The marking information is a group identity allocated by the access network device, and the group identity corresponds to a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

35. The method of claim 31, wherein, The marking information is an access network tunnel endpoint identity, and the access network tunnel endpoint identity is used to identify a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) tunnel used to transmit a QoS flow in a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

36. The method of claim 32, wherein, The marking information is an access network tunnel endpoint identity, and the access network tunnel endpoint identity is used to identify a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) tunnel used to transmit a QoS flow in a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong.

37. The method of claim 31, wherein, The marking information includes an association identity and identity information of a network device, the association identity is associated with a data connection session to which the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized belong, and the network device is a session management network element, a policy control network element, or an application function network element that generates the association identity.

38. The method of any one of claims 31 to 37, wherein, Further comprising: The user plane network element receives, from a session management network element, QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized; Before the user plane network element sends, to an access network device, a plurality of data packets including the at least two data packets with the added marking information and QFIs, further comprising: The user plane network element adds, according to the QFIs of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, a synchronization indication in at least two target data packets of the at least two data packets, the at least two target data packets correspond to the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized, and the synchronization indication is used to indicate that a QoS flow to which the target data packet belongs is the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein, The at least two target data packets each include a frame number used for synchronization scheduling of the at least two QoS flows of the target service that need to be synchronized.

40. A communications device, characterized by An apparatus includes a processor and interface circuitry for receiving signals from and transmitting signals to other communication apparatuses, the processor being configured to implement a method recited in any of claims 1 to 14, or to implement a method recited in any of claims 15 to 18, or to implement a method recited in any of claims 19 to 30, or to implement a method recited in any of claims 31 to 39.

41. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising: The storage medium stores a computer readable program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 39 is implemented.

42. A communication system, characterized by Comprise: a user plane network element, and an access network device for performing any one of claims 1 to 14, or 15 to 18, or 19 to 30; The user plane network element is configured to send a plurality of data packets of a target service to the access network device.

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