Communication method, communication device and communication system

Abstract

The present application discloses a communication method, a communication device and a communication system, which relate to the field of communication and are used to reduce the power consumption and transmission delay of terminal equipment. The communication method applied to access network equipment includes: sending feedback indication information to the terminal equipment, the feedback indication information is used to indicate the terminal equipment: whether to perform hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the mobile terminal small data transmission MT-SDT service; receiving downlink data or downlink signaling from the core network element, and sending downlink data or downlink signaling to the terminal equipment in the radio resource control RRC inactive state; only when the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal equipment performs HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, receiving HARQ feedback for the downlink data or downlink signaling from the terminal equipment.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] In traditional cellular network communications (such as communications between mobile phones and access network devices), the reliability of data transmission is generally guaranteed by hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback. However, in mobile terminal (i.e. called party) small data transmission (mobile terminate small data transmission, MT-SDT) services, scenarios with low reliability requirements are common, such as downlink periodic signaling in the Internet of Things, positioning instructions of sensors, etc. In such scenarios with low reliability requirements, the HARQ feedback of the terminal device will increase the power consumption of the terminal device and the transmission delay of the MT-SDT service. Summary of the invention

[0003] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, a communication device, and a communication system for reducing power consumption and transmission delay of terminal equipment.

[0004] To achieve the above objectives, the embodiments of the present application adopt the following technical solutions:

[0005] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to an access network device, the method comprising: sending feedback indication information to a terminal device, the feedback indication information being used to indicate to the terminal device: whether to perform hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of a mobile terminal small data transmission MT-SDT service; receiving downlink data or downlink signaling from a core network element, and sending downlink data or downlink signaling to a terminal device in an RRC inactive state; receiving HARQ feedback for downlink data or downlink signaling from the terminal device only when the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device performs HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

[0006] In the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, an access network device sends feedback indication information to a terminal device, and the feedback indication information indicates the terminal device: whether to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service. When the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback, the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, and the MT-SDT service can be terminated as soon as possible (the access network device sends an RRC release message as soon as possible), thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device and the transmission delay of the MT-SDT service.

[0007] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving feedback indication information from a core network element, that is, the feedback indication information is determined by negotiation between the core network element and the terminal device.

[0008] In a possible implementation, it further includes: receiving feedback tendency information from a terminal device, the feedback tendency information is used to indicate whether the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; determining feedback indication information according to the feedback tendency information, or sending feedback tendency information to a core network element, the feedback tendency information is used by the core network element to determine feedback indication information. That is, the access network device can determine the feedback indication information according to the feedback tendency information, or the core network element can determine the feedback indication information according to the feedback tendency information.

[0009] In a possible implementation, if the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; or, if the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device performs HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service. For example, for MT-SDT services with low reliability requirements such as transmission of downlink heartbeat packets, the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, so as to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device; for MT-SDT services with high reliability requirements such as transmission of downlink data and / or downlink signaling, the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, thereby ensuring the reliable transmission of the downlink data and / or downlink signaling.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the feedback indication information is carried in a paging message, or in a random access response message, or in downlink control information for scheduling downlink data or downlink signaling, or in an RRC release message. The message carrying the feedback indication information can be very flexible.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the feedback indication information is associated with a signaling resource bearer for transmitting downlink signaling, or the feedback indication information is associated with a data resource bearer for transmitting downlink data, that is, the feedback indication information can be configured for each signaling resource bearer or data resource bearer, which is more flexible.

[0012] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a terminal device, and the method includes: receiving feedback indication information from an access network device, the feedback indication information is used to indicate to the terminal device: whether to perform hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the mobile terminal small data transmission MT-SDT service; when the radio resource control RRC is in an inactive state, receiving downlink data or downlink signaling from the access network device; only when the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device performs HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, sending HARQ feedback for the downlink data or downlink signaling to the access network device.

[0013] In the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, an access network device sends feedback indication information to a terminal device, and the feedback indication information indicates the terminal device: whether to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service. When the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback, the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, and the MT-SDT service can be terminated as soon as possible (the access network device sends an RRC release message as soon as possible), thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device and the transmission delay of the MT-SDT service.

[0014] In a possible implementation, it also includes: determining feedback tendency information according to the reliability requirements of the MT-SDT service, the feedback tendency information is used to indicate whether the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; sending the feedback tendency information to the access network device, the feedback tendency information is used to determine the feedback indication information.

[0015] In a possible implementation, if the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; or, if the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending reliability requirements of the MT-SDT service performed by the terminal device to the core network element through the access network device, where the reliability requirements are used by the core network element to determine feedback indication information.

[0017] In one possible implementation, if the reliability requirement is low, the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to not perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device; or, if the reliability requirement is high, the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to ensure reliable transmission of the downlink data and / or downlink signaling.

[0018] According to a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a core network network element, and the method includes: determining feedback indication information, the feedback indication information is used to indicate a terminal device: whether to perform hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of a mobile terminal small data transmission MT-SDT service; sending feedback indication information to the terminal device through an access network device, and sending downlink data or downlink signaling to the terminal device, so that the terminal device: only when the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device performs HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, sends HARQ feedback for the downlink data or downlink signaling to the access network device.

[0019] In the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, an access network device sends feedback indication information to a terminal device, and the feedback indication information indicates the terminal device: whether to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service. When the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback, the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, and the MT-SDT service can be terminated as soon as possible (the access network device sends an RRC release message as soon as possible), thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device and the transmission delay of the MT-SDT service.

[0020] In one possible implementation, determining feedback indication information includes: receiving feedback tendency information from a terminal device through an access network device, the feedback tendency information being used to indicate whether the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of an MT-SDT service; and determining feedback indication information based on the feedback tendency information.

[0021] In a possible implementation, if the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; or, if the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device performs HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service. For example, for MT-SDT services with low reliability requirements such as transmission of downlink heartbeat packets, the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, so as to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device; for MT-SDT services with high reliability requirements such as transmission of downlink data and / or downlink signaling, the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, thereby ensuring the reliable transmission of the downlink data and / or downlink signaling.

[0022] In a possible implementation, determining the feedback indication information includes: receiving, through the access network device, a reliability requirement of an MT-SDT service performed by a terminal device from a terminal device; and determining the feedback indication information according to the reliability requirement.

[0023] In one possible implementation, if the reliability requirement is low, the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to not perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device; or, if the reliability requirement is high, the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to ensure reliable transmission of the downlink data and / or downlink signaling.

[0024] In a possible implementation manner, the core network element is a user plane function element that sends downlink data, or the core network element is an access management function element that sends downlink signaling.

[0025] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a transceiver, wherein the transceiver is used to communicate with other communication devices, and when the processor executes an instruction, the method described in the first aspect and any embodiment thereof is executed.

[0026] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a transceiver, wherein the transceiver is used to communicate with other communication devices, and when the processor executes instructions, the method described in the second aspect and any embodiment thereof is executed.

[0027] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a transceiver, wherein the transceiver is used to communicate with other communication devices, and when the processor executes instructions, the method described in the third aspect and any embodiment thereof is executed.

[0028] In the seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, comprising instructions, which, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to execute the method as described in the first aspect and any one of its embodiments, or to execute the method as described in the second aspect and any one of its embodiments, or to execute the method as described in the third aspect and any one of its embodiments.

[0029] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when the instructions are executed on the above-mentioned communication device, causes the communication device to execute the method as described in the first aspect and any one of its embodiments, or to execute the method as described in the second aspect and any one of its embodiments, or to execute the method as described in the third aspect and any one of its embodiments.

[0030] In a ninth aspect, a chip system is provided, the chip system comprising a processor for supporting a communication device to implement the functions involved in the first aspect and any of its embodiments, or to implement the functions involved in the second aspect and any of its embodiments, or to implement the functions involved in the third aspect and any of its embodiments. In one possible design, the device also includes an interface circuit, which can be used to receive signals from other devices (such as a memory) or to send signals to other devices (such as a communication interface). The chip system may include a chip and may also include other discrete devices.

[0031] In the tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising the communication device as described in the fourth aspect, the communication device as described in the fifth aspect, and the communication device as described in the sixth aspect.

[0032] The technical effects of the fourth to tenth aspects refer to the technical effects of the first aspect and any embodiment thereof to the third aspect and any embodiment thereof, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the structure of an access network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 4A schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 5 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 6 A flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 7 A flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 8 A flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Fig. 9 A flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Fig.10 A flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Fig.11 A flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Fig.12 A flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Fig.13 A flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Fig.14 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Fig.15 A schematic diagram of the structure of a chip system provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", etc. involved in the embodiments of the present application are only used to distinguish features of the same type and cannot be understood as indicating relative importance, quantity, order, etc.

[0049] The terms "exemplary" or "for example" and the like in the embodiments of the present application are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of the terms "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the related concepts in a specific way.

[0050] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the fifth generation (5G) network architecture is shown. Figure 1 The network service architecture of the 5G system is taken as an example to demonstrate the interactive relationship between network functions and entities and the corresponding interfaces. The network functions and entities included in the service-based architecture (SBA) of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) of the 5G system mainly include: terminal equipment (also known as user equipment (UE)) 101, access network (AN) / radio access network (RAN) equipment 102, user plane function (UPF) network element 103, data network (DN) 104, access management function (AMF) network element 105, session management function (SMF) network element 106, authentication service function (AUSF) network element 107, policy control function (PCF) network element 108, application function (AF) network element 109, network slice selection function (NSSF) network element 110, unified data management (UNDM) network element 111, and the network service interface (UE) of the 5G system. The network element includes a network data management (UDM) network element 111, a network exposure function (NEF) network element 112 and a network storage function (NRF) network element 113.

[0051] A NFNE can be implemented as a network element running on dedicated hardware, or as a software instance running on dedicated hardware, or as a virtual function instantiated on a suitable platform, such as a cloud infrastructure.

[0052] The main functions of each device are introduced in detail below.

[0053] AN / RAN device 102: The AN / RAN device 102 may include various forms of base stations, such as macro base stations, micro base stations (also called "small stations"), distributed unit-control units (DU-CU), etc. In addition, the above base stations may also be wireless controllers in cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenarios, or relay stations, access points, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, or network devices in future evolved public land mobile networks (PLMN) networks, etc. AN / RAN may also include broadband network service gateways (BNG), aggregation switches, non-3GPP access devices, etc.

[0054] The AN / RAN device 102 is mainly responsible for wireless resource management on the air interface side, uplink and downlink data classification, quality of service (QoS) management, data compression and encryption, signaling processing with the control plane network element, or data forwarding with the user plane function network element. The specific form and structure of AN / RAN are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, in a system using different wireless access technologies, the name of the device with base station function may be different. For example, the base station can be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) device in LTE, such as an evolved Node B (eNB or e-NodeB), or it can be a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) device (such as gNB) in a 5G system.

[0055] UPF network element 103: mainly responsible for packet routing and forwarding, as well as QoS processing of user plane data or billing information statistics, etc. The transmission resources and scheduling functions that provide services to UEs in UPF network element 103 are managed and controlled by SMF network element 106.

[0056] DN 104: DN 104 is a network used to transmit data. For example, DN 104 may be a carrier service network, Internet access, or a third-party service network.

[0057] For the introduction of the functions of network elements such as AMF network element 105, SMF network element 106, AUSF network element 107, PCF network element 108, AF network element 109, NSSF network element 110, UDM network element 111, NEF network element 112, NRF network element 113 and UDM network element 111, please refer to the explanations and descriptions in conventional technologies and will not be repeated here.

[0058] The terminal device 101 may be a device with wireless transceiver functions, and the terminal device 101 may be mobile or fixed. The terminal device 101 may be deployed on land (e.g., indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted, etc.), on water (e.g., ships, etc.), or in the air (e.g., airplanes, balloons, and satellites, etc.). The terminal device 101 may be a user equipment (UE), access terminal, terminal unit, subscriber unit, terminal station, mobile station (MS), mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, wireless communication equipment, terminal agent, or terminal device, etc. in a 5G network or a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN). For example, the terminal device 101 may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a smart bracelet, a smart watch, a headset, a smart speaker, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, etc. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific type and structure of the terminal device 101.

[0059] The structures of the terminal device 101, the access network device (ie, AN / RAN device) 102, and the network devices in the core network (eg, AMF network element and UPF network element) are described below.

[0060] Take the terminal device 101 as a mobile phone as an example. Figure 21 shows a possible structure of the terminal device 101. The terminal device 101 may include a processor 210, an external memory interface 220, an internal memory 221, a universal serial bus (USB) interface 230, a power management module 240, a battery 241, a wireless charging coil 242, an antenna 1, an antenna 2, a mobile communication module 250, a wireless communication module 260, an audio module 270, a speaker 270A, a receiver 270B, a microphone 270C, an earphone interface 270D, a sensor module 280, a button 290, a motor 291, an indicator 292, a camera 293, a display screen 294, and a subscriber identification module (SIM) card interface 295.

[0061] Among them, the sensor module 280 may include a pressure sensor, a gyroscope sensor, an air pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a distance sensor, a proximity light sensor, a fingerprint sensor, a temperature sensor, a touch sensor, an ambient light sensor, a bone conduction sensor, and the like.

[0062] It is to be understood that the structure illustrated in the embodiment of the present invention does not constitute a specific limitation on the terminal device 101. In other embodiments of the present application, the terminal device 101 may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine some components, or split some components, or arrange the components differently. The components shown in the figure may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0063] The processor 210 may include one or more processing units, for example: the processor 210 may include a central processing unit (CPU), an application processor (AP), a modem processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), an image signal processor (ISP), a controller, a memory, a video codec, a digital signal processor (DSP), a baseband processor, and a neural network processing unit (NPU). Among them, different processing units may be independent devices or integrated into one or more processors. For example, the processor 210 may be an application processor AP. Alternatively, the above-mentioned processor 210 may be integrated in a system on chip (SoC). Alternatively, the above-mentioned processor 210 may be integrated in an integrated circuit (IC) chip. The processor 210 may include an analog front end (AFE) and a micro-controller unit (MCU) in an IC chip.

[0064] The controller may be the nerve center and command center of the terminal device 101. The controller may generate an operation control signal according to the instruction operation code and the timing signal to complete the control of fetching and executing instructions.

[0065] The processor 210 may also be provided with a memory for storing instructions and data. In some embodiments, the memory in the processor 210 is a cache memory. The memory may store instructions or data that the processor 210 has just used or cyclically used. If the processor 210 needs to use the instruction or data again, it may be directly called from the memory. This avoids repeated access, reduces the waiting time of the processor 210, and thus improves the efficiency of the system.

[0066] In some embodiments, the processor 210 may include one or more interfaces. The interface may include an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) interface, an inter-integrated circuit sound (I2S) interface, a pulse code modulation (PCM) interface, a universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter (UART) interface, a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI), a general-purpose input / output (GPIO) interface, a subscriber identity module (SIM) interface, and / or a USB interface, etc.

[0067] It is understandable that the interface connection relationship between the modules illustrated in the embodiment of the present invention is only a schematic illustration and does not constitute a structural limitation on the terminal device 101. In other embodiments of the present application, the terminal device 101 may also adopt different interface connection methods in the above embodiments, or a combination of multiple interface connection methods.

[0068] The power management module 240 is used to receive charging input from a charger. The charger may be a wireless charger (such as a wireless charging base of the terminal device 101 or other device that can wirelessly charge the terminal device 101) or a wired charger. For example, the power management module 240 may receive charging input from a wired charger through the USB interface 230. The power management module 240 may receive wireless charging input through a wireless charging coil 242 of the electronic device.

[0069] The power management module 240 can charge the battery 241 and also power the electronic device. The power management module 240 receives input from the battery 241 and powers the processor 210, the internal memory 221, the external memory interface 220, the display screen 294, the camera 293, and the wireless communication module 260. The power management module 240 can also be used to monitor parameters such as the battery capacity, the number of battery cycles, and the battery health status (leakage, impedance) of the battery 241. In some other embodiments, the power management module 240 can also be set in the processor 210.

[0070] The wireless communication function of the terminal device 101 can be implemented through antenna 1, antenna 2, mobile communication module 250, wireless communication module 260, modem processor and baseband processor.

[0071] Antenna 1 and antenna 2 are used to transmit and receive electromagnetic wave signals. Each antenna in terminal device 101 can be used to cover a single or multiple communication frequency bands. Different antennas can also be reused to improve the utilization of antennas. For example, antenna 1 can be reused as a diversity antenna for a wireless local area network. In some other embodiments, the antenna can be used in combination with a tuning switch.

[0072] The mobile communication module 250 can provide solutions for wireless communications including 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G, etc., applied to the terminal device 101. The wireless communication module 260 can provide solutions for wireless communications including wireless local area networks (WLAN) (such as wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks), bluetooth (BT), global navigation satellite system (GNSS), frequency modulation (FM), near field communication technology (NFC), infrared technology (IR), etc., applied to the terminal device 101. In some embodiments, the antenna 1 of the terminal device 101 is coupled to the mobile communication module 250, and the antenna 2 is coupled to the wireless communication module 260, so that the terminal device 101 can communicate with the network and other devices through wireless communication technology.

[0073] The terminal device 101 implements the display function through a GPU, a display screen 294, and an application processor. The GPU is a microprocessor for image processing, which connects the display screen 294 and the application processor. The GPU is used to perform mathematical and geometric calculations for graphics rendering. The processor 210 may include one or more GPUs, which execute program instructions to generate or change display information.

[0074] The display screen 294 is used to display images, videos, etc. The display screen 294 includes a display panel. In some embodiments, the terminal device 101 may include 1 or N display screens 294, where N is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0075] The terminal device 101 can realize the shooting function through the ISP, the camera 293, the video codec, the GPU, the display screen 294, and the application processor. The ISP is used to process the data fed back by the camera 293. In some embodiments, the ISP can be set in the camera 293. The camera 293 is used to capture a static image or a video. In some embodiments, the terminal device 101 may include 1 or N cameras 293, where N is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0076] The external memory interface 220 can be used to connect an external memory card, such as a micro SanDisk (Micro SD) card, to expand the storage capacity of the terminal device 101. The external memory card communicates with the processor 210 through the external memory interface 220 to implement a data storage function. For example, files such as music and videos are stored in the external memory card.

[0077] The internal memory 221 may be used to store computer executable program codes, which include instructions. The processor 210 executes various functional applications and data processing of the terminal device 101 by running the instructions stored in the internal memory 221. In addition, the internal memory 221 may include a high-speed random access memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, a flash memory device, a universal flash storage (UFS), etc.

[0078] The terminal device 101 can implement audio functions such as music playing and recording through the audio module 270, the speaker 270A, the receiver 270B, the microphone 270C, the earphone interface 270D and the application processor.

[0079] The audio module 270 is used to convert digital audio information into analog audio signal output, and is also used to convert analog audio input into digital audio signal. In some embodiments, the audio module 270 can be arranged in the processor 210, or some functional modules of the audio module 270 can be arranged in the processor 210. The speaker 270A, also known as the "speaker", is used to convert the audio electrical signal into a sound signal. The receiver 270B, also known as the "earpiece", is used to convert the audio electrical signal into a sound signal. The microphone 270C, also known as the "microphone", is used to convert the sound signal into an electrical signal. The terminal device 101 can be provided with at least one microphone 270C. The headphone interface 270D is used to connect a wired headset. The headphone interface 270D can be a USB interface 230, or it can be a 3.5mm open mobile terminal platform (OMTP) standard interface, or a cellular telecommunications industry association of the USA (CTIA) standard interface.

[0080] The button 290 includes a power button, a volume button, etc. The button 290 may be a mechanical button. It may also be a touch button. The terminal device 101 may receive a button input and generate a key signal input related to the user settings and function control of the terminal device 101. The motor 291 may generate a vibration prompt. The motor 291 may be used for an incoming call vibration prompt or for touch vibration feedback. The indicator 292 may be an indicator light, which may be used to indicate the charging status, power changes, messages, missed calls, notifications, etc. The SIM card interface 295 is used to connect a SIM card. The SIM card may be inserted into or removed from the SIM card interface 295 to achieve contact and separation with the terminal device 101. The terminal device 101 may support 1 or N SIM card interfaces, where N is a positive integer greater than 1. The SIM card interface 295 may support a Nano SIM card, a Micro SIM card, a SIM card, etc. In some embodiments, the terminal device 101 uses an embedded SIM (eSIM) card. The eSIM card can be embedded in the terminal device 101 and cannot be separated from the terminal device 101.

[0081] Figure 3 A possible structure of the access network device 102 is shown. The access network device 102 includes a baseband processing unit (baseband unit, BBU) 301, a remote radio unit (remote radio unit, RRU) 302 and an antenna 303. The BBU 301 and the RRU 302 can be disassembled and used as needed. Among them, the BBU 301 may include a processor 331, a memory 332 and a bus system 333. The processor 331 and the memory 332 of the BBU 301 are interconnected through the bus system 333. The above-mentioned bus system can be a peripheral component interconnection standard bus or an extended industrial standard structure bus. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, only one line is used in the figure, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus. The RRU 302 may include an RF circuit 334, and the RF circuit 334 and the BBU 301 are interconnected through an optical fiber, and the RF circuit 334 and the antenna 303 are interconnected through a coaxial cable.

[0082] Figure 4 A possible structure of a network device 400 (such as an AMF network element and a UPF network element) in a core network is shown. The network device 400 may include at least one processor 401, a communication line 402, a memory 403, and at least one communication interface 404. The communication line 402 may include a path to transmit information between the above components. The communication interface 404 uses any transceiver-like device to communicate with other network devices or access network devices.

[0083] The processor involved in the embodiments of the present application may be a chip. For example, it may be a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a central processor unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a micro controller unit (MCU), a programmable logic device (PLD), or other integrated chips.

[0084] The memory involved in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0085] In the 5G new radio (NR) communication system, in order to improve the efficiency of frequent transmission of small data packets, the concept of RRC inactive state (RRC_INACTIVEState) is introduced at the radio resource control (RRC) level. In the RRC inactive state, the RRC context of the terminal device is suspended on the terminal device side and the access network device side. When the network side has downlink data or downlink signaling to be sent to the terminal device, the network side must first instruct the terminal device to trigger the RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) process to migrate from the RRC inactive state to the RRC connected state (RRC_CONNECTED state), and then the terminal device can receive downlink data or downlink signaling from the network side.

[0086] However, for frequent transmission of small data packets, the signaling overhead is still large. To address this problem, MT-SDT was subsequently proposed, which allows terminal devices to directly receive downlink data or downlink signaling in the RRC inactive state, avoiding entering the RRC connected state, thereby further reducing signaling overhead.

[0087] There are currently two technical solutions for MT-SDT: the first is MT-SDT based on random access, which is further divided into MT-SDT based on 4-step random access (such as Figure 5 ) and MT-SDT based on 2-step random access (as shown in Figure 6 The second type is MT-SDT based on configuration scheduling, which is further divided into: MT-SDT based on uplink configuration scheduling (uplink configured grant, UL CG) (such as Figure 7 ) and MT-SDT based on downlink configured grant (DL CG) (as shown in Figure 8 shown).

[0088] Specifically, Figure 5 As shown, the MT-SDT process based on 4-step random access includes S101-S109:

[0089] S101. An access network device sends random access resource information used by an MT-SDT process based on four-step random access through a system broadcast message.

[0090] The random access resource information used by the MT-SDT process based on 4-step random access includes a preamble (preamble) dedicated to the MT-SDT based on 4-step random access and random access channel (RACH) resource information.

[0091] A terminal device in an RRC inactive state receives a system broadcast message and obtains the above-mentioned random access resources.

[0092] S102. The core network element sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0093] Specifically, the AMF network element sends downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device, or the UPF network element sends downlink data of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0094] S103: The access network device sends a paging message to the terminal device to page the terminal device.

[0095] The paging message includes the identifier of the terminal device and the paging reason, wherein the paging reason is MT-SDT.

[0096] S104. The terminal device in the RRC inactive state sends message 1 (Msg1) to the access network device through RACH resources.

[0097] After receiving the paging message, the terminal device in the RRC inactive state initiates the MT-SDT process based on 4-step random access through message 1 (Msg1), and sends the RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message to the access network device. Message 1 (Msg1) includes the MT-SDT dedicated preamble based on 4-step random access. Optionally, if there is uplink data, the terminal device in the RRC inactive state can also multiplex the uplink data and the RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message together and send it to the access network device.

[0098] It should be noted that message 1 (Msg1) includes a preamble dedicated to MT-SDT based on 4-step random access. This preamble is different from the traditional random access preamble, so that the access network device can provide uplink scheduling (UL grant) for scheduling more uplink resources in message 2 (Msg2) for the terminal device to transmit the RRC recovery request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message (message 3 (Msg3)).

[0099] S105. The access network device sends a random access response (RAR) message (message 2 (Msg2)) to the terminal device.

[0100] The RAR message includes uplink resources for uplink scheduling (UL grant), and the uplink scheduling (UL grant) is used to indicate uplink resources for transmitting an RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message (message 3 (Msg3)).

[0101] S106. The terminal device sends an RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message (message 3 (Msg3)) to the access network device on the PUSCH resources indicated by the uplink scheduling (UL grant).

[0102] S107: The access network device sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the terminal device.

[0103] Optionally, the access network device may send downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the terminal device via message 4 (Msg4).

[0104] S108. The terminal device performs HARQ feedback according to the reception status of downlink data or downlink signaling.

[0105] If the downlink data or downlink signaling is successfully received, a HARQ acknowledgement (ACK) is sent to the access network device; otherwise, if the downlink data or downlink signaling is not successfully received, a HARQ non-acknowledgement (NACK) is sent to the access network device.

[0106] After that, the terminal device starts to monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to perform at least one of the following: if the terminal device feeds back NACK, monitor whether there is a retransmission of downlink data or downlink signaling. Monitor the new transmission of possible downlink data or downlink signaling (i.e., new downlink data or downlink signaling). Monitor the scheduling of the RRC release (RRCRelease) message to receive the RRC release (RRCRelease) message.

[0107] S109. The access network device sends an RRC release (RRCRelease) message to the terminal device to terminate the MT-SDT process.

[0108] The access network device may continue to configure the terminal device to enter the RRC inactive state, or may configure the terminal device to enter the idle (IDLE) state. In addition, the RRC release (RRCRelease) message may be sent to the terminal device together with the downlink data or downlink signaling (eg, via message 4 (Msg4)) in step S107.

[0109] like Figure 6 As shown, the MT-SDT process based on 2-step random access includes steps S201-S207:

[0110] S201. An access network device sends random access resource information used by an MT-SDT process based on two-step random access through a system broadcast message.

[0111] The random access resource information based on the 2-step random access includes a preamble (preamble) dedicated to MT-SDT based on the 2-step random access and PUSCH resource information, wherein the PUSCH resource information includes, for example, codeword information, time domain position, frequency domain position, and the like.

[0112] A terminal device in an RRC inactive state receives a system broadcast message and obtains random access resources.

[0113] S202. The core network element sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0114] Specifically, the AMF network element sends downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device, or the UPF network element sends downlink data of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0115] S203: The access network device sends a paging message to the terminal device to page the terminal device.

[0116] The paging message includes the identifier of the terminal device and the paging reason, wherein the paging reason is MT-SDT.

[0117] S204. The terminal device in the RRC inactive state sends a message A (MsgA) to the access network device through the PUSCH resource.

[0118] After receiving the paging message, the terminal device in the RRC inactive state initiates the MT-SDT process based on 2-step random access through message A (MsgA) and sends the RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message to the access network device. Optionally, if there is uplink data, the terminal device in the RRC inactive state can also multiplex the uplink data and the RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message together and send it to the access network device.

[0119] It should be noted that the message A (MsgA) includes a preamble (preamble) dedicated to MT-SDT based on 2-step random access and an RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message.

[0120] S205: The access network device sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the terminal device.

[0121] Optionally, the access network device may send downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the terminal device via message B (MsgB).

[0122] S206. The terminal device performs HARQ feedback according to the reception status of downlink data or downlink signaling.

[0123] This step refers to step S108 and will not be described in detail here.

[0124] S207: The access network device sends an RRC release (RRCRelease) message to the terminal device to terminate the MT-SDT process.

[0125] The access network device may continue to configure the terminal device to enter the RRC inactive state, or may configure the terminal device to enter the idle (IDLE) state. In addition, the RRC release (RRCRelease) message may be sent to the terminal device together with the downlink data or downlink signaling (optionally, via message B (MsgB)) in step S205.

[0126] like Figure 7 As shown, the MT-SDT process based on UL CG includes steps S301-S307:

[0127] S301. The access network device sends an RRC release (RRCRelease) message to the terminal device in the RRC connection state.

[0128] The RRC release (RRCRelease) message is used to release the RRC connection state. The RRC release (RRCRelease) message includes UL CG configuration, such as uplink scheduling (UL grant), resource cycle, etc. Among them, the UL CG resources indicated by the UL CG configuration can only be used in the current cell.

[0129] The terminal device receives the RRC release (RRCRelease) message and enters the RRC inactive state.

[0130] S302: The core network element sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0131] Specifically, the AMF network element sends downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device, or the UPF network element sends downlink data of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0132] S303: The access network device sends a paging message to the terminal device to page the terminal device.

[0133] The paging message includes the identifier of the terminal device and the paging reason, wherein the paging reason is MT-SDT.

[0134] S304. If there are UL CG resources indicated by the UL CG configuration in the current cell, the terminal device in the RRC inactive state sends an RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message to the access network device according to the UL CG configuration.

[0135] After receiving a paging message, a terminal device in an RRC inactive state initiates a MT-SDT process based on UL CG through an RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message. For example, a terminal device in an RRC inactive state sends an RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message to an access network device on the PUSCH resources indicated by the UL CG configuration. Optionally, if there is uplink data, the terminal device in an RRC inactive state may also multiplex the uplink data and the RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message on the PUSCH resources indicated by the UL CG configuration and send them together to the access network device.

[0136] S305. The access network device schedules physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) resources through downlink control information (DCI) in the PDCCH, and sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the terminal device on the PDSCH resources.

[0137] S306: The terminal device performs HARQ feedback according to the reception status of downlink data or downlink signaling.

[0138] This step refers to step S108 and will not be described in detail here.

[0139] S307: The access network device sends an RRC release (RRCRelease) message to the terminal device to terminate the MT-SDT process.

[0140] The access network device may continue to configure the terminal device to enter the RRC inactive state, or may configure the terminal device to enter the idle (IDLE) state. In addition, the RRC release (RRCRelease) message may be sent to the terminal device together with the downlink data or downlink signaling on the PDSCH resource in step S305.

[0141] like Figure 8 As shown, the MT-SDT process based on DL CG includes steps S401-S407:

[0142] S401. The access network device sends an RRC release (RRCRelease) message to the terminal device in the RRC connection state.

[0143] The RRC release (RRCRelease) message is used to release the RRC connection state. The RRC release (RRCRelease) message includes DL CG configuration, such as downlink scheduling (DL grant), resource cycle, etc. Among them, the DL CG resources indicated by the DL CG configuration can only be used in the current cell.

[0144] The terminal device receives the RRC release (RRCRelease) message and enters the RRC inactive state.

[0145] S402: The core network element sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0146] Specifically, the AMF network element sends downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device, or the UPF network element sends downlink data of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0147] S403: The access network device sends a paging message to the terminal device to page the terminal device.

[0148] The paging message includes the identifier of the terminal device and the paging reason, wherein the paging reason is MT-SDT.

[0149] S404. The access network device sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the terminal device on the PDSCH resources indicated by the DL CG configuration.

[0150] Correspondingly, the terminal device in the RRC inactive state receives downlink data or downlink signaling from the access network device on the PDSCH resources indicated by the DL CG configuration.

[0151] S405. The terminal device performs HARQ feedback according to the reception status of downlink data or downlink signaling.

[0152] This step refers to step S108 and will not be described in detail here.

[0153] S406: The access network device sends an RRC release (RRCRelease) message to the terminal device to terminate the MT-SDT process.

[0154] The access network device may continue to configure the terminal device to enter the RRC inactive state, or may configure the terminal device to enter the idle (IDLE) state. In addition, the RRC release (RRCRelease) message may be sent to the terminal device together with the downlink data or downlink signaling on the PDSCH resource in step S404.

[0155] From above Figure 5-Figure 8 In the various MT-SDT processes shown, the terminal device will perform HARQ feedback (ACK / NACK) after receiving downlink data or downlink signaling. As mentioned above, for MT-SDT services, scenarios with low reliability requirements are common. In such scenarios with low reliability requirements, HARQ feedback by the terminal device will increase power consumption and transmission delay. Therefore, for MT-SDT services, the terminal device and the access network device can negotiate to disable the HARQ feedback function to reduce the terminal device. It should be noted that the deactivation of the HARQ feedback function provided in this application can be applied not only to MT-SDT scenarios, but also to other downlink transmission scenarios to save uplink feedback resources and reduce the power consumption of terminal devices.

[0156] To this end, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. For the MT-SDT process based on 4-step random access, the core network element (such as AMF network element, UPF network element) determines whether the terminal device performs HARQ feedback and notifies the access network device, and then the access network device instructs the terminal device whether to perform HARQ feedback. Fig. 9 As shown, the method includes steps S501-S511:

[0157] S501. The core network element (eg, AMF network element, UPF network element) determines feedback indication information.

[0158] The feedback indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal device performs HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

[0159] In a possible implementation, the core network element may determine the feedback indication information by negotiating with the terminal device.

[0160] For example, the core network element can obtain registration information, contract information and other information from the terminal device, any of which may include the reliability requirements of the MT-SDT service performed by the terminal device. The core network element can then determine the feedback indication information based on the reliability requirements of the MT-SDT service performed by the terminal device.

[0161] For MT-SDT services with high reliability requirements, the core network element determines feedback indication information to instruct the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; for MT-SDT services with low reliability requirements, the core network element determines feedback indication information to instruct the terminal device not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

[0162] For another example, the core network element may receive feedback tendency information from the terminal device through the access network device, and determine feedback indication information based on the feedback tendency information, the feedback tendency information is used to indicate whether the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service. Exemplarily, the terminal device at this time may be in an RRC connection state. The terminal device understands the reliability requirements of the MT-SDT service it is performing, and the terminal device may determine the feedback tendency information based on the reliability requirements of the MT-SDT service it is performing. For example, for MT-SDT services with low reliability requirements such as transmitting downlink heartbeat packets, the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, so as to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device; for MT-SDT services with higher reliability requirements such as transmitting downlink control information, the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, thereby ensuring the reliable transmission of downlink data and / or downlink signaling.

[0163] If the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, the core network network element determines the feedback indication information to instruct the terminal device not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; if the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, the core network network element determines the feedback indication information to instruct the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

[0164] In another possible implementation, the core network element may also obtain the usage of network resources (e.g., physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources), such as the usage of uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located. The core network element may determine the feedback indication information based on the usage of the uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located.

[0165] Exemplarily, if the usage ratio of the uplink feedback resources is greater than the threshold, the core network network element determines the feedback indication information to instruct the terminal device not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, so as to save uplink feedback resources and give priority to ensuring the HARQ feedback of the services performed by the terminal device in the RRC connected state; otherwise, the core network network element determines the feedback indication information to instruct the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, so as to ensure the reliable transmission of the downlink data and / or downlink signaling.

[0166] It should be noted that the two implementation modes of "the core network element determines feedback indication information according to the usage of uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located" and "the core network element determines feedback indication information by negotiating with the terminal device" can also be combined, and these two implementation modes can be set with different priorities. When the core network element obtains opposite feedback indication information through these two implementation modes, the feedback indication information determined by the implementation mode with higher priority shall prevail. For example, assuming that the priority of the implementation mode of "the core network element determines feedback indication information according to the usage of uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located" is high, and the priority of the implementation mode of "the core network element determines feedback indication information by negotiating with the terminal device" is low, then when the core network element obtains opposite feedback indication information through these two implementation modes, the feedback indication information determined by the method of "the core network element determines feedback indication information according to the usage of uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located" shall prevail.

[0167] Exemplarily, if the usage ratio of the uplink feedback resource is greater than the threshold, the core network network element determines the feedback indication information to instruct the terminal device not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, so as to save uplink feedback resources and give priority to ensuring the HARQ feedback of the service performed by the terminal device in the RRC connected state; otherwise, the core network network element determines the feedback indication information based on the feedback tendency information or the reliability requirements of the MT-SDT service performed by the terminal device. At this time, the feedback indication information may instruct the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, or may instruct the terminal device not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

[0168] To summarize, the core network network element may determine the feedback indication information based on the reliability requirements of the MT-SDT service performed by the terminal device, or the core network network element may determine the feedback indication information based on the feedback tendency information, or the core network network element may determine the feedback indication information based on the usage of the uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located, or the core network network element may determine the feedback indication information based on the reliability requirements of the MT-SDT service performed by the terminal device and the usage of the uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located, or the core network network element may determine the feedback indication information based on the feedback tendency information and the usage of the uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located.

[0169] It should also be noted that step S501 is optional:

[0170] In one possible implementation, step S501 can be executed, that is, the core network network element (such as an AMF network element, a UPF network element) determines the feedback indication information; and in step S503, the core network network element sends the feedback indication information to the access network device; so that in step S504, the access network device obtains the feedback indication information from the core network network element.

[0171] In another possible implementation, step S501 may not be performed, and in step S503, the core network element does not send feedback indication information to the access network device; so that in step S504, the access network device determines the feedback indication information by itself.

[0172] S502: The access network device sends random access resource information used by the MT-SDT process based on 4-step random access through a system broadcast message.

[0173] The present application does not limit the execution order of steps S501 and S502, that is, step S501 may be executed first and then step S502, or step S502 may be executed first and then step S501.

[0174] The rest of the contents of this step refer to step S101 and will not be described again here.

[0175] S503: The core network element sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0176] Optionally, the core network element sends feedback indication information to the access network device.

[0177] When the core network element is an AMF element, the AMF element sends downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device, and the feedback indication information can be associated with the signaling resource bearer (SRB) that transmits the downlink signaling, that is, the feedback indication information can be configured for each SRB.

[0178] When the core network element is a UPF element, the UPF element sends downlink data of the MT-SDT service to the access network device, and the feedback indication information can be associated with the data resource bearer (DRB) for transmitting the downlink data, that is, the feedback indication information can be configured for each DRB.

[0179] S504: The access network device obtains feedback indication information.

[0180] In a possible implementation manner, if the core network element sends feedback indication information to the access network device, the access network device obtains the feedback indication information from the core network element.

[0181] In another possible implementation, if the core network element does not send feedback indication information to the access network device, the access network device may receive feedback tendency information from the terminal device, and determine the feedback indication information based on the feedback tendency information. Please refer to the relevant description of "the core network element determines the feedback indication information based on the feedback tendency information" in step S501, which will not be repeated here.

[0182] In another possible implementation, the access network device may obtain the usage of network resources (e.g., PUCCH resources), such as the usage of uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located. The access network device may determine feedback indication information based on the resource usage of the cell where the terminal device is located. For details, please refer to step S501 regarding "the core network element determines the feedback indication information based on the usage of uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located", which will not be repeated here.

[0183] In addition, similar to step S501, the two implementation modes of "the access network device determines feedback indication information based on the usage of uplink feedback resources in the cell where the terminal device is located" and "the access network device determines feedback indication information based on feedback tendency information" can be combined, and these two implementation modes can be set with different priorities. When the core network network element obtains opposite feedback indication information through these two implementation modes, the feedback indication information determined by the implementation mode with higher priority shall prevail.

[0184] Exemplarily, if the usage ratio of the uplink feedback resource is greater than the threshold, the access network device determines the feedback indication information to instruct the terminal device not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, so as to save uplink feedback resources and give priority to ensuring the HARQ feedback of the service performed by the terminal device in the RRC connected state; otherwise, the access network device determines the feedback indication information based on the feedback tendency information. At this time, the feedback indication information may instruct the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, or may instruct the terminal device not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

[0185] To summarize, the access network device may determine the feedback indication information based on the feedback tendency information, or the access network device may determine the feedback indication information based on the usage of the uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located, or the access network device may determine the feedback indication information based on the feedback tendency information and the usage of the uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located.

[0186] It should be noted that step S504 only needs to be executed before the access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device.

[0187] S505: The access network device sends a paging message to the terminal device to page the terminal device.

[0188] The paging message includes the identifier of the terminal device and the paging reason, wherein the paging reason is MT-SDT.

[0189] Optionally, the access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device, and the feedback indication information can be carried in a paging message.

[0190] S506. The terminal device in the RRC inactive state sends message 1 (Msg1) to the access network device through RACH resources.

[0191] This step refers to step S104 and will not be described again here.

[0192] S507: The access network device sends a random access response (RAR) message (message 2 (Msg2)) to the terminal device.

[0193] Optionally, the access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device, and the feedback indication information can be carried in a RAR message.

[0194] The rest of the steps refer to step S105 and will not be described in detail here.

[0195] S508. The terminal device sends an RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message (message 3 (Msg3)) to the access network device on the PUSCH resources indicated by the uplink scheduling (UL grant).

[0196] S509: The access network device sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the terminal device.

[0197] Optionally, the access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device, and the feedback indication information can be carried in the DCI that schedules downlink data or downlink signaling.

[0198] It should be noted that "the access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device" can be performed in one of steps S505, S507 or S509. That is, the feedback indication information can be carried in a paging message, or in a RAR message, or in a DCI that schedules downlink data or downlink signaling.

[0199] If the feedback indication information indicates to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, step S510 is executed; otherwise, step S510 is not executed, that is, step S510 is optional.

[0200] When step S510 is not performed, the terminal device starts to monitor the PDCCH to perform at least one of the following: monitor the new transmission of possible downlink data or downlink signaling (i.e., new downlink data or downlink signaling). Monitor the scheduling of the RRC release (RRCRelease) message to receive the RRC release (RRCRelease) message, and when the RRC release (RRCRelease) message is received, the terminal device switches to the RRC inactive state.

[0201] The rest of step S509 refers to step S107 and will not be described in detail here.

[0202] S510. The terminal device performs HARQ feedback according to the reception status of downlink data or downlink signaling.

[0203] This step refers to step S108 and will not be described in detail here.

[0204] S511. The access network device sends an RRC release (RRCRelease) message to the terminal device to terminate the MT-SDT process.

[0205] This step refers to step S109 and will not be described in detail here.

[0206] The embodiment of the present application provides another communication method. For the MT-SDT process based on two-step random access, the core network element (such as AMF network element, UPF network element) determines whether the terminal device performs HARQ feedback and notifies the access network device, and then the access network device instructs the terminal device whether to perform HARQ feedback. Fig.10 As shown, the method includes steps S601-S609:

[0207] S601. The core network element (eg, AMF network element, UPF network element) determines feedback indication information.

[0208] Similar to step S501, step S601 is optional:

[0209] In one possible implementation, step S601 can be executed, that is, the core network network element (such as an AMF network element, a UPF network element) determines the feedback indication information; and in step S603, the core network network element sends the feedback indication information to the access network device; so that in step S604, the access network device obtains the feedback indication information from the core network network element.

[0210] In another possible implementation, step S601 may not be performed, and in step S603, the core network element does not send feedback indication information to the access network device; so that in step S604, the access network device determines the feedback indication information by itself.

[0211] The rest of the contents of this step refer to step S501 and will not be described again here.

[0212] S602: The access network device sends random access resource information used by the MT-SDT process based on two-step random access through a system broadcast message.

[0213] This step refers to step S201 and will not be described in detail here.

[0214] S603: The core network element sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0215] Optionally, the core network element sends feedback indication information to the access network device.

[0216] This step refers to step S503 and will not be described again here.

[0217] S604: The access network device obtains feedback indication information.

[0218] This step refers to step S504 and will not be described in detail here.

[0219] S605: The access network device sends a paging message to the terminal device to page the terminal device.

[0220] The paging message includes the identifier of the terminal device and the paging reason, wherein the paging reason is MT-SDT.

[0221] Optionally, the access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device, and the feedback indication information can be carried in a paging message.

[0222] S606. The terminal device in the RRC inactive state sends a message A (MsgA) to the access network device through the PUSCH resource.

[0223] This step refers to step S204 and will not be described in detail here.

[0224] S607: The access network device sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the terminal device.

[0225] Optionally, the access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device, and the feedback indication information can be carried in the DCI of the scheduling message B (MsgB) (that is, it can be carried in the DCI of the scheduling downlink data or downlink signaling).

[0226] It should be noted that "the access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device" can be performed in one of steps S605 and S607. That is, the feedback indication information can be carried in a paging message, or can be carried in the DCI of the scheduling message B (MsgB) (that is, it can be carried in the DCI of the scheduling downlink data or downlink signaling).

[0227] If the feedback indication information indicates to perform HARQ feedback, step S608 is executed; otherwise, step S608 is not executed, that is, step S608 is optional.

[0228] When step S608 is not performed, the terminal device starts to monitor the PDCCH to perform at least one of the following: monitor the new transmission of possible downlink data or downlink signaling (i.e., new downlink data or downlink signaling). Monitor the scheduling of the RRC release (RRCRelease) message to receive the RRC release (RRCRelease) message, and when the RRC release (RRCRelease) message is received, the terminal device switches to the RRC inactive state.

[0229] The rest of step S607 refers to step S205 and will not be described in detail here.

[0230] S608: The terminal device performs HARQ feedback according to the reception status of downlink data or downlink signaling.

[0231] This step refers to step S108 and will not be described in detail here.

[0232] S609: The access network device sends an RRC release (RRCRelease) message to the terminal device to terminate the MT-SDT process.

[0233] This step refers to step S207 and will not be described in detail here.

[0234] The embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. For the MT-SDT process based on UL CG, the terminal device sends feedback tendency information to the access network device to indicate whether it is inclined to perform HARQ feedback, and the access network device instructs the terminal device whether to perform HARQ feedback. Fig.11 As shown, the method includes steps S701-S709:

[0235] S701. The terminal device sends feedback tendency information to the access network device.

[0236] Exemplarily, the terminal device may be in an RRC connected state at this time, and the terminal device may determine feedback tendency information according to the reliability requirements of the ongoing MT-SDT service. For details, refer to the relevant description in step S501, which will not be repeated here.

[0237] Step S701 is optional.

[0238] S702: The access network device obtains feedback indication information.

[0239] The access network device may determine the feedback indication information based on the feedback tendency information, or the access network device may determine the feedback indication information based on the usage of the uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located, or the access network device may determine the feedback indication information based on the feedback tendency information and the usage of the uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located. It should be noted that if the access network device does not receive the feedback tendency information from the terminal device, the access network device may directly determine the feedback indication information based on the usage of the uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located. The other contents of this step refer to the relevant description in step S504 and will not be repeated here.

[0240] S703. The access network device sends an RRC release (RRCRelease) message to the terminal device in the RRC connection state.

[0241] Optionally, the access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device, and the feedback indication information can be carried in an RRC release (RRCRelease) message.

[0242] The rest of the contents of this step refer to step S301 and will not be described again here.

[0243] S704. The core network element sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0244] Specifically, the AMF network element sends downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device, or the UPF network element sends downlink data of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0245] S705: The access network device sends a paging message to the terminal device to page the terminal device.

[0246] The paging message includes the identifier of the terminal device and the paging reason, wherein the paging reason is MT-SDT.

[0247] Optionally, the access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device, and the feedback indication information can be carried in a paging message.

[0248] S706. If there are UL CG resources indicated by the UL CG configuration in the current cell, the terminal device in the RRC inactive state sends an RRC resume request (RRC_ResumeRequest) message to the access network device according to the UL CG configuration.

[0249] This step refers to step S304 and will not be described in detail here.

[0250] S707: The access network device schedules PDSCH resources through the DCI in the PDCCH, and sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the terminal device on the PDSCH resources.

[0251] Optionally, the access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device, and the feedback indication information can be carried in the DCI (that is, can be carried in the DCI that schedules downlink data or downlink signaling).

[0252] If the feedback indication information indicates to perform HARQ feedback, step S708 is executed; otherwise, step S708 is not executed, that is, step S708 is optional.

[0253] When step S708 is not performed, the terminal device starts to monitor the PDCCH to perform at least one of the following: monitor the new transmission of possible downlink data or downlink signaling (i.e., new downlink data or downlink signaling). Monitor the scheduling of the RRC release (RRCRelease) message to receive the RRC release (RRCRelease) message, and when the RRC release (RRCRelease) message is received, the terminal device switches to the RRC inactive state.

[0254] S708. The terminal device performs HARQ feedback according to the reception status of downlink data or downlink signaling.

[0255] This step refers to step S108 and will not be described in detail here.

[0256] S709: The access network device sends an RRC release (RRCRelease) message to the terminal device to terminate the MT-SDT process.

[0257] This step refers to step S307 and will not be described again here.

[0258] The embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, for a MT-SDT process based on DL CG, a terminal device sends feedback tendency information to an access network device to indicate whether it is inclined to perform HARQ feedback, and the access network device instructs the terminal device whether to perform HARQ feedback. Fig.12 As shown, the method includes steps S801-S808:

[0259] S801. The terminal device sends feedback tendency information to the network device.

[0260] This step refers to step S701 and will not be described again here.

[0261] S802: The access network device obtains feedback indication information.

[0262] This step refers to step S702 and will not be described again here.

[0263] S803. The access network device sends an RRC release (RRCRelease) message to the terminal device in the RRC connection state.

[0264] Optionally, the access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device, and the feedback indication information may be carried in an RRC release (RRCRelease) message, for example, carried in a DL CG configuration in the RRC release (RRCRelease) message.

[0265] The rest of the contents of this step refer to step S401 and will not be described again here.

[0266] S804. The core network element sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0267] Specifically, the AMF network element sends downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device, or the UPF network element sends downlink data of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0268] S805. The access network device sends a paging message to the terminal device to page the terminal device.

[0269] The paging message includes the identifier of the terminal device and the paging reason, wherein the paging reason is MT-SDT.

[0270] Optionally, the access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device, and the feedback indication information can be carried in a paging message.

[0271] S806. The access network device sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the terminal device on the PDSCH resources indicated by the DL CG configuration.

[0272] Correspondingly, the terminal device in the RRC inactive state receives downlink data or downlink signaling from the access network device on the PDSCH resources indicated by the DL CG configuration.

[0273] If the feedback indication information indicates to perform HARQ feedback, step S807 is executed; otherwise, step S807 is not executed, that is, step S807 is optional.

[0274] When step S807 is not performed, the terminal device starts to monitor the PDCCH to perform at least one of the following: monitor the new transmission of possible downlink data or downlink signaling (i.e., new downlink data or downlink signaling). Monitor the scheduling of the RRC release (RRCRelease) message to receive the RRC release (RRCRelease) message, and when the RRC release (RRCRelease) message is received, the terminal device switches to the RRC inactive state.

[0275] S807: The terminal device performs HARQ feedback according to the reception status of downlink data or downlink signaling.

[0276] This step refers to step S108 and will not be described in detail here.

[0277] S808: The access network device sends an RRC release (RRCRelease) message to the terminal device to terminate the MT-SDT process.

[0278] This step refers to step S406 and will not be described again here.

[0279] In summary, the present application embodiment provides another communication method for Figure 9-12 The communication method shown is summarized. Fig.13 As shown, the communication method includes S1301-S1306:

[0280] S1301. The core network element (eg, AMF network element, UPF network element) determines feedback indication information.

[0281] In a possible implementation, the terminal device determines feedback tendency information according to the reliability requirements of the MT-SDT service being performed, and sends it to the access network device. The core network network element receives the feedback tendency information from the terminal device through the access network device, and determines the feedback indication information according to the feedback tendency information. If the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; or, if the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device performs HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

[0282] In another possible implementation, the terminal device sends the reliability requirement of the MT-SDT service performed by the terminal device to the core network element through the access network device, and the core network element receives the reliability requirement of the MT-SDT service performed by the terminal device from the terminal device through the access network device, and determines the feedback indication information according to the reliability requirement. If the reliability requirement is low, the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device not to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; or, if the reliability requirement is high, the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

[0283] After the core network element determines the feedback indication information, it can send it to the access network device, and then send the feedback indication information to the terminal device through the access network device.

[0284] Step S1301 is optional, and this step refers to steps S501 and S601, which will not be described again here.

[0285] S1302. The core network element sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the access network device.

[0286] Optionally, the core network element sends feedback indication information to the access network device.

[0287] This step refers to steps S503, S603, S704, and S804, and will not be repeated here.

[0288] S1303: The access network device obtains feedback indication information.

[0289] The access network device may obtain feedback indication information from the core network element, or the access network device may determine the feedback indication information based on the feedback tendency information. This step refers to steps S504, S604, S702, and S802, which will not be repeated here.

[0290] S1304: The access network device sends feedback indication information to the terminal device.

[0291] This step refers to steps S505, S507, S509, S605, S607, S703, S705, S707, S803, and S805, and will not be repeated here.

[0292] It should be noted that at this time, the terminal device can be in the RRC connected state or the RRC inactive state.

[0293] S1305. The access network device sends downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service to the terminal device in the RRC inactive state.

[0294] This step refers to steps S509, S607, S707, and S806, and will not be repeated here.

[0295] It should be noted that the present application does not require the execution order of step S1304 and step S1305, that is, step S1304 may be executed first and then step S1305, or step S1305 may be executed first and then step S1304.

[0296] S1306. When the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device performs HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, the terminal device sends HARQ feedback for the downlink data or downlink signaling to the access network device. Otherwise, the terminal device does not send HARQ feedback for the downlink data or downlink signaling to the access network device.

[0297] This step refers to steps S108, S509, S607, S707, and S806, and will not be repeated here.

[0298] In the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, an access network device sends feedback indication information to a terminal device, and the feedback indication information indicates the terminal device: whether to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service. When the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback, the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, and the MT-SDT service can be terminated as soon as possible (the access network device sends an RRC release message as soon as possible), thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device and the transmission delay of the MT-SDT service.

[0299] It is to be understood that in each of the above embodiments, the methods and / or steps implemented by the terminal device may also be implemented by components (such as chips or circuits) of the terminal device. The methods and / or steps implemented by the access network device may also be implemented by components (such as chips or circuits) of the access network device. The methods and / or steps implemented by the core network element may also be implemented by components (such as chips or circuits) of the core network element.

[0300] The embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device. The communication device can be the terminal device in the above method embodiment, or a device including the above terminal device, or a chip or functional module in the terminal device. Alternatively, the communication device can be the access network device in the above method embodiment, or a device including the above access network device, or a chip or functional module in the access network device. Alternatively, the communication device can be the core network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the above core network element, or a chip or functional module in the core network element. Thus, the above various methods are realized.

[0301] In order to realize the above functions, the communication device includes a hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art can easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0302] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the communication device according to the above method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0303] The embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, which may be the terminal device, access network device or core network element as described above. Fig.14 As shown, the communication device 140 includes a processor 1401, a memory 1402 and a transceiver 1403. The processor 1401 is coupled to the memory 1402 and the transceiver 1403. The transceiver 1403 is used to support the communication device to communicate with other communication devices. When the communication device is a terminal device, the processor of the communication device can be Figure 2 The processor 210 shown in FIG. 1 may be a memory of the communication device. Figure 2 The internal memory 221 shown in FIG. 1 may be a transceiver of the communication device. Figure 2 The mobile communication module 250 and / or the wireless communication module 260 shown in FIG. When the communication device is an access network device, the processor of the communication device can be Figure 3 The processor 331 shown in FIG. 3 may be a memory of the communication device. Figure 3 The memory 332 shown in FIG. 1 may be a transceiver of the communication device. Figure 3 When the communication device is a core network element, the processor of the communication device can be Figure 4 The processor 401 shown in FIG. 4 may be a memory of the communication device. Figure 4 The memory 403 shown in FIG. 4 , the transceiver of the communication device may be Figure 4 When the processor executes the computer program or instructions in the memory, Figure 5-Figure 13 The method corresponding to the terminal device, access network device or core network element is executed.

[0304] like Fig.15 As shown, the embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system. The chip system 60 includes at least one processor 601 and at least one interface circuit 602. The at least one processor 601 and the at least one interface circuit 602 can be interconnected via a line. The processor 601 is used to support the communication device to implement various functions or steps performed by the terminal device or the access network device in the above method embodiment, such as Figure 5-Figure 13In the method shown, at least one interface circuit 602 may be used to receive signals from other devices (eg, memory) or to send signals to other communication devices (eg, communication interface). The chip system may include a chip and may also include other discrete devices.

[0305] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which includes instructions. When the instructions are executed on the above-mentioned communication device, the communication device executes each function or step performed by the terminal device or the access network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment, such as executing Figure 5-Figure 13 The method shown.

[0306] The present application also provides a computer program product including instructions. When the instructions are executed on the above communication device, the communication device executes each function or step executed by the terminal device or the access network device in the above method embodiment, such as executing Figure 5-Figure 13 The method shown.

[0307] Regarding the technical effects of the communication device, chip system, computer-readable storage medium, and computer program product, refer to the technical effects of the previous method embodiments.

[0308] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0309] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the modules and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0310] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and modules described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0311] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the modules is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple modules or components can be combined or integrated into another device, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0312] The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, they may be located in one device or distributed on multiple devices. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the present embodiment.

[0313] In addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one device, or each module may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into one device.

[0314] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loading and executing a computer program instruction on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website site, a computer, a server or a data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (Digital Subscriber Line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server or data center. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or may contain one or more servers, data centers and other data storage devices that can be integrated with a medium. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0315] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with the present technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to access network equipment, the method comprises: Receiving feedback tendency information from a terminal device, determining feedback indication information according to the feedback tendency information and the usage of uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located, or sending the feedback tendency information to a core network network element, so that the core network network element determines the feedback indication information according to the feedback tendency information and the usage of uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located; the feedback tendency information is determined by the reliability requirement of the mobile terminal small data transmission MT-SDT service; the feedback tendency information is used to indicate whether the terminal device tends to perform hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; the feedback indication information is used to indicate the terminal device: whether to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; or, receiving the reliability requirement from the terminal device, and sending the reliability requirement to the core network element, so that the core network element determines the feedback indication information according to the reliability requirement and the usage of the uplink feedback resource of the cell where the terminal device is located; Sending the feedback indication information to the terminal device; Receiving the downlink data or the downlink signaling from the core network element, and sending the downlink data or the downlink signaling to the terminal device in the radio resource control RRC inactive state; Only when the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, the HARQ feedback for the downlink data or the downlink signaling is received from the terminal device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: If the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends not to perform HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, then the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; or, If the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, then the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The feedback indication information is carried in a paging message, or carried in a random access response message, or carried in downlink control information for scheduling the downlink data or the downlink signaling, or carried in an RRC release message.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The feedback indication information is associated with a signaling resource bearer for transmitting the downlink signaling, or the feedback indication information is associated with a data resource bearer for transmitting the downlink data.

5. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a terminal device, the method comprises: Determine feedback tendency information according to the reliability requirement of the mobile terminal small data transmission MT-SDT service, and send the feedback tendency information to the access network device; the access network device or the core network element determines feedback indication information according to the feedback tendency information and the usage of the uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located; the feedback tendency information is used to indicate whether the terminal device tends to perform hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; the feedback indication information is used to indicate the terminal device: whether to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; or, Sending the reliability requirement to the core network element through the access network device, so that the core network element determines the feedback indication information according to the reliability requirement and the usage of the uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located; Receiving the feedback indication information from the access network device; When in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, receiving the downlink data or the downlink signaling from the access network device; Only when the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, HARQ feedback for the downlink data or the downlink signaling is sent to the access network device.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that If the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends not to perform HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, then the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; or, If the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, then the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that If the reliability requirement is low, the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; or, If the reliability requirement is high, the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

8. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a core network element, the method comprises: Receiving feedback tendency information from a terminal device through an access network device, the feedback tendency information is used to indicate whether the terminal device tends to perform hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of a mobile terminal small data transmission MT-SDT service; determining feedback indication information according to the feedback tendency information and the usage of uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located, the feedback indication information is used to indicate to the terminal device: whether to perform HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; or, Receiving, through the access network device, a reliability requirement of the MT-SDT service performed by the terminal device from the terminal device; determining the feedback indication information according to the reliability requirement and the usage of the uplink feedback resources of the cell where the terminal device is located; The feedback indication information is sent to the terminal device through the access network device, and the downlink data or the downlink signaling is sent to the terminal device, so that the terminal device: only when the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback on the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, the HARQ feedback for the downlink data or the downlink signaling is sent to the access network device.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that If the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends not to perform HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, then the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; or, If the feedback tendency information indicates that the terminal device tends to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service, then the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that If the reliability requirement is low, the feedback indication information indicates that the terminal device does not perform HARQ feedback for downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service; or, If the reliability requirement is high, the feedback indication information instructs the terminal device to perform HARQ feedback for the downlink data and / or downlink signaling of the MT-SDT service.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that: The core network element is a user plane function network element that sends the downlink data, or the core network element is an access management function network element that sends the downlink signaling.

12. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises a processor and a transceiver, wherein the transceiver is used to communicate with other communication devices, and when the processor executes instructions, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is executed.

13. A communication device, characterized in that: It comprises a processor and a transceiver, wherein the transceiver is used to communicate with other communication devices, and when the processor executes instructions, the method according to any one of claims 5 to 7 is executed.

14. A communication device, characterized in that: It comprises a processor and a transceiver, wherein the transceiver is used to communicate with other communication devices, and when the processor executes instructions, the method according to any one of claims 8 to 11 is executed.

15. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The method comprises instructions, which, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, or the method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, or the method according to any one of claims 8 to 11.

16. A communication system, characterized in that: The invention comprises the communication device according to claim 12, the communication device according to claim 13 and the communication device according to claim 14.

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